Project R-1421

The Business case for diversity (Research)

Companies and organizations are sensitive to the ─business case for diversity┌, being driven by a number of demographic and social trends, namely the changing composition of the workforce pool: diversity to ethnic origin, more women, mix of youth and the elderly, individuals with different professional backgrounds ... Moreover, the values that employees seek in their lives and their job have changed. The shortages in the labor market ensure that companies has to keep in account the changes on the supply side of the labor market. Finally, companies are trying to enhance the creativity of the teams based on diversity in the composition. Central to the business case for diversity is the idea that it is justified economically for different reasons to focus on diversity. The business case for diversity is often discussed in the popular scientific literature. Often, however, these are moral positions with little support. Yet we see that scientific research is growing. This project aims to connect here. It aims to fill two gaps. First we get an insight on how companies in Flanders concrete work on diversity. Is diversity more than a vogue word? Is it really implemented in the business world and how is it fleshed out? We do not restrict ourselves to the official diversity plans of companies. Second, we examine how the business case for diversity can be a contribution to the objectives of the equal opportunities policy (career opportunities). We focus on two widely used social categories of diversity: gender and ethnic origin. Regarding to gender, we will not restrict ourselves to measures that companies can take on the inflow, outflow and flow of women. We also see how companies deal with gender stereotypes regarding to men. Gender and ethnic origin will be studied separately and in mutual conjunction.

01 January 2009 - 28 February 2011