Managing ethnocultural diversity, i.e., employees with a socio-cultural heritage different from the majority (language, tradition, religion, etc.), is a growing challenge for employers. In order to provide added value and minimize the risks of diversity at all levels of the organization, it is important to improve our understanding or the diversity mindset -- the way people think about diversity in the workplace -- and how it influences management practices. While organizations outside of major urban centers must increasingly rely on immigration to ensure their growth and survival, relatively few studies have been done in rural areas and even fewer on the diversity mindset of employers based there.

This study breaks new ground by exploring, through semi-structured interviews, the diversity mindset of 70 executives and managers from 60 companies in six regions of Quebec, Canada. A thematic analysis was conducted on the interview transcripts using the Provalis QDA Miner qualitative analysis software.

Our results show that managers and executives working in companies located in those rural regions express three mental patterns regarding diversity: apprehension, empowerment, and mobilization. Our results also show how these three diversity mindsets are supported by specific practices related to hiring and onboarding, as well as integration and retention of immigrants in regions.

Beyond contributing to knowledge, this study can help employers as well as various local or governmental actors in all countries to better attract and retain immigrants who still tend to live in metropolitan areas and their suburbs.

Keywords: Diversity mindset, diversity, immigration, rural immigration, Québec, Canada, Hiring, Onboarding, retention