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