Buying-in inclusion-processes in the workplace

A research directed by Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, associate professor of management and organizations at Michigan’s Ross School of Business reveals that building inclusive environments in organizations and educational settings often face resistance by whites. Sanchez-Burks highlights that “in the face of the dramatic projected growth in demographic diversity, such failure could have severe economic, social and political consequences.”

Sanchez-Burks has conducted this research together with University of Michigan doctoral student Flannery Garnett, Victoria Plaut of the University of California-Berkeley and Laura Buffardi of the Universidad de Deusto in Spain. This five-study investigation of white Americans’ perceptions of diversity initiatives both in the workplace and in the classroom has also revealed that this resistance is not related to prejudice but to the basic human need to belong.

In a “study of nearly 5,000 employees at a large health care organization, Sanchez-Burks and colleagues found additional evidence that whites are less likely to endorse diversity than minorities and feel less included in their organization’s definition of diversity than minorities.”

The researchers propose that inclusion-processes in the workplace will gain support only if everyone’s concerns and opinions are taken seriously so that the white constituency feels included in their organization’s definition of diversity. This question “may be crucial in stemming the tide of backlash responses to diversity efforts.”

Read more here