Female Tech Managers’ Diversity Perceptions

This study explored female managers’ perceptions of diversity hiring. Most diversity studies have used quantitative methodologies and have not explored the qualitative perceptions of diversity hiring. The study’s three research questions ask which personal attributes of employees should be diverse within an organization, for which jobs should diversity be a criterion in the employee selection process, and in which organizational situations should diversity be a criterion in the employee selection process. The study follows the qualitative methodology of generic qualitative inquiry and included in-depth interviews of twelve participants. The population for the study is female managers who work in technology companies, within the United States. Analysis of the data collected from interviews, observations, and artifact review occurred through open, axial, and selective coding. The study finds that these participants value diversity among a wide variety of employee personal attributes, jobs, and organizational situations. The implications for practice are that hiring practices can promote diversity when they reduce bias, make diversity a priority throughout the recruiting process, and use targeted sources to reach a wider spectrum of candidates