Diversity Management: An Extensive Terrain Still to Be Explored

The world of diversity management in SMEs is a terrain that has been little explored. In the databases of academic studies there are few contributions dedicated specifically to this theme, and precise data is lacking on the spread and adoption in SMEs of policies and practices of diversity management. Focusing attention on Italy, the survey on the spread and adoption of these practices conducted in 2014 by the then-Diversity Management Lab of SDA Bocconi considered only large enterprises, i.e. those with 250 or more employees. Istat’s 2019 survey dedicated to diversity management measures for LGBT+ diversity, on the other hand, excluded micro and small enterprises, analyzing those with 50 or more employees. So we have little data, little systematization, and little theorization with respect to this class of enterprises relating to diversity, inclusion, and their management. The goal of this article is to attempt to explore what some key questions could be, for both SMEs and scholars, to understand how to approach this issue.