Diversity and social capital within the workplace: Evidence from Britain

Abstract

This article uses the British Workplace Employee Relations Survey to investigate the links between gender or ethnic diversity and workers' level of trust in managers or the extent of identity with the values and objectives of the firm – dimensions of what we might call social capital within the workplace. These are both factors that one might expect to make firms more cooperative and, hence, productive. Controlling for plants workforce composition, we find an opposite effect of females and ethnic minorities: a higher female share in the plant is associated with higher trust and identity for both men and women (men much more than women), while a higher minority share is associated with lower trust and identity.