A Field Study of the Impacts of Workplace Diversity on the Recruitment of Minority Group Members

Abstract

Increasing workplace diversity is a common goal. Given research showing that minority applicants anticipate better treatment in diverse workplaces, we ran a field experiment (N = 1,585 applicants, N = 31,928 website visitors) exploring how subtle organizational diversity cues affected applicant behaviour. Potential applicants viewed a company with varying levels of racial/ethnic or gender diversity. There was little evidence that racial/ethnic or gender diversity impacted the demographic composition or quality of the applicant pool. However, fewer applications were submitted to organizations with one form of diversity (that is, racial/ethnic or gender diversity), and more applications were submitted to organizations with only white men employees or employees diverse in race/ethnicity and gender. Finally, exploratory analyses found that female applicants were rated as more qualified than male applicants. Presenting a more diverse workforce does not guarantee more minority applicants, and organizations seeking to recruit minority applicants may need stronger displays of commitments to diversity.