Searching for diversity. An overview on board of Italian Cultural Organizations

Diversity takes on different meanings and synonymous; actually, the theme has been strongly debated in the era of globalization, migration and because of the affirmation of human rights and gender policies. Many studies are related to the analysis of board diversity within the forprofit organizations. Indeed, there is paucity of studies that linked the topic to the role of demographic and non-demographic diversity among cultural organizations and NPOs sector. Italian cultural institutions have been grouped together in a website by the private association AICI. The website was used in the present study in order to map organizations and their boards in terms of multiple diversity variables such visible and invisible parameters. Hereby, diversity is explored among board members of 102 private foundations and associations, including dimensions like age, gender, nationality, educational and professional background. One of the main finds of the research highlights how Italian cultural organizations have a low degree of diversity within the boards of directors.