Diverse Diversity
Context Norms Shape Perceived Motives of Organizational Diversity Statements
Kimberly Chaney et al.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
Diversity statements have become common practice for organizations; might this norm backfire for norm-adhering organizations? The present research examines if awareness of diversity statement norms across organizations leads to perceptions of an organization’s diversity statement as mere norm adherence. Across four experiments recruiting Black and LGBTQ+ U.S. participants (N = 1,326), we find that when diversity statements are the norm across organizations, an organization’s diversity statement is viewed as more externally motivated and marginalized group members report lower anticipated belonging and perceive the organization as less committed to diversity than when organizational diversity statements are not the norm. We further examine perceptions of organizations that violate a diversity statement norm and how the strength of the norm impacts perceptions. By incorporating research on attributions and egalitarian norm perceptions, the present research affords novel insights into perceptions of organizational diversity commitments with implications for marginalized group members’ anticipated belonging.
Beyond the motherhood penalty: Evidence of a (potentially race-based) parenthood boost in workplace evaluations
Christopher Petsko, Rebecca Ponce de Leon & Ashleigh Shelby Rosette
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, July 2025
Abstract:
According to previous research, people more readily question the competence of, and express greater discrimination against, women (vs. men) who are described as parents in the workplace. In the present manuscript, we sought to examine whether the magnitude of this bias, which is referred to as the motherhood penalty, would be moderated by whether the women and men in question are Black rather than White. To explore this possibility, we conducted four large-scale replication attempts of well-known studies on the motherhood penalty (three of Cuddy, Fiske, & Glick, 2004, reported in-text; one of Heilman & Okimoto, 2008, reported in the online supplement). Across replication attempts, we manipulated not just target employees' parenthood statuses and gender groups, but also their racial groups. To our surprise, results from these replication attempts -- as well as those from an internal meta-analysis (N = 4742) -- revealed no evidence of a motherhood penalty. Instead, we found evidence of a parenthood boost: a tendency for people to more positively evaluate employees who are described as parents than employees who are not. Moreover, while parenthood-boost magnitudes did not vary by employees' gender groups, there was some evidence that they varied by employees' racial groups, with White parents receiving larger boosts than Black parents. Overall, these findings suggest that the motherhood penalty may no longer emerge in single-shot evaluative contexts. Indeed, there may be contexts in which parenthood now conveys evaluative advantages to both women and men in the workplace, with potential racial differences in the magnitude of those advantages.
Divergence in children’s gender stereotypes and motivation across STEM fields
Allison Master et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 6 May 2025
Abstract:
STEM disciplines are traditionally stereotyped as being for men and boys. However, in two preregistered studies of Grades 1 to 12 students in the United States (N = 2,765), we find a significant divergence in students’ gender stereotypes about different STEM fields. Gender stereotypes about computer science and engineering more strongly favored boys than did gender stereotypes about math and science. These patterns hold across genders, intersections of gender and race/ethnicity, and two geographical regions. This divergence between different STEM fields was evident, although smaller, for children in elementary school compared to adolescents (students in middle school and high school). The divergence in stereotypes predicted students’ divergence in motivation for entering these fields. Gender stereotypes on average slightly favored girls in math and were egalitarian or slightly favored girls in science, while boys remained strongly favored for computer science and engineering, with implications for educational equity and targeted interventions.
Interracial frontline encounters: How White customers’ stereotype threat affects Black frontline employees’ immediate job outcomes
Sven Mikolon et al.
Journal of Applied Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Interracial interactions are often laden with concerns about being assimilated by group stereotypes. This study examines the “White-and-prejudiced” stereotype threat, which can be triggered in White customers when interacting with Black frontline employees. Our findings, derived from two field studies and two experiments, reveal short-term positive effects of the White stereotype threat on the job performance effectiveness of Black frontline employees. For example, White customers buy more and intend to tip more when interacting with a Black relative to a White frontline employee. These short-term positive behavioral shifts toward Black frontline employees are especially present when the frontline employee is categorized in terms of race but diminished when the frontline employee is individuated. The implications of our findings are managerially relevant because employees from marginalized racial groups are often overrepresented in frontline and in service occupations in several countries including Europe and the United States.
Symbolic vs. Substantive Support: The Impact of Black Lives Matter on Black-Owned Businesses
Siddharth Sharma, Justin Frake & Jared Watson
Marketing Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study examines the impact of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement on consumer behavior toward Black-owned businesses, using George Floyd’s murder as a shock to the salience of and support for BLM. Utilizing a difference-in-differences design with data on reviews, revenues, and foot traffic from Yelp and SafeGraph, we analyze changes in symbolic support (review frequency and valence) and substantive support (revenues and foot traffic). Our findings show a significant increase in symbolic actions for Black-owned businesses following Floyd’s murder, especially among White and Democrat-leaning consumers. However, we observe no substantial evidence for a corresponding increase in substantive support. This indicates that, although the BLM movement heightened visibility and prompted short-term symbolic gestures, it did not translate into large, lasting economic benefits for Black-owned businesses. Additionally, we observe an increase in “not recommended” (i.e., suspicious) reviews on Yelp following Floyd’s murder, one explanation may be that consumers were leaving inauthentic reviews without visiting the stores. These results highlight the complexities of sociopolitical consumerism and suggest that social movements like BLM may be insufficient on their own to address the economic disparities faced by minority-owned businesses.
Multilevel Intersectionality and the Deployment of Disability in Schools
Rachel Elizabeth Fish
Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, forthcoming
Abstract:
Teacher perceptions of and decisions about students’ academic ability and behavior are key to the micro-level production and maintenance of inequality at the intersection of gender, race, and disability in schools, yet we know little about how these micro-level processes relate to meso-level features. Using an experimental survey design of 369 factorial vignettes, I tested for racial and gender differences in 276 teachers’ ratings of referral to begin disability evaluations -- what I call the deployment of disability -- across 115 Wisconsin schools with varying racial compositions. Findings show that teachers in schools with low proportions of White students were less likely to deploy disability for White girls than all other students; these disparities closed or reversed as teachers’ schools increased in proportion White. Results also suggest that White boys with academic difficulties were perceived as more likely disabled than their male peers of color -- only in schools with more Black students. These results provide mixed evidence that “racial distinctiveness” triggers teachers’ racialized and gendered deployment of disability. School composition effects provide empirical evidence of the social construction of disability, its intersection with race and gender, and that this construction emerges as an aspect of context as well as through individual teachers’ behaviors.
When Do People View Discrimination as Morally Acceptable?
Ida Bruun Nørregaard
Political Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Racial and ethnic discrimination is a strongly politicized issue. Across ideological divides, people discuss whether and why contemporary discriminatory practices are ethically and politically problematic. Whereas much empirical research has investigated the practical, social, and institutional boundaries and causes of discrimination, little research explores when and why people accept it. It may be that some discriminatory practices prevail because people find them morally acceptable. I therefore conduct two preregistered survey experiments to investigate which properties of discrimination influence people’s assessments. The results show that respondents are more willing to accept discrimination if they are informed that it reflects accurate statistical group differences. Respondents care little about the intention of the discriminator and pass harsh moral judgments on discriminators who rely on inaccurate understandings of group differences. These results suggest that rationalizing discrimination by appealing to accurate statistics can be misused to foster the acceptance of discriminatory practices.
The language of “diversity” or “DEI”? Exploring job titles of diversity professionals in US institutions of higher education
Neeraj Rajasekar, Evan Gunderson & Annika Wilcox
Sociological Forum, forthcoming
Abstract:
Diversity discourse and related policy have been common in US higher education, and many such institutions employ diversity professionals. As diversity has historically been a contested concept, the language schools use to articulate diversity can greatly shape the discursive environment and work faced by diversity professionals, especially in the current moment of regular political attacks on diversity and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices in US higher education. This study analyzes the language of diversity in US higher education via analysis of diversity-related job titles. We examine job title data collected from thousands of colleges and universities across the country over an 18-year period, with special attention to educational institutions' use of “diversity” versus “DEI” terminology. We also analyze how institutional characteristics and contextual factors are associated with language in diversity-related job titles. We find that the language of DEI became substantially more prominent over time, rising steadily from 2015 through 2022. While this may change in the near future, our study illustrates that DEI language had some momentum in American institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the past decade. Notably, schools' language choice has little association with institutional characteristics or contextual factors, which has implications in a moment where anti-DEI politics and policy are affecting IHEs around the country. We discuss our analysis in the context of the current political-legal landscape and consider directions for future research examining the language of diversity and DEI in US society.