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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Mixed Signals: The Unintended Effects Of Diversity Initiatives, Tessa L. Dover, Cheryl R. Kaiser, Brenda Major
Mixed Signals: The Unintended Effects Of Diversity Initiatives, Tessa L. Dover, Cheryl R. Kaiser, Brenda Major
Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations
Organizational diversity initiatives—programs and policies intended to increase the fairness of organizations and promote the inclusion, hiring, retention, and promotion of underrepresented groups—are ubiquitous. Despite the widespread implementation of diversity initiatives, several empirical investigations point to challenges associated with these initiatives. We suggest that one of the challenges hindering the effectiveness of diversity management involves the unintended signals that these initiatives send. Specifically, we review social psychological evidence that the mere presence of diversity initiatives can have unintended consequences through the communication of (1) fairness signals, (2) inclusion signals, and (3) competence signals. The presence of organizational diversity initiatives may …