People use both heterogeneity and minority representation to evaluate diversity

Abstract

The term “diversity,” although widely used, can mean different things. Diversity can refer to heterogeneity, i.e., the distribution of people across groups, or to the representation of specific minority groups. We use a conjoint experiment with a race-balanced, national sample to uncover which properties, heterogeneity or minority representation, Americans use to evaluate the extent of racial diversity a neighborhood and whether this assessment varies by participants’ race. We show that perceived diversity is strongly associated with heterogeneity. This association is stronger for Whites than for Blacks, Latinos, or Asians. In addition, Blacks, Latinos, and Asians view neighborhoods where their own group is largest as more diverse. Whites vary in their tendency to associate diversity with representation, and Whites who report conservative stances on diversity-related policy issues view predominately White neighborhoods as more diverse than predominately Black neighborhoods. People can agree that diversity is desirable while disagreeing on what makes a community diverse.

Know It When You See It? The Qualities of the Communities People Describe as “Diverse” (or Not)

“…As a result, their findings are consistent with a different, more plausible conclusion: not that heterogeneity depresses social capital for everyone, but that social capital is depressed in disadvantaged, minority communities. Instead, many studies advance premature claims about the undesirable consequences of heterogeneity, claims that have fueled opposition to affirmative action and immigration (Thernstrom et al 2012;Richwine 2009) along with calls for curbing mixture in educational and residential contexts (see Abascal et al 2021b). The elision between heterogeneity and immigrant and non-White shares that suffuses this literature not only implies that people associate "diversity" with both heterogeneity and representation, it also reveals the consequences of doing so, an issue to which we return in the conclusion.…”

“…1 And in their efforts to expose their families to people from diverse racial backgrounds, all but the most committed middle-class Whites stop short of living in multiracial neighborhoods (Underhill 2019). More broadly, and fueled by research on diversity and social capital, the mainstream press and far-right online forums routinely feature claims that diversity has negative consequences (see discussion in Abascal, Xu, and Baldassarri 2021).…”

“…In neighborhoods, for example, diversity can be associated with differences in terms of race/ethnicity and economic status, as well as age, sexuality, and political views (Berrey 2005, 2015; Hoekstra and Gerteis 2019). Second, even when diversity is pinned to one type of difference, like race/ethnicity, it can refer to heterogeneity or to the representation of disadvantaged groups (Abascal, Ganter, and Baldassarri 2021; Abascal, Xu, and Baldassarri 2021). Heterogeneity concerns the distribution of people across groups in a community, whereas representation concerns the share of community members in disadvantaged groups.…”

Assessing Local “Diversity”: A Nationally Representative Analysis

“…College administrators, faculty, and students can define the concept of diversity in a variety of ways, even within the same educational institution (Berrey 2015; Marvasti and McKinney 2011; Warikoo 2016). Experimental research finds that evaluations of diversity in hypothetical organizations (Bauman, Trawalter, and Unzueta 2014; Danbold and Unzueta 2020) and hypothetical communities (Abascal, Wu, and Baldassarri 2021) are not absolute or uniform. Rather, such evaluations are contingent on how various survey items frame diversity; participants’ race, gender, and personal attitudes also prove relevant.…”

Racial attention deficit

“…Studies suggest that credentials held by Black job applicants or employees may matter less than identical ones held by Whites (31)(32)(33). Research, both archival and experimental, questions the possibility of reducing bias or encouraging diversity through the provision of information (34)(35)(36)(37).…”