The importance of leadership diversity: The relationship between diversityand organizational success in the academic environment

In the academic community, efforts to foster diversity are generally suppor ted by a rationale that relates to equity and changing societal demographic s. Private sector research, however, indicates support for a rationale rela ting to overall organizational success. Such research forms the basis for t he consideration of the relationship between diversity and organizational s uccess in the academic environment. In addition, the research provides evid ence that diversity continues to be valued in the private sector, which emp loys many of the graduates whose academic preparation is supported by the c ollege or university library. This article presents the results of a resear ch study involving diversity and organizational success in the academic env ironment. The results provide evidence that there is a relationship between diversity and organizational success and offers further support for the re sults of the prior research in this area, as well as offering data to enhan ce the rationale for the support of diversity efforts in the academic libra ry community.