Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are common in organizations. Globally, organizations spend billions of dollars on DEI. 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 struggle with being truly effective. Why is that and what can we do about it?
This research intends to answer this question by focusing on employee resistance. Resistance (defined as conduct that serves to retain the status quo in the face of efforts to change it) can be more overt (public) or covert (hidden). This project particularly focuses on the role of covert forms employee resistance in harming DEI initiatives. We propose that covert resistance may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing; a consequential reality harming DEI-initiatives in organizations that has been underestimated for a long time.
This project is supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Meet our main project team members.
Dr. Seval Gündemir is an associate professor in the Department of Organisation and Personnel Management at RSM. Seval’s research focuses on DEI in the workplace. Seval is the Principal Investigator and team leader of the project.
Dr. Rouven Kanitz is an assistant professor in the Department of Organisation and Personnel Management at RSM. Rouven’s research focuses on organizational change and digital technology. Rouven is a collaborator on this project.
Tianqi Peng, M.Sc. has received her research master’s degree from the University of Amsterdam and is currently a full time PhD student working on this project.
Prof. Dr. Inga J. Hoever is a full professor in the Department of Organisation and Personnel Management at RSM. Inga’s research focuses on teams and creativity. Inga is a collaborator on this project.
Gündemir, S., Kanitz, R., Rink, F., Hoever, I. J., & Slepian, M. D. (in press). Beneath the surface: Employee resistance to diversity, equity and inclusion initiaitves. Current Opinion in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2024.101922
Associate professor