Women's health and behavioral health issues in health care reform.

As health care reform promises to change the landscape of health care delivery, its potential impact on women's health looms large. Whereas health and mental health systems have historically been fragmented, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates integrated health care as the strategy for reform. Current systems fragment women's health not only in their primary care, mental health, obstetrical, and gynecological needs, but also in their roles as the primary caregivers for parents, spouses, and children. Changes in reimbursement, and in restructuring financing and care coordination systems through accountable care organizations and medical homes, will potentially improve women's health care.

Are memberships in race, ethnicity, and gender categories merely surface characteristics?

Comments on Deep-level diversity and leadership (see record 2010-24768-017) by Kristen M. Klein and Mo Wang. In the special issue on Diversity and Leadership (April 2010), the authors made a strong case for the importance of diversity in workplace leadership, rejected premature declarations that workplace discrimination is obsolete, and called for leadership theories that acknowledge and promote the value of diversity. We suggest that researchers could better predict and increase leader effectiveness by explicitly addressing deep-level characteristics in theory and practice. By promoting surface-level diversity in leadership opportunities and deep-level similarities in leadership training, it is conceivable that organizations could counter adverse impact in leader selection while also improving organizational outcomes.

Introduction to the special issue on diversity and leadership.

Theories of leadership have neglected diversity issues. As the population within the United States and in countries throughout the world becomes increasingly diverse, the contexts in which leadership occurs within institutions and communities will also become increasingly diverse. Attention to diversity is not simply about representation of leaders from diverse groups in the ranks of leadership. Attention to diversity means paradigm shifts in our theories of leadership so as to make them inclusive; it means incorporating explanations of how dimensions of diversity shape our understanding of leadership. It means paying attention to the perceptions and expectations of diverse leaders by diverse followers and to how bias influences the exercise of leadership. Although leadership theories have evolved and reflect changing social contexts, they remain silent on issues of equity, diversity, and social justice. Theories of leadership need to be expanded to incorporate diversity if they are to be relevant for the 21st century amidst new social contexts, emerging global concerns, and changing population demographics.

Diversity and leadership in a changing world.

Scholars of leadership have infrequently addressed the diversity of leaders and followers in terms of culture, gender, race and ethnicity, or sexual orientation. This omission has weakened the ability of research and theory to address some of the most provocative aspects of contemporary leadership, including (a) the limited access of individuals from diverse identity groups to leadership roles; (b) the shaping of leaders' behavior by their dual identities as leaders and members of gender, racial, ethnic, or other identity groups; and (c) the potential of individuals from groups formerly excluded from leadership roles to provide excellent leadership because of their differences from traditional leaders. In addressing such issues, we argue that the joining of the two bodies of theory and research--one pertaining to leadership and the other to diversity--enriches both domains of knowledge and provides guidelines for optimizing leadership in contemporary organizations and nations.

Diversity and leadership.

Comments on the six articles contained in the special issue of the American Psychologist (January 2007) devoted to leadership, written by W. Bennis; S. J. Zaccaro; V. H. Vroom and A. G. Yago; B. J. Avolio; R. J. Sternberg; and R. J. Hackman and R. Wageman. The current authors express concern that the special issue failed to include attention to issues of diversity and intersecting identities as they pertain to leadership. A Special Issue Part II on Diversity and Leadership is being proposed to (a) advance new models of leadership, (b) expand on existing leadership theories, and (c) incorporate diversity and multiple identities in the formulation of more inclusive leadership research and theory. The goal of this special issue will be to revise our theories of leadership and our understanding of effective leadership to include gender, racial/ethnic minority status, sexual orientation, and disability status.