Creating a Diverse Workforce

The chapter investigates the ways in which the theory and practice of workforce diversity can contribute to our understanding of how public services operate in superdiverse urban settings. ‘Superdiversity’, as outlined by Vertovec (2007), draws attention to the new and complex social formations characterised by a dynamic integration of variables (race, ethnicity, social class, gender, religion, as well as physical ability or sexual orientation). Increased diversity has created a complex range of under-explored challenges for public services. In recent years, workforce diversity has achieved the status of shibboleth in the public sector, a social good, a source of richness, a resource to be welcomed, worked with and managed. The premise of this chapter is that contrary to such rhetoric, creating a diverse workforce continues to be a challenge for the public services. The message advocated is that diversity can enhance public sector performance and make the workplace more socially inclusive, yet organisations often lack practical guidance about how to achieve this.