The portrayal of diversity and its management in professional & corporate communication : an analysis of the exertion of influence from the media on organisations

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(1)The portrayal of diversity and its management in professional & corporate communication. An analysis of the exertion of influence from the media on organisations. Jana Karau.

(2) The portrayal of diversity and its management in professional & corporate communication An analysis of the exertion of influence from the media on organisations. Master´s Thesis Jana Karau Student Number: 10496556 Supervisor: Dr. Pytrik Schafraad. University of Amsterdam Graduate School of Communication Master´s programme Communication Science, Corporate Communication June 26, 2015. . 2.

(3) ABSTRACT Diverse workforces and their management are becoming increasingly important in current times of globalisation, demographic change, and skills shortage. With the goal of remaining competitive in the constantly changing world of work, organisations are more and more counteracting these challenges by progressively dealing with the topic of diversity management. Here, the level on which the organisations internally incorporate diversity management is often reflected in their corporate reports, which are communication tools that may on the one hand affect the organisations´ image. The enlarging importance of this topic is on the other hand mirrored in the proliferating coverage in professional media. In order to investigate how diversity management is covered in both professional media and corporate communication, a manual content analysis was conducted. Key aspects of the study were the different diversity forms and types, benefits and drawbacks, the implementation of diversity, as well as different perspectives that provide a framework for presenting the topic. In particular, the investigation focused on the change of the coverage over time as well as the exertion of influence from the media on the organisations, with the former representing the fourth estate that have the function of opinion-brokers that practice agenda setting. The results show that the coverage of diversity and its different forms and types develop over time both in the media and the corporate reports. While unobservable forms increase, which refers to a broader perspective under which diversity is approached, gender diversity as an observable form is still in the limelight of coverage. An exertion of influence from the media on the organisations is visible, but differs in its extent for the various aspects under examination. Furthermore, the results together with the arguments provided in the theoretical framework demonstrate that internal processes, the attitude of the executive floor regarding diversity, as well as politics also play decisive roles to which degree diversity management is incorporated as a strategic goal.. Keywords Diversity, Diversity Management, Gender Diversity, Cultural Diversity, Age Diversity, Professional Media, Organisations, Germany, Professional Communication, Corporate Communication, Agenda Setting, Influence. . 3.

(4) INTRODUCTION Diversity management has gained a lot of attention both in the scientific and the corporate environment in recent years. The underlying reason for this is the fact that globalisation and migration are constantly increasing, thus making the management of diversity in organisations indispensable (Podsiadlowski, Gröschke, Kogler, Springer, & Van der Zee, 2013). An important question in this field is how organisations differently evaluate diversity and reflect this crucial topic in their corporate reports. The latter represents an essential communication tool that was a carrier for “financial information” in earlier times, but nowadays is used as a “reputation management device” that should be contemplated with regard to performance appraisal (Larsen, 2015). Corporate reports further codetermine the image people have of an organisation (Wells & Spinks, 1999) and can be used as an instrument for employer branding (comprend, 2014). Although a study by Ernst & Young (2012) concluded that most large corporations in Germany are engaged in diversity management, the focus here is on the gender aspect. But especially in the context of globalisation and demographic change, cultural and age diversity are as important and strategies need to be developed in order to exploit the full potential of the workforce. A second viewpoint concerns the portrayal of diversity in the media: Which types of diversity are covered and how are they framed? Do the media also focus on gender diversity or are they equally presenting different diversity types? Which attributes are highlighted that might influence the views of human resource managers and CEOs about the topic, thus exerting power over relevant decisions in organisations. The current changes with regard to globalisation, migration and demography affect society and particularly organisations, assigning new tasks to the latter with regard to the management of diversity. The way of framing diversity might on the one hand influence the attitude both managers and employees have of diverse workforces and on the other hand affect the relation of diverse employees within the organisation. Furthermore, diversity is of great interest among the corporate communication research community that has been paying attention and conducting various sorts of research in this field. However, a comparison of the German media coverage and the corporate reports of German organisations regarding the framing of diversity and accordingly the investigation of a possible exertion of influence from the media frames on the corporate communication frames represents a research gap, which can be fulfilled by this explorative research project. Based on the above-mentioned thoughts, the overall research question is: To what extent do the media exert an influence on German organisations when communicating about the issue of diversity and its management in organisations?. . 4.

(5) THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Background Diversity at work is defined as any kind of difference between employees that may cause people to perceive others as different from themselves (Van Knippenberg & Schippers, 2007; Williams & O´Reilly, 1998). Here, the management of diversity encourages organisations to notice and embrace these differences instead of ignoring them. This in turn can support employees to be who they are, while at the same time profiting from the differences (Liff, 1996). Cox defined the management of diversity as “planning and implementing organizational systems and practices to manage people so that the potential advantages of diversity are maximized while its potential disadvantages are minimized” (1993, p. 11). Originally evolved from the 1960´s anti-discrimination movement that led to the Civil Rights Act in 1964 (Cox, 1993), diversity management developed in the 1980s in the USA. It then spread to Europe in the 1990s, when workforces here became more diverse too (Vedder, 2006). In Germany, the topic was integrated in German law with the “Gleichbehandlungsgesetz” (The General Equal Treatment Act) that came into force in August 2006. The protection against workplace discrimination is the main goal of the act. Support measures as well as obligations for employers are regulated (BMSFSJ, 2010). Furthermore, the Charta der Vielfalt, founded in September 2006, fosters the support of diversity management in German organisations. The corporations Daimler, BP Europa SE (formerly Deutsche BP), Deutsche Bank, and Deutsche Telekom brought this corporate initiative to life. Today, more than 2.000 organisations in Germany signed the Charta der Vielfalt and thus a voluntary selfcommitment to create a working environment free from prejudices (Charta der Vielfalt, 2015). Accordingly, a study by Deloitte (2013) and the University of Cologne revealed that 46% of the participants (HR managers of German organisations) ascribe the topic of diversity management a high or very high significance in their organisation. Furthermore, 92% of the participants estimate that the importance of the topic will increase in the future (Deloitte, 2013). Observable / Unobservable forms of diversity In general, the concept of diversity refers to both observable as well as unobservable forms, also described as surface-level and deep-level diversity (Harrison, Price, & Bell, 1998). Observable forms are for example gender, race, and age, which are applied in selfcategorisation processes (Messick & Mackie, 1989; Williams & O´Reilly, 1998). Unobservable forms refer to religion, sexual orientation, or professional competence. The former will be introduced shortly as follows, as these are among the demographic characteristics that are most frequently used in research (Williams & O´Reilly, 1998), and are often the drivers for discrimination at the workplace (Sepehri & Wagner, 2000). Therefore, . 5.

(6) they are playing a crucial role when developing and executing a diversity management strategy, although they are less job-related than for example tenure or educational background (Van Knippenberg & Schippers, 2007). Gender Diversity Gender diversity has gained widespread attention in the field of diversity management for two reasons: First, women are valued as an important source of labour during times of increasing demographic change. Second, gender diverse teams are evaluated as being a success factor for organisations (Charta der Vielfalt, 2015). Nevertheless, the success of gender diverse teams is dependent on several boundary conditions, such as employment sector or characteristics of the team (Boerner, Keding & Hüttermann, 2012). According to the aforementioned study on diversity in German organisations, 27% of the participants point out that their organisation has internalised a women ́s quota (Deloitte, 2013). Due to the fact that the percentage of women in top management positions in German organisations is still very low, the German Bundestag on March 6, 2015 passed a law that regulates the gender quota of 30% beginning January 1, 2016. Corporations with more than 2.000 employees are obliged to successively put into practice the quota when free vacancies for the directorship are available (Die Bundesregierung, 2015). Interestingly, a study by Bernardi, Bean, and Weippert (2002) found that Fortune 500 companies are more likely to show gender diversity in their annual reports when the degree to which they put gender diversity into practice is rather high. This finding leads to the assumption that a similar picture can be found in corporate reports of German organisation, meaning that organisations with greater efforts of (gender) diversity management are also more likely to write about it in their corporate report. With regard to the new legal requirement from 2016 on, it is likely that the degree to which large German operations report on gender diversity increases in the future. Cultural Diversity Although the aforementioned observable diversity form was described as “race”, this type should be regarded under the umbrella of cultural diversity, which describes a broader type of diversity as it encompasses both observable as well as unobservable forms (Hofhuis, 2012). However, culturally diverse people are recurrently recognisable through external features like dialect. Cultural diversity has become relevant both in academic research as well as in organisations. The former found cultural diverse work teams to have a positive effect on the understanding on cultural diverse groups in society, the creative potential within the organisation, and the organisation´s image of social responsibility (Hofhuis, Van der Zee, & Otten, 2015). Accordingly, Ely and Thomas (2001) described the benefits of cultural diverse teams for organisations as “potentially valuable resources” that provides the opportunity to rework operating procedures and market processes in order to reach a stronger position (Ely . 6.

(7) & Thomas, 2001, p. 240). Nevertheless, cultural diversity should be carefully evaluated (Hofhuis, et al., 2015), as it could also lead to social categorization processes in which people negatively judge people that belong to other cultural groups (Brewer & Brown, 1998). All the aforementioned features of cultural diversity are especially applicable to Germany, a country in which 16 million of the 80.7 million, or one-fifth, of the residents have a migrant background (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, 2015). Age Diversity Scientific research recently demonstrated that both positive as well as negative stereotypes concerning older employees in organisations exist, whereby negative stereotypes are prevalent (Bal, Reiss, Rudolph, & Baltes, 2011). However, a study by Stone and Tetrick (2013) revealed that older workers are less resistant to change, more resilient, more concerned with protecting the environment, and less frequently take short voluntary sick leaves. Nonetheless, these strengths and advantages of older workers are often neglected or overlooked. This can lead to significant consequences for both employees and organisations, for example, when negative attitudes may become a self-fulfilling prophecy (Boerlijst, Van der Heijden, & Van Assen, 1993) and older workers behave according to role definitions by others (Hertel, Van der Heijden, De Lange, & Deller, 2013). Age diversity in German organisations has especially become more important since the federal government decided in 2012 to prolong work life from the age of 65 to the age of 67 (Deutsche Rentenversicherung, 2015). Hence, the development of effective strategies to integrate the aging workforce and prevent “opposing age groups” becomes even more important (Kunze, Boehm, & Bruch, 2013, p. 414). When opposing age groups are formed, they might conspire against each other instead of working as a team. This might in turn lead to reduced ability to perform up to the mark (Kunze et al., 2013). Glass (2007) proposes four actions to defeat generational disputes at work: the adjustment of human resource policies and corporate philosophies, the undertaking of effective communication, the incorporation of collaborative decision making, and the development of internal training programs that focus on differences. Benefits & drawbacks The previous explanations of three different observable diversity types already named some benefits and drawbacks of diverse workforces. In general, diversity can be described as a “double-edged sword”, as it can lead to positive outcomes such as creativity, but on the other hand is also related to negative outcomes such as difficulties identifying with a group (Milliken & Martins, 1996, p. 403). Therefore, diverse organisations need to consider the sensitive factors that accompany diversity management and often impede its successful implementation. But as its prudential performance “broadens the pool of potentially taskrelevant resources”, the topic has become essential for organisations (Hentschel, Shemla, . 7.

(8) Wegge, & Kearney, 2013, p. 34). HR managers and CEOs have recognized that they lose their competitiveness when they do not succeed in appealing to as well as holding skilled employees, which requires the creation of a suitable organisational culture (Eversole, Venneberg, & Crowder, 2012). Here, two important perspectives that represent the benefits and drawbacks of diverse teams need to be taken into account. The social categorisation perspective acts on the assumption that people assign themselves and others into groups based on similar characteristics (Van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004; Jenkins, 2000). These groups are described as in-groups and out-groups, in which people tend to prefer ingroups with group members that have more similar characteristics than do members of outgroups. This preference might lead to prejudices against members of the out-groups as well as to inter-group conflicts (Riordan & Shore, 1997; Tsui, Egan, & O´Reilly, 1992). Therefore, this line of research concludes that homogenous teams are performing better than heterogeneous groups. This finding is consistent with the similar attraction perspective (Williams & O´Reilly, 1998). On the other hand, the information decision making perspective views heterogeneous teams as superior to homogeneous teams, as they can access a more extensive source of knowledge. Furthermore, heterogeneous teams are regarded as engaging more often in discourse about their different viewpoints. This enables them to more carefully develop task-relevant information (Van Knippenberg et al., 2004). Implementation of diversity management With the aim of implementing diversity in an organisation, three essential activities are supportive: (1) the adaptation of employment procedures, (2) programs or trainings to foster “multicultural understanding”, and (3) diversity policies (Pitts, 2009, p. 330). The latter show employees that they are held in esteem regardless of their differences (Triana & Garcia, 2009). Accordingly, Liff introduces the approach of valuing differences by introducing policies, which foster the “perpetuation of inequality” (1996, p. 14). Referring to Bendl, Fleischmann, and Hofman (2009), an organisation´s understanding of diversity has greater effects on diversity outcomes when expressed in organisational norms or code of conducts, than if only included in diversity statements or HR practices. Furthermore, the internalisation of diversity policies might encourage employees to take over these rules for their own behaviour, thus leading to decreased discrimination against others (Kunze, et al., 2013). Correspondingly, Van Knippenberg, Van Ginkel, Homan, and Kooij-de Bode (2005) developed the term “diversity-mindsets”, referring to employees´ perception and evaluation of how a diverse team might affect their team and how they can cope with it. The authors assume that these diversity-mindsets might influence social categorization as well as information decision-making processes. Furthermore, both the media and the organisations might benefit from making forecasts about the development of diversity, as the media show . 8.

(9) their holistic way of thinking, while the organisations use them as guidelines in their strategic position. Moreover, organisations can also set goals they want to achieve, which can function as motivator for action (Latham & Locke, 1991). Three diversity perspectives Diversity statements represent a tool for corporate communication in the sense of reputation management and corporate social responsibility, as the way the topic is framed mirrors how the company evaluates it (Singh & Point, 2004). The framing of this topic in corporate reports is therefore crucial for organisations and needs to be well-thought-out. Thomas and Ely (2001) developed three diversity perspectives that help to cluster organisations according to their understanding of diversity management. Organisations that execute diversity management according to the discrimination and fairness paradigm tend to assume that employees are all the same, thus neglecting that the workforce is intrinsically diverse with a great potential for collaboration, learning, and different view points from which an organisation can benefit. Hofhuis, Schafraad, Van Odijk, and Trilling (2015) described this as the moral or anti-discrimination perspective. The second perspective is the access and legitimacy paradigm, in which organisations are aware of the differences in the workforce, while trying to use these for increasing its business power. Therefore, this perspective can be described as the market-oriented perspective. The third paradigm is the learning and effectiveness paradigm or emerging paradigm. In this paradigm, the organisation fosters equal opportunities for all employees (discrimination and fairness paradigm) and at the same time respects the differences among them (access and legitimacy paradigm). The additional value in this perspective is that the organisation internalises the differences and “learns and grows because of them” (Thomas & Ely, 1996, p. 86). It is therefore also described as the innovation perspective. Based on the forecited theory, the first three sub-questions for this research project are: 1a. Does the coverage of diversity in both professional media and corporate reports change over time from focusing on gender diversity to incorporating other aspects like culture and age? 2a. How is diversity evaluated in both professional media and corporate reports and does this change over time? 3a. Are actions for the implementation of diversity management mentioned in both professional media and corporate reports and does this change over time? 4a. Which diversity perspective is prevalent in professional media and corporate reports over time? The influence of the media The theory of agenda setting represents a core concept for the study at hand. The main assumption of the agenda setting approach is that the media agenda has an influence on the . 9.

(10) topics that are prevalent on the public agenda (Esrock & Leichty, 1998; McCombs & Reynold, 2002; Scheufele & Tewksbury, 2007). Agenda setting acts on two levels. The first level is engaged with the salience of objects (e.g. topics or issues), whereas the second level centres the salience of the attributes of those objects (Carroll & McCombs, 2003). When applied to the topic of diversity, the first level of agenda setting would be concerned with, for example, the different types of diversity like gender, culture, and age. The second level of agenda setting would refer to how the different diversity types are presented, e.g. the benefits and drawbacks of them. Moreover, the theory of agenda setting is interrelated with the concept of framing. Framing is engaged with the technique to “select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, moral evaluation and/or treatment recommendation for the item described” (Entman, 1993, p. 52). Framing is to some extent similar to the second level of agenda setting in the sense that both theories look at how objects are portrayed in the media. However, the theories differ from each other as framing covers a more extensive magnitude of “cognitive processes” like evaluations or causal reasoning (Weaver, 2007, p. 146). With regard to the study at hand, three of the seven models of framing (Hallahan, 1999) can be applied, namely the framing of issues, actions, and responsibility. Issue framing is related to defining social problems and is in this case attached to the interpretation and the understanding of these. Here, a link to the three perspectives of diversity (Thomas & Ely, 2001) can be drawn. To illustrate this link, the four functions of framing are applicable, which are (1) to “define problems”, in this case diversity in organisations, (2) to “diagnose causes”, in this case reasons for the problems diversity in organisations causes, (3) to “make moral judgements”, in this case to define who is responsible for diversity management in organisations, and (4) to “suggest remedies”, in this case the provision of solutions for the drawbacks of diversity (Entman, 1993, p. 52) (Table 1). Table 1. Translation of three diversity perspectives into frames by Entman (1993) . . Define problems. Diagnose causes. Moral Judgements. Suggest remedies. Moral Perspective. Diverse members of society are kept out of organization. Change in society. Everyone is the same. Career-development for special groups. Marketoriented Perspective. Need of access to differentiated segments. Multicultural organisation. Accepting differences. Diversity only used in special departments. Innovation Perspective. Not making the most of their own pluralism. Diverse members make decision because of their background. We are the same because of differences. Diversity used everywhere in the organisation. 10.

(11) Furthermore, framing of actions about diversity can lead to positive consequences as far as the actions are also framed in a positive way. Last but not least, framing of responsibility means that either the media or the corporation assign responsibility for the management of diversity. This can be, for example, the organisation as a whole, the CEO, the HR department, or the workers´ council. Professional Media A recent study of the media usage of German managers revealed that professional media are the most important source of information for them. 79,2% of the decision makers in organisations uses them to receive information about their field of work (Agiplan, 2014). Based on these findings, one could assume that human resource managers use professional media in the topic of human resources as orientation and to inform themselves about the latest news and developments. Then, they might apply the newly gained insights to their daily business. Hence, what professional media in the field of human resources write about the issue of diversity management in organisations might influence how managers perceive and evaluate the topic, thus influencing them in decisions they make relating to employment or diversity policies. Furthermore, professional trade media are said to have topic sovereignty because they engage in scientific and vocational discourse (Gläser, 2014). Based on discourse with experts, professional media are likely to introduce new topics and perspectives first, thus being opinion brokers (Burt, 1999) between experts and HR managers for certain topics such as diversity. Applied to the topic of diversity management, which is a human resources topic, it can be assumed that professional media in the field of human resources are pioneers in covering the topic of diversity management, based on the aforesaid discourse. While using certain frames to cover the topic of diversity, professional media are likely to exert an influence on their readership (HR managers) and its views on the topic of diversity. Based on the aforementioned concepts, the further research questions are: 1b. Does an influencing role of professional media on organisations´ coverage of different diversity aspects exist? 2b. Does an influencing role of professional media on organisations´ evaluation of diversity exist? 3b. Does an influencing role of professional media on organisation´s implementation of diversity management exist? 4b. Does an influencing role of professional media on organisations´ perspectives of diversity exist? METHOD In order to be able to answer the research questions, a manual content analysis of the portrayal of the diversity topic in German media and corporate reports of German organisations has . 11.

(12) been conducted with the online survey tool Qualtrics. The sample of the study is described more precisely in the following paragraph. Corporate Communication Based on the ranking of the 100 largest German organisations (Statista, 2014), a random sample of ten organisations was selected for the study at hand. Herewith was ensured that different branches are included in the examination. The analysed material consists of different corporate reports, provided that they were available online: the annual report, the corporate governance report, and the CSR/sustainability report. The reports were retrieved from the websites of the companies. The time period was set for the years 2006 until 2014. The starting point 2006 was chosen due to restricted availability of the professional media (years 2006 until today). For research efficiency reasons, only every second year was looked at: 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. Therefore, the sample of the German organisations consisted of 76 reports (5 years * 10 organisations = 50 annual reports + 26 for other than annual reports, e.g. sustainability reports). In order to avoid the country of origin effect (Süß & Kleiner, 2007), meaning that German organisations with a US parent are part of the sample, these organisations were excluded before selecting the sample. Herewith, it could be ruled out that false inferences from a biased sample are made, as organisations with a US parent are likely to have adapted diversity management to a different degree than German organisations without a US parent. Professional Media With the aim of analysing the issue of diversity management and its portrayal in the media, the three special interest magazines with the highest run of copies in the field of human research management were examined. These are the personalmagazin1 by Haufe-Lexware GmbH & Co. KG with 35.000 copies and 12 issues per year (personalmagazin, 2015), the HR Services by DATAKONTEXT GmbH with 25.000 copies and one edition per year (HR Services, 2013) and the Personal im Fokus by Verlag für die Deutsche Wirtschaft AG with 12.000 copies and nine issues per year (Personal im Fokus, 2015). As the HR Services focuses on outsourcing and services around human resources and is only published once a year, the topic of diversity might not be covered as much as in the other magazines. Therefore, it was more suitable to choose the fifth largest HR magazine2, which is the Personalwirtschaft by Wolters Kluwer Deutschland GmbH with 7.200 copies and 12 issues per year (Personalwirtschaft, 2015a). The target group of these magazines contains of CEOs, human resource managers, recruiters, experts (e.g. employee development, eLearning), as well as service providers and consultants in the field of human resources. Most of the readers of all three 1 2. . [sic!] The fourth magazine has no suitable database to access.. 12.

(13) magazines work in large organisations (Table 2; personalmagazin, 2015; Personal im Fokus, 2015; Personalwirtschaft, 2015b). This corresponds with the sample of the organisations in the study at hand, which are the largest in Germany. This sample design ensured that conclusions about dependencies can eventually be made, as this study looks at the framing of diversity in corporate communication of large organisations, in which HR managers work that belong to the readership of the analysed professional media. Table 2. Readership of the three magazines that are analysed in the study Professional trade media. personalmagazin. Personal im Fokus. Personalwirtschaft. Readership. 69% of the readership works in organisations with more than 100 employees. 53% of the readership works in organisations with more than 100 employees. Readership mostly from medium-sized enterprises and large corporations. Note. Numbers for the Personalwirtschaft were not available.. Human resources managers represent most of the readership of the magazines, with 45% HR managers for the personalmagazin, 40% HR managers for the Personal im Fokus (Personal im Fokus, 2015), and 60% HR managers for the Personalwirtschaft (Personalwirtschaft, 2015a). With the aim of comparing the professional and corporate communication, the articles were selected for the same time period as the corporate reports (2006-2014). In contrast to the organisations, all years are included to ensure an appropriate amount of articles. Despite the fact that the Personal im Fokus only exists since January 2012, it is still included in the study, because it belongs to the largest HR magazines in Germany and enables the researcher to gain a broader overview of the media coverage. To identify the relevant articles, the keywords “diversity” and its German equivalent as well as the keyword “Vielfalt” (English: “Diversity”) were used in the search tool of the databases. 500 articles were found, which were all scanned in order to filter out the ones that used one of the keywords, but not in the sense of the research project. After the filtering process, 116 articles remained, which were included in the analyses. Operationalisation The insights and findings of previous academic research as presented in the theoretical framework served as the groundwork for developing the coding scheme for the study at hand, thus representing a deductive and theory-based approach. However, some of the variables are developed inductively on the basis of the material. To be able to examine the diversity topic from an empirical viewpoint rather than an abstract one, the constructs were translated into variables that enabled the researcher to measure (Mueller, 2004). These variables were divided into structural as well as content variables. The structural variables were chosen to analyse the basic characteristics that are used to present the topic of diversity management. . 13.

(14) These variables were among others year of the article/report, magazine, type of report, date of signing the Charta der Vielfalt, diversity form, diversity type, length of paragraph about diversity, or length of paragraph about diversity type, main topic of the article, or diversity types as main topic in articles/reports. The content variables were chosen to gain a deeper understanding of the embedding of the topic with regard to the range of the topic and implementation in the organisation. These variables were among others references made in the media, benefits and drawbacks, responsibility, activities, diversity policies, awards, forecasts, goals, and diversity perspectives (moral, market-oriented, or innovation perspective) (Table 3). Table 3. Operationalization of the theoretical constructs into measurable variables Subject/ Question. Theoretical Background. Categories. Source. v13. Unobservable/ Observable forms. Types of diversity. None, Observable, Unobservable, Both. Harrison, Price & Bell, 1998. v23. Does the article/report quote other people while talking about diversity?. Scientific and vocational discourse of the media. No, Expert, Study, Politician, Employee, Other. Gläser, 2014. Social Categorisation + Information/Decision Making perspective. Social Categorisation Processes, Information/Decision Making,. Van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004; Williams & O´Reilly, 1998. Framing. Not mentioned, Whole organisation, CEO, HR department, Works council, Managers, Employees, Others. Hallahan, 1999. Framing. No, Right employment decisions, Training managers, Training employees, Age appropriate workplaces, Meetings, Effective communication, Collaborative decision making, Other, namely. Hallahan, 1999; Glass, 2007. Diversity policies. No; Yes, diversity policies; Yes, human resource policies; Yes, health & safety policies; Yes, other policies. Triana & Garcia, 2009; Liff, 1996; Bendl, Fleischmann & Hofman, 2009; Kunze, Boehm & Bruch, 2013; Pitts, 2009. Diversity perspectives. No perspective, Moral perspective, Market-oriented perspective, Innovation perspective, Unclear. Thomas & Ely, 2001. v25 + v26. v27. v28. Benefits & Drawbacks. Responsibility. Activities. v29. Diversity policies. v35. Perspectives/ Frames. . 14.

(15) Intracoder-Reliability In order to test the reliability of the results, an intracoder reliability test with Krippendorff´s alpha values was conducted after completing the data collection. The coding procedure for the variables was regarded as reliable when a Krippendorff´s alpha of .70 or higher was achieved. This point of reference is often used in exploratory research (Lombard, Snyder-Duch & Campanella Bracken, 2002). Most of the structure and content variables reached acceptable values above .70 (Appendix B). However, some of the variables or single categories of variables reached values below .70, indicating results that are only partially reliable. These variables are length of paragraph about diversity, length of paragraph about gender diversity, content benefits (category: information/decision making), content drawbacks (all categories), as well as activities (categories: right employment decisions and meetings with diverse teams). A possible explanation why the variables length of paragraph about (gender) diversity reached unacceptable values might be that the codebook did not contain instructions on how to cope with sentences that occurred twice, for example in different chapters. The fact that the category information/decision making (variable content benefits) reached a low KALPHA value might be attributed to the complexity of this variable and the high probability that neither the media nor the corporate reports refer to this exact term. Furthermore, all categories of the variable content drawbacks reached inacceptable values. A reason for this is that the coding of the first category determines the coding of the following categories. Thus, if the first category is coded differently, the following categories are inevitably also coded differently. Furthermore the categories right employment decisions and meetings with diverse teams (variable activities) reached low KALPHA values. During the coding process, the question arose whether right employment decisions only refer to the application process or can also be linked with internal support programs for employees, e.g. women. In addition, it was not entirely clear whether the category meetings with diverse groups (variable activities) only refers to work- or project-related meetings or can also be regarded as team meetings to foster teambuilding in a diverse group. Nevertheless, most of the variables scored sufficiently and can reliably be used for the analyses and the associated conclusions. Exact values can be found in appendix B. Preparation of the data After having conducted the content analysis in Qualtrics, the data was exported into SPSS, a predictive analytics software. The preparation of the data in SPSS included the merging of reports in the case of more than one report for one year. For example, BMW provided an annual report as well as a sustainability report for 2014. In order to create the same boundary conditions for each organisation, these two reports of BMW in 2014 were merged manually. This means that the researcher looked at each variable and decided how to merge the two . 15.

(16) codes. An automatic merge, e.g. with the command “compute variable” in SPSS, was not the simplest solution, because some variables needed to be summed, others needed to be averaged. An overview of how the variables were merged can be found in appendix C. Furthermore, new categories were included for the entries that recurred in the category “other, namely ________”. Analyses The data analyses were composed of frequency and descriptive analyses in order to acquire an elementary understanding of the differences in covering diversity between professional media and corporate communication. Furthermore, crosstabs and the appropriate tests, either Pearson´s Chi-square test or Fisher´s Exact test, were used to reveal relationships between the variables. These tests were also used to examine the change over time. T-tests were used to examine differences between the lengths of paragraph of the different diversity types. In addition, analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to explore differences between the three magazines as well as between the organisations regarding the length of paragraph about diversity. In a last step, linear regression analyses were conducted to identify whether the year of the articles or the reports is an accurate predictor of the different variables (observable/ unobservable forms, three diversity types as a main topic, positive/balanced evaluation, no activities mentioned, three perspectives). For this purpose, dummy variables were created with “1” = category under examination and “0” = all other categories. In general, it should be noted that the sample of the study at hand is rather small, whereby some of the crosstabs (year of the article - diversity forms; magazine - activities: mentoring programs) contain less than 5 cases. This needs to be taken into account when interpreting the results. RESULTS The order of the results section for each sub-question refers to (1) the media in general, (2) the differences between the three magazines, (3) the corporate reports, and (4) the differences between the media and the reports. First of all, a descriptive overview of the general findings for the media and the organisations over all years will be provided. The second part outlines the change over time as well as the degree of influence of the media on the organisations. General Overview The media analysis (N = 116) revealed that 68% of the articles (n = 79) present diversity as the main subject. A closer look at the three HR magazines showed no statistically significant association between the type of magazine and diversity as a main topic. When diversity is not the main topic of the article, it is mostly presented together with other typical HR topics. These are among others the demographic change (n = 7) or recruiting procedures (n = 3). Expectedly, diversity is also part of the headline when being the main topic of the article . 16.

(17) (67%, n = 78). Again, no significant association was found between the three magazines and diversity in the headline. The analysis of the corporate reports (N = 50) showed that 86% integrate the topic of diversity (n = 43), while 14% do not do so (n = 7). These are earlier reports in 2006, 2008, and 20103. It is noticeable that the organisations that integrate the topic of diversity (n = 43) slightly more often put it separately within an extra paragraph with a headline containing the topic of diversity (65%, n = 28). Still, 35% of the reports that cover diversity only report on the topic within other chapters (n = 15). Length of paragraph about diversity The range of length about diversity4 in the media reaches from 26 words to 2.449 (M = 740.71, SD = 260.43). Differences between the magazines are noticeable with the average of 629.40 words for the personalmagazin (M = 629.40, SD = 550.57), an average of 328.47 words for the Personal im Fokus (M = 328.47, SD = 353.91), and an average of 1.116,62 words for the Personalwirtschaft (M = 1.116,62, SD = 643.06) (Figure 1). The association between type of magazine and length of paragraph about diversity is statistically significant (F (2, 113) = 14.19, p 2. 1200. 1000. 800. < .001, η = .20). The pairwise comparison. 600. by means of the Hochberg´s GT2 post hoc. 400. test for unequal variances revealed signifi-. 200. 0. cant differences between the personalmagazin and the Personalwirtschaft (Mdifference = 487.23, p < .001), as well as for the Personal im Fokus and the Personal-. Figure 1. Means of length of paragraph about diversity in the three wirtschaft (Mdifference = -788.15, p < .001). magazines (N = 116) This means that the Personalwirtschaft publishes significantly longer articles than the other two magazines. The corporate reports have a range from 0 to 1.762 words (M = 410.68, SD = 450.24). This is significantly lower than in the media (M = 740.71, SD = 260.43, t (126,06) = 3.84, p < .001, 95% CI [160.11, 499.95]). Half of the organisations in the study at hand embrace diversity to a lesser extent with up to 380 words, while the other half is concerned with the topic in greater depth with up to 1.762 words (Table 4). However, significant differences between the organisations are only found for Axel Springer and Fielmann (Mdifference = 840.40, p = .024) and Axel Springer and Gelsenwasser (Mdifference = 871.20, p = .016). This means that Axel Springer writes significantly more about diversity in its corporate reports than Fielmann or Gelsenwasser. 3 4. . Beiersdorf (2006, 2008), Fielmann (2006, 2008), Gelsenwasser (2006, 2008, 2010). No reliable KALPHA values. . 17.

(18) Table 4. Mean (SD) of paragraph length on diversity in general in corporate reports (N = 50) Minimum. Maximum. Mean (SD). Allianz. 65. 295. 197.00 (82.83). Axel Springer. 174. 1.762. 882.80 (628.80). Bayer. 442. 1201. 754.00 (357.56). Beiersdorf. 0. 1.219. 637.00 (590.04). BMW. 258. 1440. 658.20 (500.18). Celesio. 82. 136. 109.40 (19.49). Commerzbank. 304. 1.165. 626.20 (321.46). Fielmann. 0. 109. 42.40 (46.26). Gelsenwasser. 0. 29. 11.60 (15.85). GFK. 29. 383. 188.20 (151.83). Observable / unobservable forms Twelve out of 116 articles cover the topic of diversity without enlarging on specific types of diversity. For the rest of the articles, a predominance of observable forms of diversity (72%, n = 83), such as gender, culture and age, is noticeable. Only 18% of the articles mention both observable and unobservable forms (n = 18) (Table 5). Significant differences between the three magazines were not found. All corporate reports that cover the topic of diversity also expand on specific types of diversity (n = 43). Here, a predominance of observable forms of diversity, which was also found in the media, is present (63%, n = 27). Thirty-seven percent of the corporate reports that cover diversity mention both observable and unobservable forms (n = 16) (Table 5). This difference to the media (18% both forms) is statistically significant (weak association: p = .018, two-tailed Fisher´s Exact Test, Cramer´s V = .21, p = .012). This means that the corporate reports mention both observable and unobservable forms significantly more often compared to the media. Gender, cultural, and age diversity The different types of diversity (gender, culture, age) are unevenly covered in the media with regard to being integrated as a main topic. A look at the data reflects that gender diversity is more often covered as a main topic in the media (32%, n = 33) than cultural diversity (12%, n = 12), and age diversity (17%, n = 18) (Table 5). Here, no significant differences were found between the three magazines. The corporate reports also focus on gender diversity as a main topic (72%, n = 31) compared to cultural (16%, n = 7), and age diversity (19%, n = 8) (Table 5). A significant association was found between the variables article/report as the independent variable (iV) and gender main topic as the dependent variable (dV) (moderate association: χ2 (2, n = 147) = 20.16; p < .001; Cramer´s V= .37, p = .01). Gender diversity is more often covered as a main topic in corporate reports (72%, n = 31) than in the media (32%, . 18.

(19) n = 33). However, no significant association was found for the variables article/report (iV) and cultural diversity (dV) as well as age diversity (dV). Table 5. Frequencies of types of diversity in professional media and corporate reports in valid percent (N = 159) Media. Organisations. personalmagazin. Personal im Fokus. Personalwirtschaft. Media in total. Only Observable forms. 70%. 71%. 76%. 72%. 63%. Only Unobservable forms Both. 5%. 0%. 0%. 3%. 0%. 10%. 18%. 24%. 18%. 37%. Gender Main Topic. 25.0%. 27%. 43%. 32%. 72%. Culture Main Topic. 14%. 13%. 8%. 12%. 16%. Age Main Topic. 15%. 27%. 16%. 17%. 19%. Women´s quota When covering the topic of gender diversity, only about half of the articles mention a women´s quota (46%, n = 32). Here, 26% (n = 18) are referring to a voluntary internal women´s quota, while 20% (n = 14) mention the obligatory women´s quota. No statistically significant differences were found between the three magazines. In contrast, 65% of the corporate reports that cover gender diversity (n = 24) also mention a voluntary internal women´s quota. However, the obligatory quota is not mentioned in any of the reports. A significant association was found for the variables article/report (iV) and women´s quota (dV) (moderate association: χ2 (2, n = 106) = 18.40; p < .001; Cramer´s V= .42, p < .001). This means that a women´s quota is mentioned significantly more often in the corporate reports than in the media. Length of paragraph about different diversity types The inequalities in covering the different diversity types in the media and corporate reporting are also reflected in the number of words that are used to portray them. The media cover gender diversity5 with a greater number of words (M = 588.49 SD = 649.85) than cultural (M = 265.69, SD = 405.56) or age diversity (M = 334.40, SD = 461.06). However, this finding is not statistically significant. Correspondingly, the corporate reports cover gender diversity with a greater number of words (M = 269.66, SD = 349.04) than cultural diversity (M = 111.07, SD = 101.30), or age diversity (M = 169.11, SD = 126.50). The differences between gender and cultural diversity (t(23) = 3.355, p < .001, 95% CI [92.18, 388.66]), as well as between gender and age diversity (t(14) = 2.742, p = .016, 95% CI [65.58, 536.684]) are found to be significant (Table 6). In contrast, no significant differences were found between the number 5. . No reliable KALPHA values.. 19.

(20) of words about cultural and age diversity. Table 6. Mean (SD) of length of gender (N = 24), cultural (N = 15), and age (N = 16) diversity in the corporate reports M. SD. t(df). p. CI [lower; upper]. Gender*Cultural. 240.42. 351.06. 3.36 (23). .003. [92.18; 388.66]. Gender*Age. 301.13. 425.35. 2.74 (14). .016. [65.58; 536.68]. Cultural*Age. 2.44. 75.15. .13 (15). .898. [-37.61; 42.48]. The portrayal of diversity After having presented a general overview of the coverage of diversity in the media and corporate reporting, a deeper insight into the portrayal of diversity will be provided in the next paragraph. References in professional media Eighty-seven percent of all articles in the study make references with regard to diversity (n = 101). The most prominent references are made to studies (35%, n = 41), companies (34%, n = 39), employees (23%, n = 27), experts (20%, n = 23), and politicians/parties (18%, n = 21). Significant differences are found between the different magazines: The Personal im Fokus more often refrains from making references (42%) compared to the other two magazines (personalmagazin = 5%, Personalwirtschaft = 14%). This statistically significant association is found to be moderate (χ2 (2, n = 116) = 15.66; p < .001; Cramer´s V= .37, p < .001). In particular, a weak statistically significant association is found between the variables magazine (iV) and reference company (dV) (χ2 (2, n = 116) = 7.49; p < .024; Cramer´s V= .25, p < .024). The Personal im Fokus less often refers to companies (6%, n = 1) than the personalmagazin (36%, n = 22), and the Personalwirtschaft (43%, n = 16). A statistically significant weak association was also found for the variables magazine and reference consultancy (χ2 (2, n = 116) = 6.50; p = .039; Cramer´s V= .24, p < .039). The Personalwirtschaft more often refers to consultancies (43%, n = 16) than the personalmagazin (11%, n = 7), and the Personal im Fokus (0%, n = 0). Benefits & drawbacks Two third of the articles not only mention diversity, but also evaluate it (63%, n = 73). Here, no significant associations between the variables magazine (iV) and benefits & drawbacks (dV) were found. The evaluation of the media is more often only positive (41%, n = 48) than balanced with positive and negative evaluations (20%, n = 23) or only negative (2%, n = 2). The corporate reports show that 58% evaluate diversity (n = 25). No significant differences. . 20.

(21) were found between the three magazines. The evaluation of the corporate reports is more often only positive (56%, n = 24) than balanced with positive and negative evaluations (2%, n = 1). Only negative evaluation is not found in the corporate reports. The association between the variables article/report (iV) and benefits and drawbacks (dV) is statistically significant and a weak association was found (χ2 (3, n = 159) = 8.74; p = .033; Cramer´s V= .23, p = .033). A balanced evaluation with both benefits and drawbacks more often occurs in the media (20%, n = 23) than in the corporate reports (2%, n = 1). The media´s positive evaluation of diversity most often refers to competitiveness (42%, n = 30), more knowledge (38%, n = 27), more ideas (27%, n = 19), or being innovative (27%, n = 19 (Figure F). When the corporate reports evaluate diversity positively, the most mentioned benefits are competitiveness (50%, n = 13), more knowledge (39%, n = 10), being innovative (35%, n = 9), and more ideas (19%, n = 5) (Figure 2). No significant associations between the variables article/report (iV) and content benefits (dV) are found. 100% 80% 60% 40%. Media. 20%. Organisations. 0% Competitiveness More knowledge. More ideas. Being innovative. Figure 2. Most prominent benefits in the media and the corporate reports in valid percent (N = 159) When evaluating diversity negatively (n = 25), the most mentioned drawbacks6 in the media are prejudices (52%, n = 13), social categorisation processes (32%, n = 8), and opposing groups (16%, n = 4) (Figure 3). Again, no significant differences between the magazines are found. In contrast, the one corporate report that evaluated diversity negatively did not further explicate the drawbacks. No significant association was found between the variables article/report (iV) and content drawbacks (dV). 100%. 80%. 60%. 40%. 20%. 0%. Not specified. Prejudices . Social categorisation processes. Opposing roups. Other. Figure 3. Content drawbacks in the media (N = 25) 6. . No reliable KALPHA values.. 21.

(22) Responsibility Fifty-six percent of the articles (n = 65) assign responsibility for the management of diversity to people or departments in the organisation. The most prominent categories are the HR department (32%, n = 37), managers (18%, n = 21), the CEO (12%, n = 14), and the whole organisation (11%, n = 13). Significant differences between the three magazines were found for assigning responsibility to diversity managers. The Personalwirtschaft significantly more often assigns responsibility to diversity managers (16%, n = 6) than the personalmagazin (3%, n = 2), and the Personal im Fokus (0%, n = 0). In comparison, only a small amount of corporate reports attribute responsibility to certain persons or departments in the organisation (19%, n = 8). Here, the most prominent categories are the HR department (7%, n = 3), diversity managers (7%, n = 3), and the employees (5%, n = 2). Significant associations were found between the variables article/report (iV) and responsibility not mentioned (dV) (moderate associations: p < .001, two-tailed Fisher´s Exact Test, Cramer´s V= .33, p < .001), article/report (iV) and HR department (dV) (weak association: p = .001, two-tailed Fisher´s Exact Test, Cramer´s V= .26, p = .001), as well as between the variables article/report (iV) and managers (dV) (weak associations: p = .010, two-tailed Fisher´s Exact Test, Cramer´s V= .20, p = .010). While the media assign responsibility more often to managers (18%, n = 21) and the HR department (32%, n = 37) than the organisations (managers = 2%, n = 1; HR department = 7%, n = 3), the organisations less often assign responsibility to departments or certain employees (81%, n = 35) than the media (44%, n = 51). Implementation of diversity management Diversity policies are only occasionally mentioned in 9 of 116 articles7 (8%, n = 9) and in four of 50 reports (9%, n = 4) (Table 7). No significant associations were found between the variables article/report (iV) and diversity policies (dV). For the management of diversity, 70% of the articles (n = 81) mention several activities that should be implemented in the company (Table 7). The predominant activities mentioned are trainings for employees (38%, n = 44), right employment decisions8 (25%, n = 29), effective communication (21%, n = 24), and trainings for managers (15%, n = 17) (Table 7). Here, significant associations are found for the variables magazine (iV) and no activities mentioned (dV) (weak associations: χ2 (2, n = 116) = 7.91; p = .019; Cramer´s V= .26, p < .019). The personalmagazin more often refrains from mentioning activities (40%, n = 25) compared to the Personal im Fokus (29%, n = 5) and the Personalwirtschaft (14%, n = 5). Furthermore, significant differences were found for the variables magazine (iV) and trainings for employees (dV) (moderate associations: χ2 (2, n = 116) = 9.52; p = .0091; Cramer´s V= .29, p = .009). Here, the personalmagazin less often mentions trainings for employees (26%, n = 16) compared to the Personal im Fokus 7 8. . Differences between the three magazines are disregarded due to the small amount of cases. No reliable KALPHA values.. 22.

(23) (41%, n = 7) and the Personalwirtschaft (57%, n = 21). The third significant difference was found for the variables magazine (iV) and mentoring programs (dV) (moderate associations: χ2 (1, n = 116) = 15.23; p < .001; Cramer´s V= .36, p < .001). Here, the Personalwirtschaft more often refers to mentoring programs (22%, n = 8) compared to the personalmagazin (0%, n = 0) and the Personal im Fokus 6%, n = 1). A similar amount of corporate reports (63%, n = 27) mentions several activities for managing diversity (Table 7). The predominant activities are trainings for employees (37%, n = 16), trainings for managers (14%, n = 6), age appropriate workplaces (9%, n = 4), effective communication (7%, n = 3), and right employment decisions (7%, n = 3). Significant associations are found between the variables article/report (iV) and right employment decisions (dV) (weak associations: χ2 (1, n = 159) = 6.34; p = .012; Cramer´s V= .20, p < .012). The media significantly more often mentions right employment decisions compared to the corporate reports. Furthermore, awards with regard to diversity are only used rarely. Only 10% of the articles9 (n = 12) and 23% of the corporate reports (n = 10) mention them (Table 7). The association between the variables article/report (iV) and awards (dV) is found to be marginally significant (weak associations: p = .067, two-tailed Fisher´s Exact Test, Cramer´s V= .17, p = .036). The corporate reports significantly more often mention diversity awards compared to the media. Approximately one third of the articles make forecasts about diversity (32%, n = 37) (Table 7). Most of them predict that diversity management will increase (32%, n = 36). Significant differences between the three magazines are found. The personalmagazin more often refrains from making a forecast about diversity management (79%, n = 49) compared to the Personal im Fokus (65%, n = 11) and the Personalwirtschaft (51%, n = 19). Furthermore, the Personalwirtschaft significantly more often predicts that diversity management will increase compared to the personalmagazin (21%, n = 13) and the Personal im Fokus 35%, n = 6). Only 22% of the articles that make a forecast mention a point in time for it. They refer mostly to a point in time in the next two to five years (14%, n = 5). In contrast, only a small amount of corporate reports makes forecasts about the development of diversity (9%, n = 4) (Table 7). A significant association between the variables article/report (iV) and forecasts (dV) was found (moderate associations: χ2 (2, n = 159) = 8.39; p = .039; Cramer´s V= .45, p = .039). This means that the media significantly more often make forecasts compared to the corporate reports. All of the forecasts in the corporate reports predict that diversity management will increase (9%, n = 4). Half of the corporate reports that make a forecast about the development of diversity management mention a point in time in the next year (50%, n = 2). The other half of the reports that mentions a forecast, do not set a time for it (50%, n = 2). 9. . Differences between the three magazines are disregarded due to the small amount of cases.. 23.

(24) Table 7. Implementation of diversity management in valid percent (N = 159) Media. Organisations. Diversity Policies. 8%. 9%. Activities Awards Forecasts. 70% 10% 32%. 63% 23% 9%. On the other hand, nearly two third of the organisations talk about goals they want to achieve (65%, n = 28). When goals are covered, nearly half of the corporate reports mention a point in time (46%, n = 13). The most prominent point in time is in two to five years (21%, n = 6), while a point in time in the next year (14%, n = 4), a point in time in the next six to ten years (7%, n = 2) and other points in time (4%, n = 1) are mentioned less often. The three diversity perspectives When looking at the perspectives under which diversity is mentioned in the media, it is noticeable that 79% of the articles (n = 92) cover the topic of diversity under up to three perspectives (Figure 4). The market-oriented perspective is more often mentioned (59%, n = 68) than the moral (40% n = 46), and the innovation perspective (22%, n = 21.6) (Figure 4). Significant differences between the three magazines were found. The personalmagazin significantly more often refrains from mentioning diversity under a certain perspective (31%, n = 19) than the Personal im Fokus (12%, n = 2), or the Personalwirtschaft (8%, n = 3) (moderate association: χ2 (2, n = 116) = 8.14; p = .017; Cramer´s V= .27, p = .017). 100% 80% 60%. Media. 40%. Organisations. 20% 0% Moral Perspective. Market-oriented perspective. Innovation Perspective. Figure 4. Diversity perspectives in professional media and corporate reports in valid percent (N = 159) Furthermore, the personalmagazin less often mentions the moral perspective (29%, n = 18) than the Personal im Fokus (47%, n = 8), and the Personalwirtschaft (54%, n = 20). Another significant difference refers to the market-oriented perspective. This perspective is significantly more often mentioned in the Personalwirtschaft (78%, n = 29) than in the personalmagazin (48%, n = 30) and the Personal im Fokus (52%, n = 9). For the innovation perspective, no significant differences were found between the magazines. A similar amount of corporate reports (76%, n = 33) covers the topic of diversity under up to three perspectives. The prevalent perspective is also the market-oriented perspective (63%, n = 27). The moral . 24.

(25) perspective is applied in 47% of the corporate reports (n = 20), and the innovation perspective in 16% of the corporate reports (n = 7) (Figure 4). A significant association between the variables article/report (iV) and diversity perspective (dV) was not found. After having presented a general overview of the coverage of diversity in both professional media and corporate reporting, the sub-questions with regard to the change over time and the influence of the media on the organisations will be answered. Diversity types over time 1a. Does the coverage of diversity in professional media and corporate reports change over time from focusing on gender diversity to incorporating other aspects like culture and age? 1b. Does an influencing role of professional media on organisations´ coverage of different diversity aspects exist? Observable / Unobservable forms over time The media analysis over time revealed a peak of observable forms in 2010 with a following decrease until 2014 (Figure 5). A significant moderate relationship between year of the article (iV) and diversity forms (dV, none/observable/unobservable/both) is found (χ2 (24, n = 116) = 43.10; p = .010; Cramer´s V= .35, p = .010). This means that the coverage of only observable forms is significantly decreasing over time10. The coverage of both observable as well as unobservable forms is however increasing. The regression model with year of the article (iV) and observable forms (dV) is not significant. However, the regression model with year of the article (iV) and both forms (dV) is significant (F(1) = 10.90, p = .001). 9% of the variation in covering both observable and unobservable forms can be predicted based on the year of the article (R2= .09, b* = 0.40, t = 3.30, p = .001, 95% CI [.016, .064]). The attention to both forms increases by 4% every year. The corporate reports also show a peak of observable forms followed by a slight decrease, however deferred by two years (Figure 5). The coverage of both observable as well as unobservable forms is constant until 2010. Afterwards, a decrease is noticeable. The relationship between year of the report and diversity forms is not significant. The comparison of the time periods before and after signing the Charta der Vielfalt shows that the coverage of observable forms slightly rose after the organisations signed. Based on the staggered trend of the two graphs regarding the observable forms, an influence of the media on the organisations can be assumed. The regression model with year of the report (iV) and observable forms (dV) is significant (F(1) = 7.56, p = .008). 14% of the variation in covering observable forms can be predicted based on the year of the report (R2= .14, b* = .07, t = 2.75, p = .008, 95% CI [.017, .113]). The attention for observable forms increases every year by 7%. However, the regression model with year of the report (iV) and both forms (dV) is not significant. 10. . The category “only unobservable forms” is disregarded due to the small of cases.. 25.

(26) 100% 80%. Observable forms Media. 60%. Observable forms Organisations. 40%. Both forms Media. 20%. Both forms Organisations. 0% 2006. 2007. 2008. 2009. 2010. 2011. 2012. 2013. 2014. Media Observable forms - Linear: ΔR = .055, p = .556 Media Both forms - Linear: ΔR = .295, p = .001 Organisations Observable forms - Linear: ΔR = .369, p = .008 Organisations Both forms - Linear: ΔR = .121, p = .402. Figure 5. Diversity forms in the media and the corporate reports over time (N = 159) The media analysis of the length of paragraph about diversity over time revealed no statistically significant differences between the years. Regarding the corporate reports, marginal significant differences were found for the length of paragraph about diversity before and after signing the Charta der Vielfalt (F (1, 33) = 2.91, p = .098, η2 = .08). Before signing the Charta der Vielfalt, the average of words about diversity for all corporate reports was 391.79 (M = 391.79, SD = 382.84). After signing the Charta der Vielfalt, the length of paragraph about diversity rose to an average of 658.95 words (M = 658.95, SD = 495.20). Gender diversity over time By taking a closer look at the development of gender diversity in the media, it becomes clear that the coverage as a main topic increases slightly, while the coverage as a side topic increases heavily over time (Figure 6). The significant relationship between the variables grouped year of the article (iV) 11 and gender diversity (dV) is moderate (χ2 (4, n = 104) = 26.27; p < .001; Cramer´s V= .36, p < .001). The mentioning of a women´s quota also increases over time from 33% (n = 1) of the reports in 2006 mentioning it to 90% (n = 9) of the reports in 2014 mentioning it. The regression model with year of the article (iV) and gender main topic (dV) is not significant. However, the regression model with year of the article (iV) and gender side topic (dV) is significant (F(1) = 4.61, p = .034). 4% of the variation in covering gender diversity as a side topic in the media can be predicted based on the year of the article (R2= .04, b* = 0.34, t = 2.15, p = .034, 95% CI [.003, .065]). The attention to gender diversity increases by 34% every year.. 11. The years of the articles were grouped (2006-2008, 2009-2011, 2012-2014), because more than 5 cells had less than 5 cases.. . 26.

(27) 100% 80%. Main Topic Media. 60%. Main Topic Organisations. 40%. Side Topic Media. 20%. Side Topic Organisations. 0% 2006. 2008. 2010. 2012. 2014. Media Gender Main Topic - Linear: ΔR = .055, p = .556 Media Gender Side Topic - Linear: ΔR = .295, p = .001 Organisations Gender Main Topic - Linear: ΔR = .369, p = .008 Organisations Gender Side Topic - Linear: ΔR = .121, p = .402. . Figure 6. Gender diversity as a main and side topic in the media and the corporate reports over time (N = 159). In contrast to the media, gender diversity in the corporate reports changed from being not mentioned in some of the reports in 2006 (n = 4) and 2008 (n = 2) to always being mentioned in the recent years. While gender diversity increases heavily as a main topic in the corporate reports, it decreases as a side topic (Figure 6). The relationship between year of the report (iV) and gender diversity (dV) is significant (χ2 (8, n = 43) = 19.74; p = .011, Cramer´s V = .48, p = .011). The regression model with year of the report (iV) and gender main topic (dV) is significant (F(1) = 24.68, p < .001). 34% of the variation in covering gender diversity as a main topic can be predicted based on the year of the report (R2= .34, b* = 0.10, t = 4.97, p < .001, 95% CI [.060, .140]). The attention for gender diversity as a main topic increases by 10% every year. However, the regression model with year of the report (iV) and gender side topic (dV) is not significant. A significant association was also found for the variables before/after signing the Charta der Vielfalt (iV) and gender main topic (dV). After signing the Charta der Vielfalt, 31% more corporate reports covered gender diversity as a main topic (81%, n = 17). This association can be regarded as strong (χ2 (2, n = 33) = 8.07; p = .018; Cramer´s V= .50, p = .018). With regard to the question whether the media exert an influence on the organisations, a similar trend of the organisations to portray gender diversity as a main topic was found until 2010. Afterwards, the trends are developing differently (Figure 6). A closer look at the length of paragraph about gender diversity revealed significant differences in the media over time. The time period 2006-2008 with an average of 278.71 words (M = 278.71, SD = 274.53) differs significantly from the time period 2009-2011 with an average of 991.32 words (M = 991.32, SD = 713.53) (F (2, 65) = 6.10, p = .029, η2 = .16). Furthermore, the time period of 2009-2011 differs significantly from the time period of 20122014 with an average of 457.88 words (M = 457.88, SD = 588.66) (F (2, 65) = 6.10, p = .007, η2 = .16). This means that the number of words for gender diversity used in the media has more than tripled between the first and the second time period under examination, but . 27.

(28) decreased between the second and third time period. No significant differences were found for the corporate reports over time. Cultural diversity over time Cultural diversity as a main topic in the media increased after a low point in 2009 back to the same level as in 2006 (Figure 7). Cultural diversity as a side topic slightly increased. However, these findings are not statistically significant. The regression models with year of the article (iV) and cultural diversity main topic and cultural diversity side topic (dV) are not significant. In other words, it is not possible to regard the year of the article as significantly predicting the coverage of cultural diversity as a main or side topic. For the length of paragraph about cultural diversity in the media, no statistically significant differences are found over time. 100%. Main Topic Media. 80%. Main Topic Organisations. 60%. 40%. Side Topic Media. 20%. Side Topic Organisations. 0%. 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014. Media Cultural Diversity Main Topic - Linear: ΔR = .055, p = .556 Media Cultural Diversity Side Topic - Linear: ΔR = .295, p = .001 Organisations Cultural Diversity Main Topic - Linear: ΔR = .369, p = .008 Organisations Cultural Diversity Side Topic - Linear: ΔR = .121, p = .402. Figure 7. Cultural diversity as a main and side topic in the media and the corporate reports over time (N = 159) The corporate reports show a similar development regarding cultural diversity as a main topic with a decrease until 2011 and a following rise. On the other hand, the reports slightly differ from the findings in the media with regard to cultural diversity as a side topic. Here, cultural diversity does not show an increase (Figure 7). However, this finding is not statistically significant. The regression models with year of the report (iV) and cultural diversity main topic and cultural diversity side topic (dV) are not significant. As in the media, the year of the report can not be regarded as significantly predicting the coverage of cultural diversity as a main or side topic. When looking at the differences before and after signing the Charta der Vielfalt, it is noticeable that the amount of corporate reports that include cultural diversity as a main topic increased more than twice (19%, n = 4). However, a significant association between the variables before/after signing the Charta der Vielfalt and topic cultural diversity could not be found. For the length of paragraph about cultural diversity in the corporate reports, no statistically significant differences are found over time. With regard to the trends shown in Figure 7, an influence from the media on the organisations seems unlikely. . 28.

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