Workforce Diversity in the Context of Violent Conflict: Public Hospitals in Israel

Abstract

ABSTRACT Diversity is growing in work organizations and inclusive climates are gaining increasing significance. The Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (ODT) can be applied as an organizational framework that designates both belongingness and uniqueness as components of inclusion. The study sought to examine the experiences of healthcare workers who are members of a minority ethnic group in the context of a violent conflict. Fifty in-depth interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals – Jews and Arabs – employed at eleven public hospitals in Israel. The interviews reveal the diversity of staff members at Israeli public hospitals. Arab workers, specifically, experience both belongingness and uniqueness. The former is reinforced by values of humanism and professionalism, whereas the latter cannot be fully manifested: Their cultural and religious uniqueness is respected, but their opinions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are silenced. They experience tension and ambiguity and their inclusion in the organization is not effected in full. ODT implementation will improve our understanding of how to achieve inclusion of minority group workers in healthcare organizations, particularly in conflictual contexts.