Using routines to improve diversity in higher education institutions

The author conducted a literature review pertaining to the use of organizational routines, organizational learning, and organizational diversity in an attempt to concisely depict the intersection of these research topics and further expand on these topics’ impact on increasing diversity within higher education institutions (HEIs). A summary of organizational routines defines organizational routines, demonstrates how routines are used within HEIs, and describes how HEIs modify their routines over time in an attempt to improve outcomes. Subsequently, a summary of organizational learning presents an overview of how HEIs learn from their current and past actions, defines single and double loop learning, and elaborates on barriers to learning that may, in fact, stem from attributes of chosen learning techniques. Finally, a summary of organizational diversity elaborates on the myriad of characteristics that should be included within the term “diversity,” describes the dearth of research findings regarding diversity that do not fall within visually noticeable diversity (e.g., skin color, gender), and presents the benefits to productivity that stem from having increased diversity within a HEI. After presenting summaries of the existing literature, the author concludes the review by presenting a list of practical implementations designed to assist HEIs in using routines as a means of improving diversity within HEIs