2023 / Adrienne M. Kafka

SEEING THROUGH WOKE-WASHING: EFFECTS OF PROJECTED DIVERSITY VALUES AND LEADER RACIAL DIVERSITY ON EQUITY IN WORKPLACE OUTCOMES

Organizations that engage in “woke-washing,” in which they signal advocacy and commitment to a social-justice-related cause without taking actions to back up this appearance of intention (Vredenburg et al., 2020), may harm vulnerable minority groups. The presence of multicultural values, emphasizing the appreciation of distinct cultural identities, in companies’ promotional materials, versus color-blind values, which minimize cultural distinctions, may affect Black/Hispanic/Latinx (BHL) versus White individuals’ 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, color-blind, control, Black Lives Matter [BLM]) and viewed headshots of the company C-suite with either low LRD (mostly White) or high LRD before filling out survey measures. Results revealed that BHL participants in the high-LRD condition were significantly more likely to apply to the organization than those in the low-LRD condition, emphasizing the importance of minority representation, whereas White participants in the BLM condition were significantly less likely to apply than in the multicultural condition. Additionally, identity threat, psychological safety, and organizational trust mediated the relationship between LRD and likelihood of applying. BHL participants experienced significantly higher identity threat and lower psychological safety than White participants in the low-LRD condition. Analyses also revealed a significant moderation such that White participants low in social-dominance orientation (SDO) were more likely to apply in the high- than the low-LRD condition, unlike their high-SDO counterparts. Implications for how consultants may promote equitable workplace outcomes through organizational-change efforts are discussed.


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