The DEI4SME project team carried out a number of research activities to understand the views of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), employees and employment seeking individuals, especially from the under-represented groups, on the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues in European smaller business and the challenges they face when managing diversity in them.
The survey data collection were conducted engaging with respondents in Austria, Finland, Germany and Lithuania from May to September 2024.
The DEI4SME project team carried out two separate online surveys (translated into local focus country languages: English, German, Finnish, Swedish, and Lithuanian) targeting both SME leaders and employees or those seeking employment. In total, we gathered 441 validated responses:
- 137 SME owners and managers
- 304 employees or job seekers
To qualitatively explore DEI practical issues in smaller European businesses, we also organized two international hackathons (in Finland 2025 and Lithuania 2025), bringing together students, entrepreneurs, policy makers, business, education, and sustainability experts from around the globe with the aim to explore practical cases of diversity, equity, and inclusion in smaller businesses. The full report on these research activities is available in the separate tabs below:
- Part 1: Managing Diversity in Smaller European Businesses: Employee perspectives
This part explains how employees and employment seeking individuals perceive business efforts to engage with managing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Part 2: Managing Diversity in Smaller European Businesses: SME Perspectives
This part reviews smaller businesses efforts to engage with managing diversity, equity, and inclusion and provides their self-evaluation on these efforts.
- Part 3: Managing Diversity in Smaller European Businesses: Comparative Analysis
This section compares the perspectives from the two surveys.
- Part 4: Managing Diversity in Smaller European Businesses Insights from Hackathons
This section provides some of the qualitative insights gathered during the hackathon events.
Welcome to click on the report parts below and explore the insights in more detail.
