Diversity Resistance in Organizations

Abstract

Resistance to organizational diversity and inclusion initiatives is not new. The psychological literature has identified a host of threats that some dominant group members perceive when they encounter changing demographics or policies and practices to address the experiences and historical exclusion of non-dominant group members. These threats can fuel a variety of anti-diversity responses. At the same time, diversity initiatives have shifted over time from a focus on the experiences and representation of non-dominant groups to broader, more diffuse and less morally-related goals. These shifts may reflect an implicit capitulation to the preferences and comfort of dominant groups in decisions about the selection and design of diversity initiatives. These choices have consequences for the experiences of non-dominant groups. Many cues elicited by diversity programs do not convey safety to non-dominant groups. And, ironically, the very types of programs that some dominant group members resist are themselves ineffectual in part because they have been diluted, possibly in catering to non-dominant groups. Therefore, organizations must critically examine their motives, communication and programs around diversity and inclusion and watch for cases in which diversity efforts have become unmoored from their intended focus.

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