The business case for diversity backfires: detrimental effects of organizations' instrumental diversity rhetoric for underrepresented group members' sense of belonging and performance

Georgeac, O (2020) The business case for diversity backfires: detrimental effects of organizations' instrumental diversity rhetoric for underrepresented group members' sense of belonging and performance. Doctoral thesis, University of London: London Business School.

Abstract

A growing number of organizations publicly explain why diversity matters to them. How do these organizational justifications affect the underrepresented groups who receive them? I investigated the prevalence and consequences of two organizational diversity cases: the "business case" (BC) for diversity, which claims that diversity is valuable on the grounds of its performance benefits for organizations, rather than on the grounds of social justice, as the "fairness case" (FC) proposes. I first tested their relative prevalence using an algorithmic classification. Chapter 1 (N=410) found that about 4 in 5 Fortune 500 companies make the BC, whereas less than 1% make the FC. Extending theories of social identity threat, I next theorized that the BC undermines underrepresented groups' anticipated sense of belonging to, and thus interest in joining, organizations. Chapter 2 (N=151) found support for these predictions among LGBTQ+ professionals randomly assigned to read a prospective organization's BC (vs. FC). Chapter 3 (N=371) conceptually replicated this experiment among STEM job seekers, showing that these effects emerge among women, but not men. Chapter 4 (N=509) replicates the negative effects of the BC (vs. both an FC and a control case) on anticipated sense of belonging among STEM women, and directly documented the hypothesized process of social identity threat (over and above alternative mechanisms). Chapter 5 (N=480) found that the BC (vs. FC and control) thwarts African American students' anticipated sense of belonging through similar psychological processes. Finally, Chapter 6 (N=318) showed that the BC (vs. FC) undermines the job interview performance of women (but not men) seeking jobs in consulting, and tested potential mechanisms for this effect. Together, these findings suggest that despite its cloak of positivity, the most prevalent organizational diversity case functions as a cue of social identity threat that paradoxically hinders organizations' diversity goals.