Being part of diversity: The effects of an all-inclusive multicultural diversity approach on majority members’ perceived inclusion and support for organizational diversity efforts

Abstract

In two experiments we tested how explicitly including the cultural majority group in an organization's diversity approach (all-inclusive multiculturalism) affects the extent to which majority members feel included in the organization and support organizational diversity efforts. In Study 1 we focused on prospective employees. We found that an all-inclusive diversity approach, compared with the "standard" multicultural approach in which the majority group is not explicitly made part of organizational diversity, led to higher levels of anticipated inclusion for those with a high need to belong. In Study 2 we turned to sitting organizational members. Here, we again found that an all-inclusive multicultural approach increased perceptions of inclusion, but now the effect was present regardless of individual levels of need to belong. Perceived inclusion, in turn, was positively related to majority members' support for organizational diversity efforts. Together, these findings underline the effectiveness of an all-inclusive multicultural approach towards diversity.

Mixed Signals: The Unintended Effects of Diversity Initiatives

“…Legal scholars, however, assert that these broadened definitions of diversity are increasingly disconnected from civil rights issues, making diversity offices and initiatives symbolic efforts that do not address inequality experienced by legally protected groups (Edelman, ). This distancing of diversity from remediating inequality may explain why high‐status groups prefer broad construals of diversity, and feel more included and supportive of diversity when it is framed in broad (vs. narrow) terms (Jansen, Otten, & van der Zee, ; Plaut et al., ). Broadened definitions of diversity, however, can backfire because Whites use evidence of high (vs. low) organizational diversity on broad attributes (e.g., diversity in functional roles within an organization), to justify perceiving organizations that are low in racially diversity as diverse (Unzueta, Knowles, & Ho, ).…”

From Backlash to Inclusion for All: Instituting Diversity Efforts to Maximize Benefits Across Group Lines

“…Taken together, the present framework complements and extends past research on the merits of multicultural, rather than colorblind, approaches to intergroup relations (e.g., Apfelbaum, Norton, & Sommers, ; Neville, Awad, Brooks, Flores, & Bluemel, ; Plaut et al., ; Richeson & Nussbaum, ). We draw upon insights from diverse literatures to illustrate how diversity policies and practices can support an all‐inclusive multiculturalism perspective (e.g., Jansen, Otten, & van der Zee, ; Stevens, Plaut, & Sanchez‐Burks, ). Our approach extends the call for all‐inclusive multiculturalism strategies by acknowledging that, given historical and contemporary systemic inequalities, the motivations and goals that will drive a sense of feeling included will vary across social group lines.…”

Colorblind or colorful? How diversity approaches affect cultural majority and minority employees

“…To provide a fundamental understanding of how perceived organizational diversity approaches relate to feelings of inclusion for employees, we build on previous research that suggests that diversity approaches communicate an organizational prototype which employees use as a frame of reference to determine whether they are included. That is, diversity approaches are thought to convey contextual cues that are used by employees to check whether they “fit in” (Jansen, Otten, & Van der Zee, ; Purdie‐Vaughns, Steele, Davies, Ditlmann, & Crosby, ). From this perspective, it is likely that perceptions of colorblindness and multiculturalism affect the extent to which majority and minority members feel included differently.…”