A Comparative Analysis of Federal Agencies' Integration of Equity and Diversity Practices Addressing Minority Representation in Senior Executive Service

This dissertation examines how leaders explain the way shifts in leaders responsibilities, shifts in institutional pressures, and minority representation at the Senior Executive Service level influence how they integrate equity and diversity programs in federal agencies. When federal agencies address the issue of minority representation in Senior Executive Service (SES), the degree to which leaders institutionalize diversity and equity programs varies. Leaders at different levels have their own motivation for how they respond to institutional pressures. There have been shifts in responsibilities and pressures over time. Using semi-structured interviews, 18 leaders explain how these shifts influence them. This research, which also includes supporting documents, seeks to contribute to neoinstitutional theory, equity and diversity literature, and representative bureaucracy, extending the perspective of how institutional pressures impact organizations to how pressures influence leaders in federal agencies.