Planning for Diversity

With this report, the authors aim to assist Department of Defense (DoD) leaders in their effort to develop a strategic plan to achieve greater diversity among DoD active duty and civilian leadership. For the strategic plan to be effective, DoD leaders must define "diversity" and explain how they intend to measure progress toward greater diversity and how they will hold themselves and others accountable for such progress. Major institutional changes may be required to improve diversity among the senior leadership. Therefore, the highest level of DoD leadership, not just from the personnel community but also from other functional communities, needs to be involved in this effort. To aid DoD leaders' deliberation, the authors provide policy options and recommendations based on discussions at the 2007 DoD Diversity Summit and a review of scientific literature on diversity management. The strategic plan that emerges from this current effort will guide the departmental effort in achieving diversity of the leadership of DoD's total force (both civilian and military personnel) in all components (the Military Departments as well as the Fourth Estate). This report describes distinct aspects of strategic planning: vision, mission and goals, strategies, and evaluation. Each section poses specific questions for DoD leaders, summarizes insights found in diversity literature and experiences shared at the 2007 DoD Diversity Summit, and explores implications of the various options for each element of the strategic plan.