This paper examines the efSicacy of one of the most common diversity practices, diversity enlargement. Diversity enlargement refers to attempts to increase the representations of individuals of difierent gender, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds in an organization. It is based on psychological theories of social contact, which suggest that increasing the level of contact between members of diflerent identity groups will lead to a reduction in prejudice and stereotyping. Organizations using diversity-enlargement strategies implicitly assume that the climate for diversity (i.e., attitudes about and support for diversity) will be improved through increased contact between members of difierent social-identity groups.The analysis of survey and records data from employees at a large university demonstrated that increasing racial and gender diversity over an eight-year period does not unconditionally result in a more favorable climate for diversity. Diversity enlargement is a necessary but insufSicient strategy to enhance diversity climate. The authors identify some dimensions of the climate for diversity that may be improved by diversity-enlargement initiatives. They also point out that organizations have been unclear about what goals they hope to achieve as a result of diversity enlargement. This paper suggests that to enhance diversity climate, diversity-enlargement initiatives must be coupled with interventions in group process.
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