A Conceptual Content Analysis of 75 Years of Diversity Research in Public Administration

• Published date: 01 June 2018
• Date: 01 June 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X16671368
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X16671368

Review of Public Personnel Administration

2018, Vol. 38(2) 248 –267

© The Author(s) 2016

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DOI: 10.1177/0734371X16671368

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Article

A Conceptual Content

Analysis of 75 Years of

Diversity Research in Public

Administration

Meghna Sabharwal1, Helisse Levine2,

and Maria D’Agostino3

Abstract

Diversity is an important facet of public administration, thus it is important to

take stock and examine how the discipline has evolved in response to questions

of representative democracy, social equity, and diversity. This article assesses the

state-of-the-field by addressing the following question: How has research on diversity

in the field of public administration progressed over time? Specifically, we seek to

examine how the focus of diversity has transformed over time and the way the field

has responded to half a century of legislation and policies aimed at both promoting

equality and embracing difference. We utilize a conceptual content analysis approach

to examine articles published on diversity in seven key public administration journals

since 1940. The implications of this study are of great importance given that diversity

in the workplace is a central issue for modern public management.

Keywords

diversity, representative bureaucracy, gender, race, conceptual content analysis,

public administration journals

Introduction

We live in a society, which has become more complex and diverse than ever before,

where people are categorized not only according to their race and gender but

1The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA

2Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, USA

3City University of New York, New York City, NY, USA

Corresponding Author:

Meghna Sabharwal, The University of Texas at Dallas, School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences,

Public and Nonprofit Management, 800 W. Campbell Road GR 31, Richardson, TX 75080-3021.

Email: meghna.sabhrwal@utdallas.edu

671368ROPXXX10.1177/0734371X16671368Review of Public Personnel AdministrationSabharwal et al.

research-article2016

Sabharwal et al. 249

also according to their ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation,

political affiliation, educational attainment, religion, physical ability, and even genera-

tional cohort. All these attributes comprise what we term as diversity. Indeed, diversity

over the past two decades has become an important facet of public administration (PA).

For example, preoccupation with issues of equality and justice led researchers to identify

social equity as the third pillar of public administration alongside efficiency and effec-

tiveness (Frederickson, 1980, 1990, 2005; Riccucci, 2002, 2009; Rosenbloom, 1977,

2005). Research has shown that organizations perform better when they are diverse

(Hewins-Maroney & Williams, 2013; Pitts, 2009) and inclusive (Sabharwal, 2014). Also

documented is that large innovative organizations that are more diverse are also more

successful (Caleb, 2014).

However, public administration research has not always reflected issues of diver-

sity. In the early 1900s, for example, diversity research in public administration was

nonexistent at best. With the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 race and gender

became more prominent and as a result, researchers started paying attention to the

challenges associated with minorities and women. In the 1970s, the discussion of

diversity emerged as changing the Black/White dynamic, yet not much attention was

given to women and other groups until the 1980s when women began voicing con-

cerns about their lack of representation in leadership positions (Broadnax, 2010). Most

recently, we have begun to see unprecedented women and minority representation in

public office such as the election of the first African American President, Chief Justice

Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic female on the U.S. Supreme Court, and Valerie

Jarrett, a Black female who serves as assistant to the President of the United States.

Moreover, the increase in diversity among government organizations has paralleled a

changing culture and society (e.g., globalization, immigration, and biracial individuals

and families) with gender and color no longer the predominate measure of diversity as

religion, ethnicity, sexual identify, language, religion, and educational background

grow in importance (Broadnax, 2010).

Therefore, what we do know is that diversification of public organizations in prac-

tice has improved their capacity to deliver services to the diverse populations being

served (Broadnax, 2010). However, what remains unclear is whether public adminis-

tration diversity research has kept pace with societal changes in general (e.g., legal,

social, political, and economic) and the impact of that research on public administra-

tion practice specifically. Pitts and Wise (2010) argued that most research produced on

the topic of diversity in public administration was descriptive with little or no informa-

tion provided to managers to improve work-related outcomes. The authors argued for

the need for more data to validate their findings, which were limited at that time to

articles published in key public administration journals from 2000 to 2008. Our study

goes beyond this constraint and examines all articles published on the subject of diver-

sity in seven key journals from their inception. To further validate the findings of Pitts

and Wise, we also differentiate the type of research into descriptive and empirical.

This article assesses the state-of-the-field by addressing the following questions:

How has research on diversity in the field of public administration progressed over

time? Specifically, we seek to examine how the focus of diversity has transformed and