Research Papers

With the rising popularity of the diversity concept, the European Commission has been addressing diversity from three angles: a. anti-discrimination as part of the Commission’s justice, fundamental rights and citizenship policies, b. management of workplace diversity in the employment, social affairs and inclusion portfolio, and c. business innovation against the backdrop of the Lisbon and EU 2020 strategies. This division recalls various strategic approaches towards diversity in organisations as proposed in business studies. Thomas and Ely (1996) developed the following approaches: a. fairness and anti-discrimination, b. market entry and legitimacy, and c. learning and effectiveness, which have later been complemented by responsibility and sensitivity. This paper seeks to utilise these approaches to gain a deeper understanding of the rationales behind the EU’s diversity policies. The empirical research is based on all web-based Commission resources explicitly relating to diversity. By means of content analysis, the frequencies and meanings of these concepts shall be established. The outcome allows for conclusions, whether the Commission’s efforts in the field of diversity are a spin-off of anti-discrimination legislation or whether they are predominantly concerned with the business world. In the latter case, one will have to question if a view of diversity as minority inclusion prevails or if every individual’s peculiarity is being perceived as contributing to innovation and a unique selling position. Finally, the documents’ assessment of diversity should be scrutinised: is diversity conceived of as an intrinsically positive value, or do they also depict diversity-induced conflicts in the corporate and the societal spheres?