When (false) Progress Backfires: How Past Contact With Women and Racial Minorities Influences Future Board Diversity

Authors:

Abstract: This study examines the paradoxical effect of past contact with minority groups on future organizational diversity. Prior research suggests that intergroup contact can improve attitudes towards diversity. However, our research proposes that past contact may lead to a misperception of "false progress,” reducing efforts to further diversify. Study 1, a longitudinal archival analysis of S&P 1500 companies, reveals that directors' past contact with underrepresented racial minorities (URM) and women negatively predicts the likelihood of a new director being a URM and a woman. Study 2, an experiment (N = 600), demonstrates that exposure to gender diversity on one board decreases the likelihood of choosing a woman for another board, mediated by the amplified perceptions of progress toward gender equality. Our findings suggest that the beneficial past contact with minority groups may also create a false sense of diversity progress, highlighting the need to focus on actual progress within organizations.

Track: DEI

Keywords: Intergroup Contact, Misperception, False Progress, Diversity, Corporate Boards, Race/Ethnicity, Gender