Summary making diversity work
Lecture 1 – the many faces of diversity
Literature
1. Şahin, O., Van der Toorn, J., Jansen, W. S., Boezeman, E. J., & Ellemers, N. (2019). Looking
beyond our similarities: How perceived (in)visible dissimilarity relates to feelings of
inclusion at work. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 575.
2. Vink, M., Jansen, W. S., Van der Toorn, J., & Ellemers, N. (2022). From best practices to best
methods: An integral, systematic, and evidence-based approach to D&I management.
Manuscript in preparation.
This course shows the benefits and challenges of building diverse and inclusive (D&I) organizations.
We learn a multidisciplinary approach to gain a multi-level understanding of what a program or
policy initiative is about and is aimed at. There are 3 levels:
1. Institutional level = how systems and the organizations does influence the people, and how
this influences the diversity and inclusion.
Rules, regulations, formal guidelines, structures, etc.
2. Symbolic level = how narrative, linguistic and visual symbolic factors can say something about
inclusion and/or exclusion.
Example: If someone say: “hello ladies and gentleman”, than you distinguish genders. Or
when you see a top leaders list with only white man pictures. You see how their societal
role is represented in the linguistic, narrative and visuals structures that shape the
organization.
3. Experiential level = how people experience things, often based on the institutional and
symbolic context of the organization.
Example: how women experience looking at the only white man leaders list.
We see inequality as a seven headed monster, because this present the multiple mechanisms that
keeps the inequality in its place. Only if we really understand the monster and it’s heads, then we are
able to win from it. It’s a wicked problem with unintended consequences. Only if you look at all
the seven heads, you can tackle the whole problem. The 3 multidisciplinary levels interact
and may influence each other here.
Example: you install a quota (institutional level), but these have the unintended
consequence that it affects how it feels for people (the experiential level).
What is diversity? (Jackson & Joshi, 2011)
Everything that distinguishes people from one another. We often think about the differences
between groups (not between individuals). The most differences are seen in history, background, and
not in the different personalities. This results in 2 different levels of diversity:
1. Surface-level dissimilarity (diversity) = relatively visible or readily detectable,
like age or gender.
2. Deep-level dissimilarity (diversity) = relatively invisible or underlying, like believes,
values, personalities.
,There are different ways of looking and
interpreting the diversity within a team:
1. The differences between surface-level
(visible differences, ethnicity as skin color)
and deep-level (underlying believes and
values (ethnicity as cognitive believes).
2. The differences between relationship-
oriented attributes = instrumental and
shaping into personal relationships, but they have no direct implications for task
performance. (sexual orientation will influence how you feel, and therefore can indirectly
influence the task, but not directly) and task-oriented attributes = influences the task
performance, and is therefore potentially relevant for the teams work (cognitive ability).
But not every diversity attribute is indicated right, because religion can be found as an underlying
factor, and can also influence your feelings and experiences, which influences the task !
Why focus on diversity? (Galinsky et al., 2015)
The diversity attributes make a distinction between the surface-level visible differences present in
groups, communities, and nations vs. the deep-level diversity acquired through individuals’ personal
experiences. Organization often only focus on the surface-level dissimilarities, like ethnical or
gender differences, but people are more likely to feel diverse because of their personal characteristics
(not visible). That’s why it is important to focus on both visible and invisible differences between
people !
Which diversity matters?
Is it a bad thing to focus on only one aspect of diversity? There are 5 reasons why diversity matters for
organizations:
1. The moral reasons: it’s simply the right thing to do. It’s right to work within different groups
and have an ethical view to the outside. Because of this equal treatment, there are equal
opportunities and outcomes.
2. Societal reasons: not only focus on what’s the right thing to do, but also focus on the
practical principles. The societal reasons emphasize good outcomes, because they focus on
the consequences of inequality.
Example: because of the tight labor market, or aging population, they might want to
include employees to work longer.
3. Compliance: they follow the law, and what’s legal. They want to prevent issues, and for that
has to ensure a legally discrimination free workplace. They focus on evidence based
interventions so they can follow the laws.
4. Synergetic reasons: these are concerned with the relationship between employee and
organization. It’s about the interchange between the personal and business economic roles.
They focus on mutual respect and creating harmony between the people. It’s all about that
the people feel the best and the employees satisfaction. This will contribute to business
outcomes.
, 5. Business-economic reasons: diversity must be managed, because profit can be made through
being diverse. It’s all about the long-term success of the organization and their bottom-line
success. It is seen as “the business-case for diversity”.
Examples: attracting divers employees, increase service to diverse population, increase
well-being of employees, enhance reputation, etc.
Example Astra Zeneca: “innovation requires breakthrough ideas that only come from a
diverse workforce empowered to challenge conventional thinking. We believe our shared
creativity unlocks challenges and brings new solutions.”
Tentamentip: belangrijk om deze 5 redenen te kunnen herkennen bij een stuk tekst !
There isn’t much evidence that diversity leads to better team performance, creativity and innovation.
Based on social theories we even aspect that diversity leads to more conflict and cohesion:
1. The social identity theory (Turner et al., 1987) = people derive their identity from the groups
that they think they belong to. They have ingroup favoritism and hate outgroup members.
2. Similarity-attraction theory (Byrne, 1971) = people are attracted to the people who are like
them. So, people are for example more likely to hire someone that looks or works like them.
1 and 2 have an tendency to benefit their own group members, and those who are like
them. People who are from different social identity groups will lead to more conflict.
3. Information-elaboration processes (o.a. Oldham & Cummings, 1998) = shows that a diverse
group will lead to elaboration, because you have more and different perspectives, knowledge
and information. This will lead to making better decision making.
Sahin et al., 2019 demonstrates consequences of dissimilarity, being different from others and
work, and the moderating role of a climate for inclusion.
Diversity could enable effective decision making if the diversity dimensions
(visible) are directly linked to the thing that contribute to creativity or
performance (invisible). Example: age only influences team performance if
this overlaps with knowledge, like being older means having more knowledge.
But, in reality these visible and invisible differences are not so overlapping.
Even if they overlap, diversity only contributes to increased team performance if there is room to
share their differences, and this is only the case in a climate for inclusion = the moderating factor !
when people don’t share differences, they don’t share new knowledge en insights, then diversity
don’t increase team performance.
Climate for inclusion =
Where employees are treated fair and unbiased, and where their practices are
implemented.
They are open toward employees and differences between employees are valued.
Where employees are included in decision making.
Climate for inclusion + diversity in teams + team performance +
What is inclusion? The perception of an employee that the group gives them a sense of
authenticity (that you can be yourself at work) and belonging (that you belong to the group).
, A higher sense of inclusion will higher the job satisfaction, and lower
the work-related stress and turnover
intentions.
Those who feel invisibly different perceive a low sense of inclusion
(visibility differentiation does not has a big effect). But here plays the ‘climate for inclusion’ a
moderating role !
The negative effect from feeling invisibly dissimilar sense of inclusion
disappears when there is a climate for inclusion. So, the cause of you not
feeling inclusive does not come from feeling different, but from the fact
if there is or isn’t a climate for inclusion. This makes the climate the key factor !
The solution of feeling included is that there must be room for
being different = climate for inclusion. This climate not only
has a good effect on people who feel different, but also higher
the sense of inclusion for people who feel similar.
The importance of a climate for inclusion
It buffers negative effects the of feeling dissimilar on perceived inclusion, and with that its
impact the work-related outcomes.
It shows that not only surface-level dissimilarity is important for social inclusion, but also
the deep-level dissimilarity is important to look at (but not always found in policy of
organizations).
Not only the people who feel dissimilar benefit from the climate, but also similar.
Sahin et al., 2019 tested the mechanisms of inclusion:
1. Social categorization and intergroup bias
2. Similarity-attraction
3. Minority stress and related processes (how people are stigmatized might experience stress,
because they are for example scared).
He summarized these into 4 mechanisms: (1) uncertainty,
(2) trust, (3) disapproval, (4) initiated interaction
between collegues. He tested these mechanisms both
ways, so how one colleague thought about another, and
vice versa. He saw all these mechanisms are affected by
the climate for inclusion (moderator) The climate for
inclusion is again the key factor and must be included in
organizations policy !
From best practices to best methods (Vink et al., 2022)
Most diversity programs that try to achieve such a climate fail. Vink et al. described that instead of
focusing on these individual policy initiatives, you should focus on the how, like how are you setting
up your policy program. This is because how you do it matters more than what you do.
Lecture 1 – the many faces of diversity
Literature
1. Şahin, O., Van der Toorn, J., Jansen, W. S., Boezeman, E. J., & Ellemers, N. (2019). Looking
beyond our similarities: How perceived (in)visible dissimilarity relates to feelings of
inclusion at work. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 575.
2. Vink, M., Jansen, W. S., Van der Toorn, J., & Ellemers, N. (2022). From best practices to best
methods: An integral, systematic, and evidence-based approach to D&I management.
Manuscript in preparation.
This course shows the benefits and challenges of building diverse and inclusive (D&I) organizations.
We learn a multidisciplinary approach to gain a multi-level understanding of what a program or
policy initiative is about and is aimed at. There are 3 levels:
1. Institutional level = how systems and the organizations does influence the people, and how
this influences the diversity and inclusion.
Rules, regulations, formal guidelines, structures, etc.
2. Symbolic level = how narrative, linguistic and visual symbolic factors can say something about
inclusion and/or exclusion.
Example: If someone say: “hello ladies and gentleman”, than you distinguish genders. Or
when you see a top leaders list with only white man pictures. You see how their societal
role is represented in the linguistic, narrative and visuals structures that shape the
organization.
3. Experiential level = how people experience things, often based on the institutional and
symbolic context of the organization.
Example: how women experience looking at the only white man leaders list.
We see inequality as a seven headed monster, because this present the multiple mechanisms that
keeps the inequality in its place. Only if we really understand the monster and it’s heads, then we are
able to win from it. It’s a wicked problem with unintended consequences. Only if you look at all
the seven heads, you can tackle the whole problem. The 3 multidisciplinary levels interact
and may influence each other here.
Example: you install a quota (institutional level), but these have the unintended
consequence that it affects how it feels for people (the experiential level).
What is diversity? (Jackson & Joshi, 2011)
Everything that distinguishes people from one another. We often think about the differences
between groups (not between individuals). The most differences are seen in history, background, and
not in the different personalities. This results in 2 different levels of diversity:
1. Surface-level dissimilarity (diversity) = relatively visible or readily detectable,
like age or gender.
2. Deep-level dissimilarity (diversity) = relatively invisible or underlying, like believes,
values, personalities.
,There are different ways of looking and
interpreting the diversity within a team:
1. The differences between surface-level
(visible differences, ethnicity as skin color)
and deep-level (underlying believes and
values (ethnicity as cognitive believes).
2. The differences between relationship-
oriented attributes = instrumental and
shaping into personal relationships, but they have no direct implications for task
performance. (sexual orientation will influence how you feel, and therefore can indirectly
influence the task, but not directly) and task-oriented attributes = influences the task
performance, and is therefore potentially relevant for the teams work (cognitive ability).
But not every diversity attribute is indicated right, because religion can be found as an underlying
factor, and can also influence your feelings and experiences, which influences the task !
Why focus on diversity? (Galinsky et al., 2015)
The diversity attributes make a distinction between the surface-level visible differences present in
groups, communities, and nations vs. the deep-level diversity acquired through individuals’ personal
experiences. Organization often only focus on the surface-level dissimilarities, like ethnical or
gender differences, but people are more likely to feel diverse because of their personal characteristics
(not visible). That’s why it is important to focus on both visible and invisible differences between
people !
Which diversity matters?
Is it a bad thing to focus on only one aspect of diversity? There are 5 reasons why diversity matters for
organizations:
1. The moral reasons: it’s simply the right thing to do. It’s right to work within different groups
and have an ethical view to the outside. Because of this equal treatment, there are equal
opportunities and outcomes.
2. Societal reasons: not only focus on what’s the right thing to do, but also focus on the
practical principles. The societal reasons emphasize good outcomes, because they focus on
the consequences of inequality.
Example: because of the tight labor market, or aging population, they might want to
include employees to work longer.
3. Compliance: they follow the law, and what’s legal. They want to prevent issues, and for that
has to ensure a legally discrimination free workplace. They focus on evidence based
interventions so they can follow the laws.
4. Synergetic reasons: these are concerned with the relationship between employee and
organization. It’s about the interchange between the personal and business economic roles.
They focus on mutual respect and creating harmony between the people. It’s all about that
the people feel the best and the employees satisfaction. This will contribute to business
outcomes.
, 5. Business-economic reasons: diversity must be managed, because profit can be made through
being diverse. It’s all about the long-term success of the organization and their bottom-line
success. It is seen as “the business-case for diversity”.
Examples: attracting divers employees, increase service to diverse population, increase
well-being of employees, enhance reputation, etc.
Example Astra Zeneca: “innovation requires breakthrough ideas that only come from a
diverse workforce empowered to challenge conventional thinking. We believe our shared
creativity unlocks challenges and brings new solutions.”
Tentamentip: belangrijk om deze 5 redenen te kunnen herkennen bij een stuk tekst !
There isn’t much evidence that diversity leads to better team performance, creativity and innovation.
Based on social theories we even aspect that diversity leads to more conflict and cohesion:
1. The social identity theory (Turner et al., 1987) = people derive their identity from the groups
that they think they belong to. They have ingroup favoritism and hate outgroup members.
2. Similarity-attraction theory (Byrne, 1971) = people are attracted to the people who are like
them. So, people are for example more likely to hire someone that looks or works like them.
1 and 2 have an tendency to benefit their own group members, and those who are like
them. People who are from different social identity groups will lead to more conflict.
3. Information-elaboration processes (o.a. Oldham & Cummings, 1998) = shows that a diverse
group will lead to elaboration, because you have more and different perspectives, knowledge
and information. This will lead to making better decision making.
Sahin et al., 2019 demonstrates consequences of dissimilarity, being different from others and
work, and the moderating role of a climate for inclusion.
Diversity could enable effective decision making if the diversity dimensions
(visible) are directly linked to the thing that contribute to creativity or
performance (invisible). Example: age only influences team performance if
this overlaps with knowledge, like being older means having more knowledge.
But, in reality these visible and invisible differences are not so overlapping.
Even if they overlap, diversity only contributes to increased team performance if there is room to
share their differences, and this is only the case in a climate for inclusion = the moderating factor !
when people don’t share differences, they don’t share new knowledge en insights, then diversity
don’t increase team performance.
Climate for inclusion =
Where employees are treated fair and unbiased, and where their practices are
implemented.
They are open toward employees and differences between employees are valued.
Where employees are included in decision making.
Climate for inclusion + diversity in teams + team performance +
What is inclusion? The perception of an employee that the group gives them a sense of
authenticity (that you can be yourself at work) and belonging (that you belong to the group).
, A higher sense of inclusion will higher the job satisfaction, and lower
the work-related stress and turnover
intentions.
Those who feel invisibly different perceive a low sense of inclusion
(visibility differentiation does not has a big effect). But here plays the ‘climate for inclusion’ a
moderating role !
The negative effect from feeling invisibly dissimilar sense of inclusion
disappears when there is a climate for inclusion. So, the cause of you not
feeling inclusive does not come from feeling different, but from the fact
if there is or isn’t a climate for inclusion. This makes the climate the key factor !
The solution of feeling included is that there must be room for
being different = climate for inclusion. This climate not only
has a good effect on people who feel different, but also higher
the sense of inclusion for people who feel similar.
The importance of a climate for inclusion
It buffers negative effects the of feeling dissimilar on perceived inclusion, and with that its
impact the work-related outcomes.
It shows that not only surface-level dissimilarity is important for social inclusion, but also
the deep-level dissimilarity is important to look at (but not always found in policy of
organizations).
Not only the people who feel dissimilar benefit from the climate, but also similar.
Sahin et al., 2019 tested the mechanisms of inclusion:
1. Social categorization and intergroup bias
2. Similarity-attraction
3. Minority stress and related processes (how people are stigmatized might experience stress,
because they are for example scared).
He summarized these into 4 mechanisms: (1) uncertainty,
(2) trust, (3) disapproval, (4) initiated interaction
between collegues. He tested these mechanisms both
ways, so how one colleague thought about another, and
vice versa. He saw all these mechanisms are affected by
the climate for inclusion (moderator) The climate for
inclusion is again the key factor and must be included in
organizations policy !
From best practices to best methods (Vink et al., 2022)
Most diversity programs that try to achieve such a climate fail. Vink et al. described that instead of
focusing on these individual policy initiatives, you should focus on the how, like how are you setting
up your policy program. This is because how you do it matters more than what you do.
