The Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) is the highest

corporate officer A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of st ...

charged with the management of

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

and

inclusion Inclusion or Include may refer to: Sociology * Social inclusion, action taken to support people of different backgrounds sharing life together. ** Inclusion (disability rights), promotion of people with disabilities sharing various aspects of lif ...

in an organization. The CDO role may involve: addressing discrimination in the workplace, launching initiatives to change organizational culture, and increasing the range of backgrounds and the representation of staff. Roughly 52% of

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

companies employ diversity officers.

Historical background

The chief diversity officer serves in an executive level leadership role. According to Billy E. Vaughn, a history of

cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to Monoculturalism, monoculture. It has a variety of meanings in different contexts, sometimes applying to cultural products like art works in museums or entertainment ...

pioneer work conducted by university professors, cultural diversity consultants, and human resource officers precedes the chief diversity officer.The History of Diversity Training & Its Pioneers
/ref> Less than 20 percent of

companies employed diversity officers in 2005, but that number had grown to 53 percent in 2022. Only recently has there been a discussion about the appropriate background education and credentials the diversity officer needs. In the business sector, the role remains tied to

human resource management Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the effective and efficient management of people in a company or organization such that they help their business gain a competitive advantage. It is designed to maximize e ...

functions. Higher education chief diversity officers tend to have doctoral degrees.

Credentialing

Diversity Certification refers to credential training that provides professionals with knowledge and skills for maintaining non-discriminatory and inclusive business practices.

References

Citations

Sources

* Williams, D. & Wade-Golden, K. (2006). What is a Chief Diversity Officer? Inside Higher Education (original publication). http://www.insidehighered.com/workplace/2006/04/18/williams * Vaughn, B. (2008). Letters from the Editor. Diversity Officer Magazine. http://diversityofficermagazine.com/ * Martin, M. & Vaughn, B. E. (2007). Cultural Competence: The Nuts & Bolts of Diversity & Inclusion. In Billy E. Vaughn (Ed.), Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Management (Now Diversity Officer magazine), pp. 31–38, Vol. 1, No. 1. Diversity Training University: San Francisco. * Vaughn, B. E. (2007). The history of diversity training and its pioneers. In Billy E. Vaughn (Ed.), Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Management (Now Diversity Officer magazine), pp. 11–16, Vol. 1, No. 1. Diversity Training University: San Francisco. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chief Diversity Officer Management occupations Diversity (business)

Historical background

Credentialing

See also

References

Citations

Sources