Covert Resistance to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are common in organizations. Globally, organizations spend an estimated 7.5 billion dollars on DEI, a budget that is projected to reach over 15 billion dollars by 2026. Some organizations offer special paths to advance women and ethnic minorities to leadership positions. Others offer trainings to improve DEI-relevant skills of their employees. These costly, and often well-intentioned efforts, however, tend to be largely ineffective. Why is that and what can we do about it?

This project aims to investigate the concealed forms of employee resistance, such as sabotage and noncompliance, which, when left unaddressed, can silently and inadvertently undermine the positive impact of DEI initiatives within the workplace. The proposed research offers a critical extension to DEI-literature and provides organizations with key insights and tools to optimize the effectiveness of DEI-initiatives.

This project is led by Dr. Seval Gündemir, for questions please contact Dr. Seval Gündemir at [email protected].

DEI in the workplace, diversity management; employee resistance; organizational management

In global surveys 75% of firms indicate that diversity is an important value or priority. Organizations employ DEI-initiatives that aim to enhance the representation and inclusion of traditionally underrepresented groups such as women and ethnic minorities. Many of these initiatives, however, fail to truly achieve these goals. After studying the effects of DEI-initiatives’ impact on representation across decades, scholars report that most are unable to create their intended effect (e.g., not changing the representation of underrepresented groups) and that they sometimes even backfire (e.g., stigmatizing underrepresented groups).

To understand and address this, DEI-researchers typically focus on top-down mechanisms, such as the role of top leadership support and implementation effectiveness of these initiatives. This is based on an argument that commitment by the upper hierarchical layers and/or adequate structures will determine the success of DEI-initiatives. This focus overlooks the critical bottom-up forces in hindering the positive impact of these initiatives, in particular the role of employee resistance.

Employee resistance is a force that helps maintain the status quo or frustrates change. It presents an impediment to organizational movement towards a new desired state. Employee resistance can take different forms. For example, employees could show their opposition in a public manner through protest or letters to management. I propose that such overt resistance is less likely to occur in the context of DEI-initiatives because they bring significant risks to the resister. Broader societal social-justice trends may evoke the fear of being “canceled” (i.e., facing personal repercussions for expressing deviating or hostile perspectives) or individuals may experience a genuine sense of discomfort from seeing oneself as potentially biased toward vulnerable or underrepresented groups.

Employee resistance to DEI-efforts is most likely to go “underground” and take on (relatively) covert forms (e.g., negative gossip, sarcastic humor, subtle non-compliance, sabotage). My pilot testing supports this; oppositional employees tend to choose relatively covert forms such as gossip over overt forms such as writing a letter to their manager.18 This means that resistance to DEI-efforts may occur without the explicit knowledge of actors in positions of power or offer plausible deniability to the resisters. For example, negative employee gossip -while consequential- may take place in some segments of the employee networks behind the backs of its targets, sarcastic humor may be depicted as a harmless entertainment activity or engaging in non-compliance can be explained away as mere oversight.

This project will illuminate the role of covert resistance to DEI through a number of innovative studies. The team will map the landscape of employee resistance to DEI-initiatives, examining its prevalence and perceived gravity. Moreover, the team will examine the distinct wayscovert employee resistancecontributes to ineffectiveness of DEI-initiatives (e.g., through its detrimental impact on underrepresented groups/allies of DEI by exuding exclusion cues and the initiative itself through noncompliance and sabotage).

Given that covert resistance is by definition to some extent hidden, studying it presents a particularly tough challenge. To address this challenge, the current proposal relies on the strength of experimental and otherwise quantitative approaches. The project thus has a strong quantitative focus. The candidate will employ quantitative and experimental approaches and will conduct advanced statistical analyses. 

We seek candidates who have:

• a (nearly completed) M.Sc. degree in management (e.g., HRM or OB), organizational psychology or a related discipline;
• demonstrated experience with conducting quantitative research;
• strong interest in studying diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace;
• excellent writing skills and a genuine interest in writing academic papers;
• high conscientiousness, flexibility, and a collaborative attitude;
• willingness and ability to learn and grow in all areas of research;
• excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• availability to start no later than September 1st 2024.

Required by ERIM

All application documents required by ERIM can be found here: https://www.erim.eur.nl/doctoral-programme/phd-in-management/admissions/application/

The PhD project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) as part of a larger research program for up to five years and should be able to yield at least three journal publications. Targeted outlets include Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes. Results will also be presented at international conferences, such as the annual meetings of the Academy of Management.

The research group for this project has a strong global network of collaborators, supporting research visits for PhD students. They also frequently host respected faculty as seminar speakers, fostering opportunities for new international collaborations. Recent PhD student research visits, for instance, have included stays at Wharton, Duke University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Maryland, Michigan State University, Northwestern University, Rice University, Stanford University, and University of Toronto. Such a research visit and/or collaborations with world-renowned experts from the research team’s broad network could be part of the project.

In the long term, this work will contribute to more efficient utilization of organizational investments in DEI efforts and foster inclusive organizations, where employees of all backgrounds are represented, included and can flourish.

The proposed work has the potential to redirect an important domain of research within organizational science. If successful, this work will contribute to the emergence of a mature research tradition on covert employee resistance, which will help scholars to better conceptualize, describe and predict the effects of DEI-efforts.

Dobbin, F., & Kalev, A. (2016, July). Why diversity programs fail. Harvard Business Review.

Dobbin, F., & Kalev, A. (2022). Getting to diversity: What works and what doesn’t. Harvard University Press.

Knowles, E. S., & Linn, J. A. (2004). Resistance and persuasion. Psychology Press.

Leslie, L. M. (2019). Diversity initiative effectiveness: A typological theory of unintended consequences. Academy of Management Review, 44(3), 538-563.

Nishii, L. H., Khattab, J., Shemla, M., & Paluch, R. M. (2018). A multi-level process model for understanding diversity practice effectiveness. Academy of Management Annals, 12(1), 37-82.

Prasad, P., & Prasad, A. (2000). Stretching the iron cage: The Constitution and implications of routine workplace resistance. Organization Science, 11(4), 387-403.

ERIM offers fully-funded and salaried PhD positions, which means that accepted PhD candidates become employees (promovendi) of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO) .

Erasmus University Rotterdam aspires to be an equitable and inclusive community. We nurture an open culture, where everyone is supported to fulfil their full potential. We see inclusivity of talent as the basis of our successes, and the diversity of perspectives and people as a highly valued outcome. EUR provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, functional impairment, citizenship, or any other aspect which makes them unique. We look forward to welcoming you to our community.

For questions regarding the PhD application and selection procedure, please check the Admissions or send us an e-mail via [email protected] .