Allies as organizational change agents to promote equity and inclusion: a case study

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-12-2021-0308
• Published date: 30 August 2022
• Date: 30 August 2022
• Pages: 135-156
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity,equality,inclusion
• Author: Yun Ling Li,Karoline Evans,Meg A. Bond

Allies as organizational change

agents to promote equity and

inclusion: a case study

Yun Ling Li

Center for Women and Work, University of Massachusetts Lowell,

Lowell, Massachusetts, USA and

Department and Graduate Institute of Social Work,

Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung, Taiwan

Karoline Evans

Department of Management, University of Massachusetts Lowell,

Lowell, Massachusetts, USA, and

Meg A. Bond

Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell,

Massachusetts, USA

Abstract

Purpose –The current case study investigated how intentional, systematic planning can help organizations

harness the energy of these willing allies who may be motivated to support change. The focus of the study is the

development of a peer-to-peer approach, involving “Equity Leaders (ELs),”that was part of a larger, multi-level

organization change initiative that addressed personal, interpersonal and structural considerations at a mid-

sized public university in northeastern USA.

Design/methodology/approach –The authors used multiple methods to collect data for the current study,

including observations and interviews. Over the course of four years, the authors attended more than 50 EL

meetings. In these meetings, the authors took notes regarding ELs’discussions on workshop development and

planning, debates on workshop substances and ELs’personal reflections on these workshops. Following the

fourth year of the program, the first two authors invited all current ELs to participate in semi-structured,

open-ended interviews about their experience.

Findings –The case study shows that through careful planning, peer change can play multiple roles in

pushing organizational changes. By embracing their formal responsibilities and yielding their informal power,

change agents are able to cause radiating impact across as organizations. Organizations can also capitalize on

the fact that employees are more likely to be engaged in the change effort when it is promoted by peers. Finally,

the support and resources from the organizational leaders is important because these inputs not only legitimize

change agents’roles but they also signify the importance of the actions.

Research limitations/implications –This study has limitations. First, the authors recognize that this was

a qualitative study grounded in a single context. Although the study explored a novel context for

understanding change agents—a deliberately planned initiative targeting social norms through addressing

subtle biases like microaggressions—the authors recognize that additional examination would be necessary to

understand howimplementation may work in different contexts or organization types. Second, the authors also

acknowledge that the authors’positionality, as females studying a change initiative targeting gendered and

intersectional microaggressions, may have shaped the role as researchers.

Originality/value –The findings underscore the notion that allies can serve as organized peer change agents

to affect organizational culture. In alignment with the principles in the social ecological framework, the

approach involved selecting change agents who are internal to the organization, have informal influence or

power and can broaden the impact to other parts of the organization. Moreover, the results underscore the need

Allies as

organizational

change agents

135

This study was supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant number 1629761). The authors

would like to thank Equity Leaders (ELs) who were interviewed for this study, and the UMass Lowell

WAVES team members (in alphabetical order): Julie Chen, Brita Dean, Chris Hansen, Michelle Haynes-

Baratz, Marina Ruths and Margaret Sobkowicz.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 2 December 2021

Revised 17 June 2022

28 July 2022

Accepted 4 August 2022

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 42 No. 1, 2023

pp. 135-156

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-12-2021-0308

for organizations to provide essential support and resources that can assist change agents to bridge

organizational goals and individual actions.

Keywords Organizational change, Ally, DEI initiatives, Peer change agent

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Many workplaces are looking for innovative approaches to enhance equity and inclusion in

theirorganizations becauseit allows them to more fully utilizeall available talentand because a

diversity of perspectives has been shown to be helpful to the success of organizations

(Ferdman, 2018,2020). In addition to developing inclusive policies and procedures for

documentingbias and harassment, manyefforts toward equity goalsfocus on the provision of

diversity-related trainings(Bezrukov a etal., 2012). Although workshopsfrequently aim to have

broad impacts on employee knowledge and values, their efficacy and long-term impact have

been inconsistent(Alhejji et al.,2016). For instance,the impact on values and attitude changes

often dissipates quickly after a training event (Bezrukova et al., 2016). As a result, many

researchers have advocated for more systemic approaches that not only address specific

transgressions and/or individual skill sets but also promote more inclusive organizational

norms and cultures (Bond and Haynes-Baratz, 2022;Murrell, 2021;Ne lson et al.,2011).

Organizational culture and accompanying socialnorms are deeply embedded, and shifts must

be orchestrated across many levels (Bartunek and Moch, 1987;Bond and Haynes, 2014;Ely and

Thomas, 2001;Labianca et al., 2000), specifically involving members beyond those at the top of

the hierarchy. Organizations benefit from deliberately incorporating bottom-up efforts to ensure

changes occur in a productive direction with the knowledge and skills to help and not harm

inclusion goals (Bartunek and Moch, 1987). Further, how individuals within organizations

respond to and implement changes is key to systemic change efforts (Cavanaugh and Green,

2020). Research has shown that organization members do their own sensemaking about

organization change, evaluating and implementing it in ways that can differ considerably from

the intended goals of the intervention (Bartunek et al., 2006). To address this, many researchers

advocate that buy-in from peers can promote a more system-wide impact and shifts in social

norms through active individual enactment and broad support across the organization for

normative change (Lee-Gosselin et al., 2013;Livne-Tarandach and Bartunek, 2009).

For initiatives that address equity issues, recent research provides insight into how

organizations can leverage internal peer change agents to help in such efforts (Anicha et al.,

2015;O’Meara and Stromquist, 2015;Reed et al.,2018). Multiple researchers argue that

combating discrimination is more effective when peers can play a role, and actions are not

solelyrelegated to human resourcesor to the targets who experiencethe ill effects mostdirectly

(Ashburn-Nardo, 2018;Nelson et al.,2011

). Coincident with the increased public interest in

equity and inclusion, organizations increasingly have members who want to vocalize their

support as allies but lack a clear and meaningful way to get involved (Ferdman, 2018,2020).

The current case study investigated how intentional, systematic planning can help

organizations harness the energy of these willing allies who may be motivated to support

change. The focus of the study is the development of a peer-to-peer approach, involving “Equity

Leaders (ELs),”that was part of a larger, multi-level organization change initiative that addressed

personal, interpersonal and structural considerations at a mid-sized public university in

northeastern USA. Through initiatives at these different levels of analysis, the overarching goal

was to shift social norms and collective attitudes to reduce the expression of subtle genderbiases

and, thereby, reduce barriers facing faculty from underrepresented groups in the academic

workplace. The ELs functioned as peer change agents who not onlyconducted trainings but also

served as role models and disseminated equity and inclusion-related information and knowledge.

In a preinitiative assessment of major barriers to the success of faculty from underrepresented

EDI

42,1

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