Workforce Diversity and Job Satisfaction of the Majority and the Minority: Analyzing the Asymmetrical Effects of Relational Demography on Whites and Racial/Ethnic Minorities

The structural approaches of workforce diversity note that the racial composition of work groups may affect work attitudes of racial/ethnic minority and White employees in different ways. Analyzing the data from the federal workforce, this study examines how the racial mixture of the agency affects job satisfaction of racial/ethnic minority and White employees. To do so, three models for all employees, Whites, and racial/ethnic minorities were tested using ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with agency-fixed effects. The results suggest that holding a minority status in their agency may bring lower job satisfaction to both racial/ethnic minority and White employees. Racial/ethnic minorities reported the lowest job satisfaction in predominantly White settings, while Whites expressed the lowest job satisfaction in minority–majority settings. In contrast, racial/ethnic minorities reported the highest job satisfaction when they hold a majority status in their agency (minority–majority settings). Interestingly, Whites seem to be most satisfied in White-majorities settings, which are less homogeneous than predominantly White settings. The finding for all employees showed that federal employees stated higher satisfaction in White-majorities settings than in others.