Executive summary
The research article uses a Fortune 500 company as a case study to explain why workplace diversity is essential and how firms can effectively reach their diversity goals. The article’s primary purpose is to address workplace diversity where minorities are disadvantaged (Flory et al., 2021). The key focus is how to get the minority to gain interest in a job, specifically top careers, and ensure that they are selected and hired (Flory et al., 2021). The article delves into workplace diversity, which is an important topic given the pressure that U.S. firms face to actualize it (Flory et al., 2021). The article adds to the literature on the topic. It adds value as it outlines ways organizations can achieve racial diversity in the workplace by ensuring minorities are given a chance (Flory et al., 2021).
As per the article, most organizations have ambitious long-term goals to increase their workplace diversity, but whether they achieve them depends on whether they have an effective way to realize them (Flory et al., 2021). Through different hypotheses, the research delves into the practical ways organizations can attract minority candidates for senior or top professional careers (Flory et al., 2021).
The research finding is that interest in employees’ diversity or commitment to workplace diversity has seen the interest in a job opening among racial minority job applicants more than double (Flory et al., 2021). It also more than doubles their probability of applying and getting selected. However, the research study showed that the impact on gender diversity is not that significant and thus can be neglected (Flory et al., 2021).
Literature Review
The article used secondary data to support the research study. The key theme of the sources used in research is workplace diversity from the lanes of minority groups. The literature focuses on highlighting the reasons why minority groups in the U.S. are underrepresented in top-level positions and are disadvantaged in the workplace. More importantly, the literature focuses on highlighting why minority groups in the U.S. are disadvantaged, including highlighting how discrimination in the workplace widens the racial gap. The literature is applicable and relevant to the study in that it all dwells around workplace diversity and effectively supports the primary research findings.
Whether the literature review is current, some are current while others are not. Current literature should not be more than five years old. Based on these criteria, the majority of the literature used is within the range, but a good number is also outside the five-year range, with some even being more than ten years old. Over 95% of them are thorough and detailed, but about 5% are not thorough and offer little insight into the topic.
The literature review has gaps. The research paper needs a clear literature analysis section, but only secondary sources are used to support and explain the findings. It would have been effective and better if it had a clear literature review section right after the introduction. This helped me understand the topic better and clearly outline the theme. Equally, some of the literature used is not from reliable sources as they are not from scholarly or business articles, thus raising the question of how reliable the findings are!
Data Analysis
The research used a mixed data analysis methodology. This is the best methodology as the research involves variables that require qualitative research and others that require quantitative research to analyze and generate insights. The data analysis did prove the research question. The data analysis showed that effective workplace diversity, as well as diversity messages, serve to increase the interest and application as well as selection of minority groups, specifically Hispanic Americans and Black Americans. This confirms the research question and hypothesis in that it shows that firms can effectively increase diversity by enabling minority groups to apply in numbers and find their way to the helm!
Results/Conclusion
The article is relevant to the field of knowledge as it centers around workplace diversity, which is increasingly becoming important. The article adds to the knowledge by demonstrating how firms can foster racial diversity in the workplace by installing ways to encourage the minority to gain interest and apply for top management careers.
The first strength is that the article uses primary research, which makes the findings reliable. The second strength is that most of the literature used is current and thorough, which means the findings are supported and explained effectively. However, the article has gaps and weaknesses. First, some of the sources used need to be updated, and issues around the reliability of the findings to explain highly dynamic content. Secondly, some of the sources used are outside of scholarly sources, thus raising serious questions about their reliability.
Based on the article, future research needs to focus on racial or ethnic diversity in the workplace. This research area is closely related to the topic explored in this research and will help inform ways organizations can address barriers that prevent them from realizing their diversity goals.
The first takeaway is that for a research finding to be reliable, the sources used should be from reliable sources. This means that sources should be from scholarly and renowned business articles and should be current and thorough in their content. The second takeaway is that the research methodology, including the data analysis, should be chosen carefully. The research question and the nature of the variables under analysis should inform the choice.
References
Flory, J. A., Leibbrandt, A., Rott, C., & Stoddard, O. (2021). Increasing workplace diversity evidence from a recruiting experiment at a fortune 500 company. The Journal of Human Resources, 56(1), 73–92. https://doi.org/10.3368/JHR.56.1.0518-9489R1
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