Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Matter: Challenges and Solutions

This book integrates the current research on diversity, equity, and inclusion with corporate practice and describes how these initiatives affect organizations’ morale, performance, and output. Academic researchers, corporate executives tasked with implementing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), and regulators face the problem of balancing DEI initiatives, which could generate diverse ideas beneficial to the organization, with concerns about diluting meritocracy. Building a diverse workforce could improve both organizational well-being and social harmony. Research has shown that building a diverse workforce often results in communication and coordination issues and unjustified pay and performance gaps, engendering feelings of exclusion among diverse individuals. The book describes how organizations address these issues in various settings ranging from accounting firms to health care providers. It covers settings with gender and racial diversities and clarifies the difference between equality and equity. Its coverage includes dealing with concealable disabilities and promoting equity across diverse populations in organizational and social settings.