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Impact of Leader Racial Attitude on Ratings of Causes and Solutions for an Employee of Color Shortage

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Abstract

Diversity scholars have emphasized the critical role of corporate leaders for ensuring the success of diversity strategic initiatives in organizations. This study reports on business school leaders’ attributions regarding the causes for and solutions to the low representation of U.S. faculty of color in business schools. Results indicatethat leaders with greater awareness of racial issues rated an inhospitable organizational culture as a more important cause and cultural change and recruitment as more important solutions to faculty of color under-representation than did less racially aware respondents. Aware leaders also rated individual minority-group member responsibility for performance a less important solution than did less racially aware respondents. Implications are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bryan School of Business, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, P.O. Box 26165, Greensboro, NC, 27402-6165, USA

    E. Holly Buttner, Kevin B Lowe & Lenora Billings-Harris

Authors
  1. E. Holly Buttner
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  2. Kevin B Lowe
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  3. Lenora Billings-Harris
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Correspondence to E. Holly Buttner.

Additional information

E. Holly Buttner is Professor of Business Administration at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Greensboro, NC, USA. Her research interests include diversity in organizations, leadership assessment and entrepreneurship. She co-authored  Women Entrepreneurs: Moving Beyond the Glass Ceiling. She teaches courses in Diversity in Organizations, Organizational Behavior, and in Leadership Assessment and Development at the undergraduate and MBA levels. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kevin B. Lowe is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Greensboro, NC, USA. His research interests include leadership, international human resource management and cross cultural management. He received his Ph.D. at Florida International University.

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Buttner, E.H., Lowe, K.B. & Billings-Harris, L. Impact of Leader Racial Attitude on Ratings of Causes and Solutions for an Employee of Color Shortage. J Bus Ethics 73, 129–144 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9178-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9178-2

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