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Measures of workplace inclusion: A systematic review using the COSMIN methodology

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Rezai, Mana, Kolne, Kendall, Bui, Sunny, Lindsay, Sally·2020·Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
DOI 10.1007/s10926-020-09872-4
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Abstract

Purpose To systematically assess the measurement properties and the quality of the evidence for measures of inclusion or exclusion at work. Methods Comprehensive searches of five electronic databases were conducted up to February 2019. Eligible studies aimed to develop a measure of workplace inclusion or exclusion or assessed at least one measurement property. Pairs of reviewers independently screened articles and assessed risk of bias. Methodological quality was appraised with the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. A best-evidence synthesis approach guided the analysis. For each measurement property, evidence quality was rated as high, moderate, low, or very low and results were classified as sufficient, insufficient, or inconsistent. Results The titles and abstracts of 14,380 articles were screened, with 151 full-text articles reviewed for eligibility. Of these, 27 studies were identified, 10 of which were measure development studies. Included measures were the Workplace Ostracism Scale, Ostracism Interventionary Behaviour Scale, Workplace Culture Survey, Workplace Exclusion Scale, Perceived Group Inclusion Scale, Organizational Cultural Intelligence Scale, Inclusion-Exclusion Scale, Climate for Inclusion Scale, Workplace Social Inclusion Scale and the Inclusion-Diversity Scale. Most workplace inclusion instruments were not examined for some form of validity or reliability and evidence for responsiveness was absent. The quality of the evidence for content validity was low for 30% of studies and very low for 70% of studies. Conclusion Future research should focus on comprehensive evaluations of the psychometric properties of existing measures, with an emphasis on content validity, measurement error, reliability and responsiveness.

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  • A systematic review of workplace inclusion measures found substantial variation in how inclusion and exclusion are operationalized, which limits comparability across studies.

    “A systematic review of workplace inclusion measures found substantial variation in how inclusion and exclusion are operationalized, which limits comparability across studies (Rezai et al., 2020).”

    From Inclusive Workplaces and Performance: An Integrative Review of Diversity and Employee Outcomes (2026) · cites this paper as Rezai et al., 2020

    The review’s Table 2 discussion reports no consensus on the constructs or domains of workplace inclusion or exclusion: each measure captured a different conceptualization, with more than 25 distinct constructs identified. That supports substantial variation in operationalization. The passages do not expressly say this variation limits comparability across studies, so that consequence is not fully supported by our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Authors
Rezai, M., Kolne, K., Bui, S., & Lindsay, S.
Affiliations
  • Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital (CA)
  • University of Toronto (CA)
Corresponding author
Rezai, Mana
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2020-01-14
Volume
30
Issue
3
Pages
420-454
ISSN
  • 1053-0487 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-3688
DOI
10.1007/s10926-020-09872-4
OpenAlex
W3000356446
Cited by
49
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 6
FWCI
1.12
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • TSpace (University of Toronto) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • CIHR-SSHRC (01561-000, 895-2018-4002)
  • Kimel Family Fund
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Workplace Violence and Bullying
Keywords
workplace inclusion, workplace exclusion, ostracism, psychometric properties, measurement properties, content validity, reliability statistics, responsiveness, organizational culture, scale development, COSMIN checklist
MeSH terms
Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Reproducibility of Results, Workplace, Checklist

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