Exciting news! Our new paper on blatant dehumanization in cultural traditions has just been published in Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology.
In this work, we examine how support for traditions such as Black Pete in the Netherlands and Native American mascots in the United States can be linked not only to differences in people’s beliefs about cultural traditions, but (surprise!) also to deeper dynamics of hierarchy, power, and dehumanization.
I am especially grateful to my colleague Daudi van Veen, who took the lead in driving this project to completion, and to Nour Kteily, whose insights and collaboration have been invaluable throughout.
You can read the journal article here.
No access? Check out the preformatted version.
New paper: More than tolerance
Another key publication on the impact of organizational diversity ideologies on employees and applicants—this time exploring the shadow side of promoting identity blindness—led by my wonderful PhD student Kshitij Mor in collaboration with Seval Gündemir and myself.
In this paper, we explore how the common framing of tolerance as positive doesn't always align with how it’s experienced especially by LGBTQ+ employees. In workplaces where diversity is meant to drive innovation, merely being tolerated can undermine inclusion and discourage individuals from contributing authentically.
We find that both organizational and leadership (including managers and supervisors), diversity approaches shape whether LGBTQ+ employees feel truly included or just put up with. Importantly, when both leaders and organizations adopt an identity-conscious approach, perceptions of being tolerated are significantly reduced.
Ensure your diversity values are consistently reflected at all levels of leadership, and don’t stop at tolerance. Genuine inclusion requires visible, identity-affirming action.
Read the paper here (open access)
More than a boat
Together with Kshitij Mor and Michiel Kolman, I wrote an opinion piece that didn’t make it into the newspaper but that we still want to share with you:
More Than a Boat: Why Visibility and Policy Are Needed for Real Inclusion
Jojanneke van der Toorn, Kshitij Mor, and Michiel Kolman
Although major American tech companies such as Amazon and Facebook withdrew their sponsorship of Pride Amsterdam this year, dozens of organizations will once again sail along in the Canal Parade [this coming Saturday] – the festive finale of Pride Week and one of the most visible stages where companies, governments, and advocacy organizations can show their support for the LGBTQI+ community. Multinationals such as PwC, ING, KLM, and Booking.com* continue to profile themselves prominently as allies through their participation. Other Dutch companies such as KPN, Vebego, and HEMA also demonstrate their engagement, for instance via the Pride Business Club. They are not deterred by the growing anti-D&I rhetoric that—also in the Netherlands—is sounding louder and louder.
Yet, the continuation of such initiatives is not a given. In the United States, we see companies pulling back from public LGBTQIA+ expressions, under pressure from political and societal backlash. Pride flags are disappearing, campaigns are being withdrawn, and internal diversity and inclusion departments are being renamed or revised. If Dutch companies follow this trend, visibility in the workplace and in public spaces is at risk of declining here as well.
Of course, one may question to what extent the Canal Parade truly contributes to workplace inclusion. Visible symbols like these are sometimes dismissed as superficial or as “rainbow washing.” And let’s be honest: if it stops at just a boat, little will change.
But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Public displays, such as participating in and sponsoring Pride or raising the rainbow flag, are not a guarantee of inclusion, but they are important. They send a clear signal: you are free to be who you are here. For LGBTI+ employees - especially in work cultures that are less open - that can make the difference between feeling invisible or being seen. Symbolism can open the door to dialogue, connection, and change. That is precisely why it matters that the flag continues to fly—not as an endpoint, but as a beginning.
Read more in the original Dutch version below.
* Although some of them fall short in other respects, such as Booking.com, which is listed in a UN database of companies with a significant negative impact on the human rights of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories (footnote added later).
New paper: When does it feel safe to share who you are at work?
New publication alert! Our interdisciplinary team explored employees’ perspectives on organizational data collection related to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).
Unlike previous research that focused on why organizations collect this data, we turned the lens toward how employees themselves experience it. Under what conditions do people feel safe—or reluctant—to disclose such personal aspects of their identity?
Our findings offer insights into trust, inclusion, and the nuanced factors that shape willingness to share.
Read the open access article here.
This research was made possible by funding from the Centre for Unusual Collaborations (CUCo) and conducted in partnership with Workplace Pride.
Thanks to my wonderful co-authors: Iris Buizer, Özge Bilgili, Anne Schietecat & Martine Veldhuizen
New paper: More Biased, Yet More Informed?
As a cisgender, heterosexual woman researching LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion, I’ve encountered both the advantages and challenges that come with my social identity. Fellow researchers in social justice and group-based inequality may recognize this common dilemma: when you belong to the marginalized group you study, you’re sometimes seen as biased. When you don’t, you’re perceived as uninformed.
This tension made me curious — how common are these perceptions, and what drives them? Fortunately, I wasn’t alone in wondering. Together with Erdem Ozan Meral and Corinne Moss-Racusin, I set out to explore whether our intuitions held up in the data, and to better understand the mechanisms behind these perceptions.
Want to know what we found? Our paper is now published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, a journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) — and it’s available open access!
Read More Biased, Yet More Informed? Documenting Me-Search Stigma Primarily Linked to Researchers’ Own Group Memberships here
Abstract
“Me-searchers” study topics directly or indirectly relevant to themselves—such as social groups they belong to—and are often stigmatized as being more biased (though sometimes more informed) than those researching topics unrelated to their own experience. This study explores how queer and straight researchers are perceived when studying anti-queer bias or other topics through three pre-registered experiments (N = 823). When both studied anti-queer bias, the queer me-searcher was perceived as more biased, and the straight researcher was perceived as less informed than identical (straight and queer) researchers studying a different topic. Target researchers motivated by social justice (vs. theoretical) implications were also perceived as more biased. Crucially, we identified and tested three conceptual accounts about why and how me-searchers are stigmatized. Supporting the existence of me-search stigma, our results suggest that not only me-searchers but also allied researchers are stereotyped when studying prejudice and discrimination.
Staying the Course: Keeping LGBTQ+ and Other Identities at the Center in a Shifting DEI Landscape
What a pleasure to attend and present at this year's Workplace Pride Conference at KIT Amsterdam "Beyond Pride – Building a Roadmap for Inclusion"!
Together with Kshitij Mor, I co-led a well-attended session, "Staying the Course: Keeping LGBTQ+ and Other Identities at the Center in a Shifting DEI Landscape." We shared insights from Kshitij’s PhD research and highlighted why keeping identity central in DEI messaging and strategy is essential to sustaining the diversity organizations strive to promote.
Thank you all for your wisdom and grit. I left the conference inspired and hopeful!
Organizational Leadership: Key to DEI Success?
Thank you to everyone who joined our stakeholder meeting on “Organizational Leadership: Key to DEI Success?”, both in person and online. It was inspiring to hear your thoughtful insights grounded in both research and real-world experience. And it was heartening to witness new connections being formed across science and practice. In a time of growing DEI backlash and indifference, your engagement reminds us that collective effort and courageous leadership are more vital than ever!
The Interuniversity Network on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, along with the teams from the NWO project "Beyond Boardrooms" and the Goldschmeding Foundation project "Het Moet wel werken. Impact maken op de D&I praktijk," co-organized the third stakeholder event this year, focusing on the theme of "Organizational Leadership: Key to DEI Success?"
This latest edition of our successful series of stakeholder meetings examined the pivotal role organizational leadership plays in advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The afternoon included inspiring research presentations, expert tables, and a panel discussion where academics and practitioners exchanged insights on the role of leadership in sustaining support for DEI initiatives.
Claudia Toma presented critical research on the effectiveness of inclusive leadership for disadvantaged employees, Jill Knapen discussed the importance of framing for the acceptance of gender quotas, Tanachia Ashikali explored the tensions between diversity and inclusiveness and how leaders can ensure their leadership is inclusive, Yonn Bokern analyzed different ways and reasons managers support or object to DEI policies, and Zoltán Lippényi addressed recent trends in diversity and earnings inequality among Dutch corporate leadership.
In addition to these talks, participants viewed poster presentations by Miya Tong on the process by which minorities assume leader identities, Sören Tumeltshammer on the impact of corporate boardroom quotas on the gender wage gap, Georgios Michelakis on the long-term benefits of investing in boardroom gender diversity during times of crisis, and Huyen Nguyen on biases that undermine inclusion in the recruitment process when using automatically anonymized CVs.
Expert tables featured discussions with Shuai Yuan on leveraging AI to enhance DEI, Christoph Janietz on gender quotas and leadership diversity, Karima el Bouchtaoui on attracting talent through competency-oriented recruitment, and the team from the Netherlands Inclusivity Monitor (NIM).
Finally, an expert panel including leading academics Naomi Ellemers and Janka Stoker, corporate inclusive leadership expert Ayfer Veli Korkmaz, and executive trainer Farah Nobbe discussed how leadership can navigate the current backlash and retrenchment of DEI initiatives, moderated by me.
Drawings by Anne Stalinski
Dancing with resistance: NIM Benchmark 2024
Just as more and more companies in the U.S. are cutting back on their D&I budgets due to social and political pressure, it is encouraging to see Dutch organizations that are actively committed to diversity and inclusion.
Last Thursday, our team from the Netherlands Inclusivity Monitor gathered with various organizations that participated in the NIM at the annual NIM Benchmark event at Utrecht University.
The benchmark analyzed the performance of 68 participating NIM organizations. Their policies were compared to the experiences of nearly 37,000 employees who took part between 2019 and 2024.
The benchmark shows that organizations’ main focus lays on attracting and including underrepresented groups, but they pay less attention to career progression and preventing early turnover. The experiences of employees indicate that minority groups consistently rate the inclusivity climate less positively than the majority group. Nine organizations participated for a second time and improved their D&I policies. Employees of these organizations also experienced a slightly more positive inclusivity climate. However, challenges remain. In an interactive session, we discussed how to engage the silent majority—those who neither resist nor actively contribute—to drive meaningful change.
Want to know more? Check out the factsheet (Dutch version here) and our news article.
Event - Organizational Leadership: Key to DEI success?
For diversity, equity and inclusion to succeed, leadership is of the essence! But what should this leadership look like? For answers to this question and more, join our stakeholder event on May 16th at Universiteit Utrecht.
What to Expect:
📊Presentations on cutting-edge research into leadership diversity (demographics, experience, leadership styles, etc.).
🗣️Discussions on how policy influences leadership diversity and its role in promoting inclusive workplaces.
💡Insights into how leadership impacts the implementation and effectiveness of DEI policies.
🤝A unique opportunity to connect with researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals for meaningful discussions and collaborations.
Presentations will be on-site but, to allow for a broader audience, we will livestream part of the event.
Don't miss this opportunity to engage with thought leaders and contribute to the conversation on leadership and DEI!
📅Date & Time: Friday 16 May, 13.00-18.00 (14:00-17:30 livestream)
📍Location: Utrecht University Academy Hall, Domplein 1, Utrecht (wheelchair accessible)
📝Register here
Organized by: Zoltán Lippényi, Yonn Bokern and me through the Interuniversity Network on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, in collaboration with the NWO (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) project "Beyond Boardrooms" and the Goldschmeding Foundation project "Het moet wel werken. Impact maken op de D&I praktijk" with SER Diversiteit in Bedrijf.
With contributions from: Miya Tong, Sören Tumeltshammer, Georgios Michelakis, Huyen Nguyen, Claudia Toma, Jill Knapen, Tanachia Ashikali, Shuai Yuan, Christoph Janietz, Lieselotte Blommaert, Marieke van den Brink, Karima el Bouchtaoui, Yonn Bokern, Zoltán Lippényi.
Panel: Naomi Ellemers, Natalie Holwerda-Mieras, Ayfer Veli Korkmaz, Janka Stoker
Another successful edition of masterclass series Looking at D&I Policies Through a Different Lens
Another successful edition of our Masterclass! Three enthusiastic participants took a deep dive into D&I in our masterclass Kijken met een andere bril naar D&I-beleid (Looking at D&I Policies Through a Different Lens) and passed with flying colors.
They learned from us, and we learned from them—every edition brings new insights. We look forward to the next one!
Want to make your D&I policy more effective? Feel free to contact us at Masterclass-DI@uu.nl.
In collaboration with SER Diversity at Work, Goldschmeding Foundation, Netherlands InclusivityMonitor, Melissa Vink, Yonn Bokern, Renske Kingma, Charita Visser, Robbert van de Waerdt
