The overarching project aim is to examine how organizations can foster cohesion within and between groups of employees and across the organization as a whole. Specifically, we are interested in under what circumstances and through which mechanisms organizational segregating forces. Moreover, we aim to uncover how these conditions and mechanisms can be harnessed to strengthen cohesion at all levels. We address these questions in the context of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, focusing on their impact on the integration of minoritized employee groups in the organization.
Your jobResearch on DEI policies has yielded valuable insights but remains fragmented across disciplines. Sociological studies have focused on why organizations adopt DEI policies (and on their effects on workplace inequalities), while social-psychological work examines their impact on minority and majority group experiences. Yet neither line of research has clarified the conditions under which DEI policies yield favourable outcomes for both minoritized and majoritized employees. This leaves open the
crucial theoretical question of when and how DEI policies empower marginalized groups without simultaneously reinforcing divisions within the organization.
Existing studies show that DEI policies are not uniformly effective (e.g., Dobbin & Kalev, 2022). Effectiveness depends on organizational context and implementation, including demographic composition, minority stakeholder influence, HR and diversity roles, and accountability mechanisms (Ellemers & van der Toorn, in press). DEI policies are also politically contested, particularly in less diverse workplaces, affecting their legitimacy and adoption (Dobbin & Kalev, 2022).
These dynamics highlight the need to identify which DEI policies attract and retain minoritized groups, how they operate and under which conditions they generate positive outcomes.
ApproachThe project examines variations in organizational policies and how these shape the organizational integration of minoritized groups. Drawing on migration studies, integration is conceptualized as a multidimensional, two-way process involving both minoritized and majoritized groups across multiple levels. Specifically, we distinguish between structural integration (e.g., access to jobs, promotion and retention), social integration (e.g., intergroup attitudes and collaboration) and
psychological integration (e.g., perceived belonging, trust in leadership and inclusion).
One possible axis of
conditional variation concerns whether policies are
identity-based (e.g., quotas, group-specific mentoring, employee resource groups) or
needs-based (e.g., development opportunities, flexible work, well-being support). The project will investigate how such policy variations, among others, differentially promote or hinder structural, social and psychological integration within organizations. While identity-based policies can provide identity safety or foster in-group cohesion, they may also risk reinforcing organizational segmentation or polarization, psychologically, socially and structurally. Needs-based policies, on the other hand, aim to address individuals’ underlying concerns – such as access to development opportunities, flexible work or well-being support – promoting solidarity across groups, though they may also risk obscuring identity-specific inequities.
To understand the
mechanisms linking organizational policies to employee outcomes, we will examine how these policies are received by both minority and majority groups. What may be perceived as favourable by one group – such as increased in-group cohesion and a stronger sense of belonging – may be experienced as unfavourable by the other, potentially leading to intergroup division and diminished feelings of inclusion. This project therefore investigates how organizations can design inclusion policies that empower minority groups without deepening divides. Specifically, it will explore the conditions and mechanisms through which DEI policies contribute not only to in-group solidarity but also to intergroup cohesion, trust in leadership and broader perceptions of organizational inclusion, among both minority and majority groups.
The project advances current understanding in two ways. First, it integrates sociological and social-psychological perspectives by examining DEI policies simultaneously as structural interventions and as relational processes impacting subjective experiences. In doing so, it connects organizational-level policy adoption to group-level dynamics and individual-level experiences of inclusion, belonging and commitment. Second, it identifies organizational conditions – focusing on different DEI policies- that strengthen cohesion across group boundaries rather than exacerbate divides. In doing so, the project moves beyond assessing whether DEI policies work to theorizing
when, how and for whom they are effective.
Project Deliverables - Theory: Clarifying when and how DEI policies not only empower marginalized groups but also foster cohesion across group boundaries.
- Data: Leveraging existing datasets (e.g., Statistics Netherlands [CBS] administrative microdata on employees linked to organizational surveys) and collecting original data (e.g., vignette experiments via Prolific) to systematically map policies and outcomes.
- Interventions: Producing actionable insights via experiments assessing how policy framing affects experiences across minoritized and majoritized groups.
Scope of the ProjectAnalysis occurs at the organizational, group and individual levels.
This PhD project is part of the
SOCION consortium. SOCION addresses a pressing challenge of our time: fragmentation in societies. Social cohesion is society’s fabric and is key to sustainable societies and citizens’ well-being. However, it is increasingly undermined by erosion and polarization between communities, factions, and groups. In this project, psychologists, social historians, demographers, philosophers, and sociologists collaborate with civic organizations to generate and integrate insights into how connections between individuals, groups, and institutions contribute to new pathways to and forms of social cohesion.