Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Seeing Through Woke-Washing: Effects Of Projected Diversity Values And Leader Racial Diversity On Equity In Workplace Outcomes, Adrienne M. Kafka

CMC Senior Theses

The presence of multicultural values, emphasizing the appreciation of distinct cultural identities in companies’ promotional materials, versus colorblind values, which minimize cultural distinctions, may affect Black/Hispanic/Latinx (BHL) vs White individuals’ cognitive ability employment selection test scores and likelihood of applying to an organization differently depending on the company’s demonstrated leader racial diversity (LRD). Participants (N = 419), recruited via Amazon MTurk, read a hypothetical job application call and mission statement with a specific diversity ideology emphasized (multiculturalism, colorblind, control, Black Lives Matter (BLM)) and viewed headshots of the company C-suite either with low LRD (mostly White) or high LRD before …