Interventions to promote diversity in the workplace

• Main Author: Lee, Rui Ling
• Other Authors: Jing Zhu
• Format: Thesis-Doctor of Philosophy
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Business::Management::Organizational behavior; Business::Management::Decision making
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/164249
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Despite the workplace becoming increasingly diverse, minority groups are still severely underrepresented in managerial positions. Given the positive relationship between diversity and an organization’s performance (Hafsi & Turgut, 2013) and employee retention (Kaplan et al., 2011), I reviewed and examined interventions that promote diversity and reduce stereotypes in the workplace. Chapter 1 is a narrative review on gender diversity initiatives. Adopting the diversity ideology framework (Leslie et al., 2020), I discussed the two types of ideologies that drive diversity practices, their shortcomings, and proposed ways in which the effectiveness of current diversity initiatives can be maximized. Chapters 2 and 3 are empirical studies investigating interventions that can alleviate gender inequality in the workplace. Chapter 2 examined whether communicating the idea that everyone possesses high leadership potential (i.e., the universal mindset) can help reduce the gender pay gap. Chapter 3 examined whether the default effect can nudge recruiters to select more diverse candidates when hiring.