P24 Perspectives on Workforce Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Corresponding chair and review group chair

Deneen M. Hatmaker, University of Connecticut, deneen.hatmaker@uconn.edu

Co-Chairs

Rachel Ashworth, Cardiff University

Russell S. Hassan, The Ohio State University

Sarah Maria Lysdal Krøtel, Aarhus University

Amy E. Smith, University of Massachusetts Boston

The management and effects of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have long been of theoretical and practical interest within public management scholarship. Beyond compliance with laws and regulations, diverse, equitable and inclusive workforces are thought to assist public organizations in serving constituents, enabling cultures of fairness and belonging in the workplace, and unlocking creative solutions to hard-to-solve problems in the workplace. But personnel diversity has also been theorized to create management challenges: more diverse organizations may have a harder time collaborating and, as a result, have less success achieving agency goals. Additionally, changing societal and political contexts (e.g., the rise of identity politics and changes in laws/ policies to limit the rights of marginalized populations) further complicate workplace diversity and inclusion efforts. There is an urgent need to examine how these changes affect the public sector workforce, agency DEI efforts, and how public managers and frontline workers manage and respond to these challenges.

To achieve this goal, this panel seeks proposals for papers that will enhance our understanding of public sector workforce DEI within the changing social and political context.  We invite the submission of empirical papers employing a variety of methods and designs. We also welcome papers that discuss different theoretical and methodological approaches for studying workforce diversity and its management, underlying mechanisms, and effects.

Specifically, we invite proposals that cover a range of topics and perspectives related to workforce DEI, including, but not limited, to the following:

• Intersectionality,
• Diversity and/in leadership,
• Critical approaches to studying diversity and inclusion,
• Identity and inclusion,
• Workplace incivility as it relates to an inclusive workplace,
• Gender and careers,
• Gendered organizations,
• Work-life balance/conflict,
• Diversity management,
• Diversity and inclusion broadly,
• Representative bureaucracy.

We welcome papers that examine diversity from many perspectives, including, but not limited to, gender, race and ethnicity, age, education, religion, disability, language, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and parental status.

Abstracts should be no more than 500 words and must be submitted through the IRSPM ExOrdo system.  We cannot review or accept any abstracts or papers submitted by email.