Researchers say that there is not an overall rise in quitting, but those who are strongly outnumbered are more likely to leave

Corporate America's efforts to promote ethnic and gender diversity on the job have not triggered an overall rise in turnover, though some people who feel greatly outnumbered by other ethnic groups are more likely to quit.

Those are some of the conclusions in a UC Berkeley study about connections between diversity programs and turnover in the workplace. The research by Jonathan Leonard and David Levine, two professors at the Haas School of Business, suggests that workers have become more tolerant of diversity and affirmative-action programs.

"We interpret the fact that diversity does not make much of a difference as good news," said Leonard, chairman of the Haas Economic Analysis and Policy Group. "People really don't care that much about the race or sex of their co-workers."

The results of the study were embraced and described as encouraging by representatives of labor organizations in California.

"If anything, this confirms that diversity works," said Chris Lee, a spokesman for the Oakland-based California Labor Federation. "We believe that diversity in the workplace is essential. A diverse workforce means a stronger workforce."

Still, a too-aggressive push for workplace diversity can produce pitfalls for corporations, warned Lawrence McQuillan, director of business and economic studies with the Pacific Research Institute, a think tank in San Francisco.

"Any time you hire based on any characteristic other than productivity and skills, you harm yourself as an employer," McQuillan said. "There are good, highly skilled, and productive workers across all races. But a company will not be competitive if it hires people just based on the way they look or their ethnic background."

The Haas researchers also reported some intriguing -- but unexplained in the study -- findings related to attitudes female workers had about diversity at work.

Women appear to dislike gender diversity, the study found. Women were slightly more likely to quit when the gender breakdown was about 50 percent male and 50 percent female. They were less likely to quit if the workplace was composed primarily of males or primarily of females.

The university study, conducted over a period of years in all 50 states at 800 retail sites, uncovered some trends that the researchers described as "discouraging." Among the disquieting findings:

• All minority groups were more likely to quit a workplace in which a greater proportion of employees were white. That suggested that diversity is difficult to maintain, the Haas researchers said.

• White employees left when there were fewer whites.

• Blacks tended to depart a company very quickly when more of their co-workers were white or Asian.

• Latinos tended to leave stores more rapidly when the retail outlets had many whites or Asians.

"Most people don't like being in a numerical minority," Leonard said. "If you are in a numerical minority you are slightly more likely to quit. That trend does not seem to have much to do with the composition of the majority."

Despite the somewhat higher propensity for workers to leave if they are in the minority, the researchers insisted the total results showed that turnover did not increase generally in diverse workplaces.

"It is impossible for everybody to be in the majority," Leonard said. "Somebody is going to come up with the short stick."