Research and analysis

The business case for equality and diversity: a survey of the academic literature

Looks at the evidence for the business case for equality and diversity in private sector organisations.

• From: Department for Business, Innovation & Skills
• Published: 11 January 2013
• Last updated: 14 January 2013 — See all updates

Documents

The business case for equality and diversity: a survey of the academic literature

Ref: BIS/13/556

PDF, 674 KB, 67 pages

The business case for equality and diversity: a survey of the academic literature - executive summary

Ref: BIS/13/556ES

PDF, 164 KB, 7 pages

Details

This report sets out the findings from a systematic review of the literature on the business case for equality and diversity. It was commissioned by the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) and the Government Equalities Office (GEO).

The report aims to:

• improve understanding of theoretical positions and issues related to the business case for equality and diversity
• develop a consistent framework for assessing evidence on the business case
• within this framework, review the evidence
• create a compendium of the evidence

The research assesses the most robust evidence, draw implications from the findings and present a dispassionate picture of the evidence identifying gaps and conflicting messages. The report looks at diversity in terms of ‘protected characteristics’ that are defined in the Equality Act 2010.

Published 11 January 2013
Last updated 14 January 2013 + show all updates

1. 14 January 2013

   Added executive summary.

2. 11 January 2013

   First published.