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Managing diversity: a senior management perspective.
P E Wallace1, C M Ermer, D N Motshabi
1Urban Medical Institute, Baltimore, MD 21215, USA.
Hospital & Health Services Administration
|April 1, 1996
Summary
Hospital executives perceive their workforces as diverse, yet few have implemented formal diversity management programs. This highlights a gap between perceived diversity and strategic program development in healthcare.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Organizational Behavior
- Human Resources
Background:
- Diversity and inclusion are increasingly recognized as critical strategic goals for organizations.
- Healthcare institutions are actively exploring diversity management strategies.
- Understanding executive perceptions is key to effective diversity program implementation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how hospital executives perceive diversity within their organizations.
- To examine the extent to which diversity management programs are implemented in hospitals.
- To identify potential discrepancies between perceived workforce diversity and actual diversity management initiatives.
Main Methods:
- A survey methodology was employed.
- A 16-item questionnaire was developed and administered to hospital executives.
- Data were collected from executives in urban teaching hospitals.
Main Results:
- A significant majority of executives (68%) reported their workforce as diverse.
- Despite this perception, less than one-third (30%) of these executives had specific diversity management programs.
- Urban teaching hospitals were identified as the setting for this study.
Conclusions:
- A notable gap exists between the perception of workforce diversity and the implementation of formal diversity management programs in hospitals.
- Healthcare organizations may benefit from developing and implementing targeted diversity management strategies.
- Further research is needed to explore the reasons behind this implementation gap.