We have covered a lot this week, but don’t worry if you missed the series. You can catch up on all the blogs by following the links below.
The key takeaways were:
- If workplaces are perceived to be unfair, employees are likely to support superficially but actually resist EDI work
- If workplaces are perceived to be fair, employees are likely to engage authentically with EDI work
Perceptions of fairness override identity when it comes to EDI attitudes
- Perceptions of fairness lead to in-group supporting behaviours
- People act individualistically when they perceive their organisations to be unfair
- People act collectively when they perceive their organisations to be fair
EDI resistance is often covert
- When considering inequality, investigate in-group supporting mechanisms and inequality focused on marginalised groups.
- Unless we name them, in-group supporting behaviours are covert and hard to spot.
You can, of course, delve deeper into the science to find out more in the paper.
So our recommendations for practice are
- Know how fair your employees perceive their environment before planning EDI work.
- Set a plan to improve perceptions of fairness (blogs coming up on how to do this next year).
- Know that inequality is subtle, and educate people to notice in-group supporting mechanisms.
- Progress, not perfection. Don’t try to do too much too soon; your mental health matters.
Thank you to those who followed our research to social cycle blog this week. Next month, we look forward to covering a paper that investigates the difference between equity and equality and why that should matter to those of us who undertake EDI work.
Van den Brink, M. and Benschop, Y., 2012. Slaying the seven‐headed dragon: The quest for gender change in academia. Gender, Work & Organization, 19(1), pp.71-92.
