DEI 101
Exploring the counteractive effects of mandating diversity training: Solution aversion, reactance, and polarized social beliefs
Peter Jin, Gavan Fitzsimons & Aaron Kay
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
A common strategy to address social inequity in organizations is to implement mandatory diversity training policies. But how do people react to such mandates? Mandating such training can signal the importance of diversity-related issues (e.g., discrimination), potentially increasing acknowledgment of these problems. However, integrating the theory of psychological reactance (Brehm, 1966) with the notion of solution aversion (Campbell & Kay, 2014), we suggest that learning about mandatory diversity training initiatives (compared to optional ones) could also exert an opposing effect, engendering negative emotional responses (i.e., reactance) which fuel increased political polarization surrounding beliefs that diversity-related problems still persist (i.e., solution aversion). Four preregistered experiments support this hypothesis. Study 1 and Study 2a demonstrate that recalling or anticipating mandatory (compared to optional) diversity training leads to increased reactance, which in turn leads to increased denial that social inequity is a problem. Study 2b shows that the effect is unique to mandatory diversity training, but not mandatory training unrelated to diversity. Study 3, via tests of parallel mediation, demonstrates that this effect counteracts the positive effect that mandating training policies have via signaled importance of the problem. Importantly, in all studies, we observe a consistent pattern of moderation by political orientation, such that reactance-induced negative emotions predict denial of discrimination more strongly for more politically conservative (compared to liberal) participants. Our research has significant implications for understanding the repercussions of mandatory diversity training policies, as well as the potential role of imposing solutions on exacerbating political polarization surrounding issues of social inequity.
Does Mandating Women on Corporate Boards Backfire?
Jingjing Li, Kai Li & Bo Bian
University of Virginia Working Paper, January 2026
Abstract:
We examine the labor demand-side consequences of mandating female representation on corporate boards. Using California's SB 826 as an exogenous shock and applying computational linguistic methods to job ads, we find that the mandate significantly reduced treated firms' demand for female labor. We also show that SB 826 led to fewer female new hires, with both effects more pronounced in high individualism, Republican-leaning, and high masculinity counties/firms. Additionally, the mandate resulted in poorer workplace treatment of women and increased female employee turnover. Experimental evidence points to psychological reactance and perceived violations of gender norms as key underlying mechanisms. Our findings complement Bertrand et al. (2019), which documents limited spillovers from a similar quota in Norway, by uncovering evidence of backlash in less gender-equal contexts. These results highlight how misalignment between policy goals and prevailing social norms can undermine the intended goals of gender quotas, underscoring the need for context-specific policy design.
When a Star Shines Too Bright: The Impact of a High-Status Minority Member on Pursuing Diversity Goals
Julia Hur & Jun Lin
Organization Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
The current research examines a potential implication of having a high-status minority member in organizations -- a "star" athlete, professor, or lawyer. Building on the literature on organizational diversity, individual status, and licensing effects, we suggest that having a minority member with high status can license organizational decision makers to reduce their effort in increasing diversity compared with having a minority member with relatively low status. We analyzed the hiring outcomes of Major League Baseball teams from 1988 to 2019 and found that the teams with a higher-status minority player hired fewer minority players in the next draft compared with the teams with a lower-status minority player. This effect was moderated by role prototypicality and group membership -- the attributes that would further increase the saliency of a high-status minority player. We then corroborated these findings in a laboratory experiment showing that participants were less willing to invest effort in hiring minority candidates when a company already had a high-status (versus low-status) minority member. These findings extend existing literature by demonstrating when and how the presence of a prominent minority member might inadvertently diminish organizational efforts to increase diversity.
Women in Politics: The Effect on Board Diversity
Simi Kedia & Ankur Pareek
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, forthcoming
Abstract:
We use a sharp regression discontinuity design (RDD) to show that victories by women candidates in close House, Senate, and gubernatorial elections lead to an increase in female directors in firms located in the candidates' districts. The causal effect is higher when the media coverage of the woman candidate is higher, when voter turnout is high, and when firms have more local directors and local institutional investors. The heterogeneous regression discontinuity (RD) effects suggest that electoral wins may influence local gender norms and firms' board diversity through multiple channels, including conveying majority views on gender-related social norms, increasing exposure to exemplar women, and facilitating learning about women's different but effective leadership styles. The evidence suggests a potential spillover effect from women's political leadership to the corporate world.
Gender-Inclusive Language and Economic Decision-Making
Loukas Balafoutas et al.
Management Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Providing inclusive environments has become a primary tenet of modern societies and organizations. The use of gender-inclusive language (GIL) is often considered an instrument that can promote inclusion, yet little is known about its effects on relevant economic behaviors and on gender gaps in the labor market. GIL avoids the masculine "default" (common to many languages) by either explicitly mentioning both masculine and feminine (pro)nouns, or replacing them with nongendered (pro)nouns. Here we study the causal short-run impact of GIL on competitiveness and leadership in the laboratory, with two different language samples -- English and German -- which differ, among other things, in the extent to which gender is embedded linguistically. We vary GIL in experimental instructions across three treatments (N=2,205): a masculine baseline condition, a condition with feminine and masculine (pro)nouns, and a condition with nongendered (pro)nouns. We find that participants who identify as female and participants who identify as male compete, stand for leadership, and vote on leader candidates similarly across all treatments, in either language. Furthermore, we find no treatment differences in participants' feelings of inclusion and perceived entitlement. In sum, there is a lack of support for GIL having short-term causal effects on competitive and leadership behavior and inclusion perceptions.
Peer Institution Networks, Test-Optional Admission Policies, and STEM Major Completions
Ethan Lewis
Boston University Working Paper, January 2026
Abstract:
To investigate the heterogeneous impacts of test-optional policies, I construct a network of private colleges based on their self-reported peer institutions and detect communities within it using a network science algorithm. I then estimate treatment effects by comparing adopters and non-adopters within the same community. Overall, adoption increases reported SAT scores but decreases the share of bachelor's degree completions in STEM, consistent with mismatch. Effects vary by community; at the most selective liberal arts colleges, policy adoption causes an 8 (23) percent decline in the share of all (under-represented minority) bachelor's completions with a STEM major.
The labor market effects of pregnancy accommodation laws
Emily Battaglia & Jessica Brown
Journal of Population Economics, December 2025
Abstract:
Pregnancy accommodation laws require "reasonable accommodations" for pregnant workers, i.e., sitting down, lifting restrictions, and additional bathroom breaks. Although these laws may make it easier for women to remain employed during pregnancy, as a mandated benefit, they may also discourage employers from hiring employees who may become pregnant. We estimate the effect of pregnancy accommodation laws on labor market outcomes for women of childbearing age in order to determine whether these laws lead employers to discriminate against young women in hiring. Using a difference-in-differences design comparing women's labor market outcomes across states throughout the staggered roll-out of thirteen state pregnancy accommodation laws from 2013 to 2016, we find no impact on female employment and wages. These null results are robust to a triple differences design that uses men's labor market outcomes as an additional control. Subgroup analyses of groups most likely to be affected, including those with less education, in more physically intense occupations, and married without children, also show no consistent impact of the new laws. These results suggest that this group-specific mandated benefit did not lead to discrimination in the labor market.
When Harry Met Sally: Coeducation and Startup Formation
Zhuo Chen & Livia Yi
Boston College Working Paper, January 2026
Abstract:
We study how gender integration in higher education affects entrepreneurial entry and subsequent startup quality. Leveraging staggered coeducation reforms at 91 previously all-male U.S. universities between 1942 and 1995, and linking historical enrollment records with resume data, we find that exposure to female peers increases male students' likelihood of becoming entrepreneurs. Three mechanisms drive this effect: cross-gender interactions that expand human and social capital, improved household risk-sharing, and sorting into masculine-perceived fields. The resulting startups survive longer, but show similar employment sizes and grow more gradually, consistent with a rise in sustainable, necessity-driven entrepreneurship rather than high-growth, transformative ventures. Overall, our findings suggest that the gender environment of higher education has lasting economic consequences by altering both the quantity and nature of entrepreneurial activity.