Inclusion and Diversity in Work Groups: A Review and Model for Future Research

  • Citation: Shore, Lynn M, Amy E. Randel, Beth G. Chung, and Michelle A. Dean. “Inclusion and Diversity in Work Groups: A Review and Model for Future Research.” Journal of Management 37, no. 4 (2011).
    • Topics:
    • Business and Trade
    • Keywords:
    • inclusion
    • diversity
    • work group
    • exclusion
    • optimal distinctiveness theory

A great deal of research has focused on work group diversity, but management scholars have only recently focused on inclusion. As a result, the inclusion literature is still under development, with limited agreement on the conceptual underpinnings of this construct. In this article, the authors first use Brewer’s optimal distinctiveness theory to develop a definition of employee inclusion in the work group as involving the satisfaction of the needs of both belongingness and uniqueness. Building on their definition, the authors then present a framework of inclusion. Their framework is subsequently used as a basis for reviewing the inclusion and diversity literature. Potential contextual factors and outcomes associated with inclusion are suggested in order to guide future research.

Related Resources

  • What Racism Costs Us All

    Joseph Losavio. “What Racism Costs Us All.” IMF. September 2020. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2020/09/the-economic-cost-of-racism-losavio.

    Keywords: systemic racism, economic development, wealth gap
  • The Economic Cost of Gender-Based Discrimination in Social Institutions

    Gaëlle Ferrant and Alexandre Kolev. “The economic cost of gender-based discrimination in social institutions.” OECD Development Centre. June 2016.