Strategies for Establishing a Diverse Workforce Within a University Health System’s Department

Balanced diversity in health care promotes patient satisfaction and enhances innovation. Obtaining a culturally balanced workplace requires recruitment strategies that encourage inclusiveness among team members from various backgrounds. The purpose of this doctoral study was to explore the issue of lack of diversity in a behavioral health organization’s (BHO’s) student intern program and identify strategies for creating greater diversity in the workplace. The Baldrige excellence framework, the conceptual framework that guided the research, was designed to help BHOs to improve their overall business performance to accomplish goals and increase organizational sustainability. Three themes emerged from the data analysis: diversity training, diversity of clients, and diversity in the workplace. In particular, this study focused on the workforce aspect of the Baldrige framework, thereby facilitating the in-depth exploration of the ways that the BHO built an effective and supportive workplace environment. Data were collected through quarterly structured virtual interviews with the BHO’s behavioral health care leader. Data analysis was conducted on secondary data sources, including student intern surveys, postquestionnaires from 69 student interns, strategic plans, program manuals, and information from the organization’s website. The results were validated through data triangulation. The study’s potential social change implications lie in understanding how BHO leaders can recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the demographics of the communities being served. This study has the potential to create positive social change by providing methods to enhance workplace diversity in BHOs