Conceptual foundations of workforce homogeneity in the public sector. Insights from a systematic review on causes, consequences, and blind spots

Workforce diversity is a key objective of public personnel policies worldwide. We augment this discourse by exploring the complementary and multifaceted concept of workforce homogeneity. This systematic literature review clarifies an elusive concept and reveals dominant causes and consequences of pu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPublic management review Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 334 - 356
Main Authors Seidemann, Iris, Weißmüller, Kristina S.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 01.02.2024
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
diversity
Homogeneity
Literature reviews
Public administration
public personnel management
Public sector
self-selection
Selfselection
Socialization
systematic literature review
Systematic review
Workforce
Workforce homogeneity
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Summary:Workforce diversity is a key objective of public personnel policies worldwide. We augment this discourse by exploring the complementary and multifaceted concept of workforce homogeneity. This systematic literature review clarifies an elusive concept and reveals dominant causes and consequences of public sector workforce homogeneity, synthesizing how self-selection, personnel policies, and socialization create often implicit yet persistent practices that lead to workforce homogeneity. By linking these causes with their (un-)intended consequences, this study on workforce homogeneity sheds light on an important theoretical concept for public management and identifies broad avenues for future research.
ISSN:1471-9037
1471-9045
DOI:10.1080/14719037.2022.2084770