Aversion to Publicly Sharing Measurable Diversity Goals in Organizational Communications

Abstract: Although organizations that set measurable diversity goals see higher application rates from historically marginalized candidates, we find evidence across seven preregistered studies (N=3638) that people feel uncomfortable sharing such goals in public organizational communications. Even those who privately endorse and set measurable diversity goals are unwilling to include these goals in public-facing communications, instead preferring to communicate vague, values-driven commitments. This effect is specific to goals intended to increase the representation of historically marginalized demographic groups (i.e., women and racial minorities) and is mediated by reputational and moral concerns.

Keywords: Diversity, Measurable Goals, Communications, Gender, Race