Managing Diversity: Interpretation and Enactment in a Health Care Setting

Abstract

As the United States workforce becomes increasingly diverse, many organizations have attempted to raise awareness and sensitivity to cultural group issues. Diversity management programs combine Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action with internal organizational initiatives such as diversity sensitivity training. These diversity management policies and initiatives may be interpreted and enacted in various ways. This exploratory study was designed to investigate how managers interpreted the meaning of diversity management and enacted EEO/AA laws and diversity initiatives in a hospital in the process of evaluating its diversity programming. Using a grounded theory approach, in-depth interviews with clinical and non-clinical managers were conducted. Several themes emerged, including professional differences in the legal and social understanding of diversity, the nature of managerial uncertainty, and the significance of formal and informal resources when managing diversity.

Keywords:

• Dirversity
• Grounded Theory
• Managerial Communication

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cynthia Irizarry

Cynthia Irizarry (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1998) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication, Stetson University, 421 N. Woodland Blvd., DeLand, Florida 32723, USA. E-mail: [email protected].

Linda Gallant

Linda Gallant (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1999) is an assistant professor of Information & Process Managment, Bentley College, Waltham, MA 02452, USA.