Pitfalls and Promises in Advancing Organizational Diversity

Keywords: diversity, equity, inclusion

Abstract: Despite decades of initiatives aimed at increasing organizational diversity, progress remains stagnant. The current symposium investigates why organizations’ diversity-related progress remains stagnant, while also highlighting the efficacy of potential solutions. Our first three papers reveal perceptual pitfalls in assessing organizational diversity and inequality, finding that individuals overperceive organizational racial progress, and that perceiver characteristics influence their perceptions of organizational diversity and inequality. Our fourth paper uncovers the limitations of resume-blinding, a commonly recommended strategy for increasing organizational diversity. Our final paper reveals a new framework for conducting race-based allyship training, highlighting a potential catalyst for advancing organizational diversity initiatives. The current symposium will generate insights into why organizations’ DEI-related progress remains stagnant, and how organizations may best adopt recommended strategies to increase diversity.