Title: What is perceived diversity?
Alex Koch, Assistant Professor, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Abstract: Institutions and organizations place importance on signaling that their workforce is diverse. This signaling requires knowing the indicator(s) that stakeholders rely on to perceive diversity. Does perceived diversity depend on the number of groups represented in a work unit? We contrast this richness indicator with several indicators that relate to the evenness of the workers’ distribution across the represented groups. In Experiment 1, the richness of a work unit predicted its perceived diversity independently of several evenness indicators. In Experiments 2a-c, the richer of two work units appeared more diverse, despite all evenness indicators suggesting the opposite. This result generalized from fictional to real groups, and from groups of beings to types of things. Experiment 3 replicated Experiment 2a with a larger sample of work units. Experiments 4 and 5 flipped the effect. Instead of being informed about the richness and evenness of two work units, people experienced both work units by encountering worker after worker. Sequentially experiencing the less rich but more even work unit included more switches between represented groups, which, in turn, made the less rich but more even work unit seem more diverse. Experiment 6 showed a second boundary condition. People did not perceive the richer of two work units as more diverse when the other work unit was substantially more even. Overall, institutions and organizations can effectively signal diversity through statements that emphasize the number of groups represented in their workforce.
Time: 12/04/24 3:30 PM
Location: Biopsychological Sciences Building atrium
If you have any questions, requests, and concerns, please contact Nakwon Rim (nwrim [at] uchicago [dot] edu) or Cambria Revsine (crevsine [at] uchicago [dot] edu).