Does Diversity Beget Diversity? A Multilevel Review of Strategic Leader Diversity and Organizational Diversity Outcomes

Abstract

Despite the proliferation of a sizeable stream of management literature studying the relationship between strategic leader diversity (such as gender, race and age) and organizational diversity outcomes, the findings remain inconclusive and divided with regard to the nature of the relationship. To address this concern, we perform a systematic literature review of empirical research testing this relationship in management journals. In our review, we summarize and integrate extant empirical and theoretical research on the connection between strategic leader diversity and organizational diversity outcomes, provide a comprehensive, multilevel theoretical model based on past research and suggest unconventional insights to guide future management scholars. Our integrative review identifies important core theories and perspectives connecting these two literatures, such as social identity, critical mass, tokenism and inter-group relations. We organize the key findings emerging from this integration into four prominent themes (critical impact areas, critical enablers or inhibitors, critical theoretical underpinnings and scope of impact) to provide a novel insight into this stream of research. Finally, we offer several avenues for future research to scholars from management and social sciences disciplines to address some pertinent gaps identified in this literature.