Crossing the Line: Examining 'Above' and 'Below' the Line Diversity Activities in Organizations

The increase in workforce diversity is a global phenomenon and puts extra pressure on organizations to manage employee diversity. This organizational challenge is reflected in the 2019 All-Academy theme, “Understanding the Inclusive Organization.” However, despite a strong body of research on employee experiences and diversity climate, diversity scholars have not been as prolific at providing practitioners robust evidence-based advice regarding organizational-level diversity efforts. This symposium has brought together researchers who are using various methodologies to examine organizational level, “above the line” elements of diversity management systems. Specifically, the first two papers in our symposium develop measurements of “above the line” diversity paradigms, which can help HR professionals identify their organizational expectations and values regarding diversity and inclusion. The third paper extends this work by qualitatively examining secondary data to show that organizations with more strategic focus on gender equality also have more robust diversity efforts throughout the organization. The next three papers examine various ways that managers can connect organizational level initiatives to employee experiences “below the line,” culminating in specific strategies for HR personnel. Taken together, these papers extend the research in diversity, human resource management and organizational behavior to provide a more comprehensive picture of the complete diversity management system across various levels of the organization.