Refocusing Graduate Public Affairs Education: A Need for Diversity Competencies in Human Resource Management

Abstract

It is generally agreed that diversity is a critical challenge for managers and that advancing organizational diversity is both an ethical and a pragmatic requirement for effective public administration. However, it may be argued that graduate public affairs education relating to human resource management (HRM) has not sufficiently attended to diversity topics and that public affairs graduate curricula in general have not evidenced sufficient inclusion of diversity themes. This essay indicates a need for curricular revision that includes diversity competencies. The research and corresponding analysis is presented in two parts, corresponding to two phases of research. The first addresses findings from graduate student surveys conducted over three years at the University of Vermont. The second concerns data collected from 41 NASPAA-accredited and 17 unaccredited NASPAA-member programs in public affairs. The results from the first phase suggest that graduate public affairs students need greater exposure to diversity themes and issues. The second phase results suggest that NASPAA-accredited programs are not much different from unaccredited member programs in incorporating diversity topics into curricular offerings or otherwise exhibiting a commitment to diversity. The essay ends with several recommendations for programs intending to develop or revise their public policy and administration curricula in order to better attend to diversity concerns.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard G. Johnson

Richard G. Johnson III is an assistant professor in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Graduate Program at the University of Vermont. His articles have appeared in leading journals such as the International Journal of Public Administration and the American Review of Public Administration. His research interests include HRM issues, leadership, public policy, management, and social justice.

Johnson wishes to thank the American Society for Public Administration for allowing him to present an earlier version of part of the study discussed here at its 2006 national conference in Denver. He also thanks the faculty who gave him feedback on the study as well as senior faculty mentors Susan Hasazi and Curtis Ventriss at the University of Vermont for their assistance in framing the topic.

Mario A. Rivera

Coauthor Mario A. Rivera, widely published in areas ranging from network analysis to immigration policy and public ethics, is Regents’ Professor of Public Administration at the University of New Mexico and editor of JPAE.