JEDDI Seminar: Understanding EDI Reversals

What causes employees to shift from neutral and even positive attitudes towards DEI initiatives towards negative attitudes? To understand this phenomenon, we investigate this question through a qualitative study with employees who experienced negative shifts in their attitudes towards DEI initiatives. Our findings reveal that participants’ social location within systems of power and social hierarchy significantly shapes their shift in attitudes. We identify key drivers of this shift, including perceived exclusion from DEI initiatives and workplace outcomes such as forced compliance and resigned silence. Our findings highlight the multifaceted nature of attitudes towards DEI initiatives, illustrating how employees understand shifts in their own DEI attitudes and the role of their positionality in social hierarchies in forming these attitudes. This research develops a new perspective on DEI attitudes by showing that support for DEI initiatives is not inherently enduring and can, in some cases, give rise to opposition among marginalized groups, including intended beneficiaries.