Abstract

Growing public and organizational awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has contributed to additional training on DEI within governmental organizations. Previous research demonstrates benefits to the citizens served when government organizations increase the diversity within their workforce. Governmental organizations rely primarily on DEI training to increase positive DEI perceptions for employees in the workplace without understanding their specific needs. A gap not observed in prior research with this studied population is attempting to understand employee DEI perceptions before administering additional organizational DEI training. This study successfully uses the Reaction-to-Diversity Inventory (RTDI) survey instrument to examine employee perceptions of diversity within a US state government organization. The RTDI assesses employees’ positive and negative perceptions of diversity in emotional, behavioral, judgments, personal consequences, and organizational outcomes categories. This study determines the impact on DEI perceptions regarding governmental employees’ headquartered job location, non-mandatory training attendance, and employee gender. Comparing the means of this categorical data may lead to new training and outreach efforts, improving positive perceptions of DEI for the specific governmental organization studied and providing a model for other governmental organizations seeking to strengthen positive DEI perceptions in their workforce.