Equity and Diversity in Public Sector Employment

In 2010 the OECD asserted that “diversity principles should be part of any public management reform, as diversity initiatives cannot succeed as an isolated strategy” (OECD 2010, p. 5). What is diversity, how does it relate to equity and how does it relate to the long history of inequity in public service employment in many countries? Equity and diversity in employment is seen as part of the new public sector management, but more fundamentally it is part of the approach to employment for all citizens in many countries. Government acts in the role of state overseer of human rights and employment equity as well as being the employer of a substantial component of a national labour force. The public service “is one in which the government, responsible elsewhere for broader policy on equalities, is also the ultimate employer” (Thornley 2007, p. 458). This leads to heightened scrutiny of employment practices and outcomes.