White DEI professionals' perception of their contribution to advancing workplace diversity, equity and inclusion: leveraging and decentering whiteness

• Date: 19 June 2023
• Pages: 1160-1175
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-06-2022-0161
• Published date: 19 June 2023
• Author: Rebecca J. Evan,Stephanie Sisco,Crystal Saric Fashant,Neela Nandyal,Stacey Robbins

White DEI professionals’

perception of their contribution

to advancing workplace diversity,

equity and inclusion: leveraging

and decentering whiteness

Rebecca J. Evan

Metropolitan State University, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

Stephanie Sisco

University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Crystal Saric Fashant

Metropolitan State University, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

Neela Nandyal

University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, and

Stacey Robbins

St Mary’s College of California, Moraga, California, USA

Abstract

Purpose –This research applies social identity theory (SIT) to examine how White diversity, equity, and

inclusion (DEI) professionals perceive their role and contributions to advancing workplace DEI.

Design/methodology/approach –Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to structure

and guide the study, and data were collected from interviews with 16 White DEI professionals.

Findings –The SIT concept of social categorization was selected as a framework to discuss the findings,

which were divided into two sections: in-group identity and out-group identity. The participants’in-group

identities demonstrated how the participants leveraged the participants’Whiteness to grant the participants

the influence and agency to perform DEI work. The participant’s out-group identities revealed how the

participants attempted to decenter the participants’Whiteness and unpack insecurities related to the

participants’White identity and DEI contributions. Each of these findings has been associated with a specific

role: leader, beneficiary, ally and pathfinder.

Practical implications –The practical implications of this study are critically examining White DEI

employees’livedexperience to develop an understanding of Whiteness while holding White people accountable

for DEI efforts within workplaces.

Originality/value –Deeper and more honest conversations are needed to explore the phenomenon of how

White DEI professionals enact and perceive the DEI contributions of the White DEI professionals. Therefore,

this paper will provide fu rther discussion on lite rature concerning White in dividuals engaged in

organizational-level DEI work.

Keywords Social identity theory, Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), Whiteness

Paper type Research paper

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, programming and reporting have

traditionally been the responsibility of the human resources (HR) department. In a study

led by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the results indicated that those

who identify as White and work in HR are likely to “see”discrimination in the workplace

three times less than their Black HR counterparts (Gurchiek, 2020). There is also evidence that

those who identify as White have a higher tolerance for workplace racism (Hunt et al., 2021).

EDI

42,8

1160

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 23 June 2022

Revised 19 December 2022

16 May 2023

Accepted 25 May 2023

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 42 No. 8, 2023

pp. 1160-1175

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-06-2022-0161

These findings have motivated the purpose of this study, which is to explore how White DEI

professionals perceive their role and contribution to workplace DEI.

Most of the critique about workplace DEI initiatives seems to focus on the rationale (i.e.

business case training versus morality case) and outcomes (i.e. changed behaviors, mental

shifts, organizational change, etc.), but there is minimal attention focused on the individuals

who take on the responsibility to foster DEI in the workplace. Exceptions include diversity

management practitioners and scholars who have and should continue to debate the

effectiveness of those who identify as White engaging in, and especially leading DEI agendas

(Collins et al., 2021;Salter and Migliaccio, 2019). This study adds to this discussion by

holistically examining the lived experience of 16 White DEI professionals who represent

multiple industries, social identities and DEI functional areas.

When considering the positionality and impact of White individuals undertaking the

mission of DEI, a few perspectives have emerged. On one hand, a perceived benefit is that

those who identify as White and help facilitate DEI work can be more effective in building

bridges and educating other White people (Collins et al., 2021). A counterpoint is that those

who identify as White will never be as effective at delivering antiracist education due to

the vlack of lived experiences (DiAngelo, 2018;Flynn, 1999). Of particular concern is that

White individuals can resort to inaction when they feel “in over their head,”out of their

comfort zone and/or challenged beyond their understanding (Nkomo and Al Ariss, 2014).

This debate provides impetus for more research. Deeper and more honest conversations

are needed to explore the phenomenon of how White DEI professionals enact and perceive

their DEI contributions. Our research’s aim is to provide further discussion on literature

concerning White individuals engaged in organizational-level DEI work. The theoretical

framework of SIT will be reviewed, followed by a description of the interpretative

phenomenological research with 16 participants and findings of the study that discuss the

experience of White DEI employees navigating their workplace. The practical implications of

this study are critically examining White DEI employees’lived experience to develop an

understanding of whiteness while holding White people accountable for DEI efforts within

their workplaces.

White professionals facilitating organizational-level DEI

Research examining DEI within the context of the workplace has generally focused on

“organizational demography”and the “removal of obstacles to [allow] the full participation

and contribution of employees”(Roberson, 2006, p. 217). In this study, DEI efforts are

acknowledged as attempts to increase the representation of underrepresented groups,

establish equitable outcomes and provide a welcoming environment that values diverse

people, perspectives, cultures and interests. The integration of DEI into HR functional areas

dates back to the 1980s after many affirmative action programs were ending (Kollen, 2016)

and several corporations were losing discrimination lawsuits (Dobbin and Kalev, 2016). At

the onset, the objective of DEI initiatives was to minimize disruption to productivity and

reduce personnel conflicts, but now the focus is slowly shifting to reflect a moral imperative

(Wong, 2019). Yet, completely shifting away from the business case within organizations

seems unlikely. DEI professionals will still have to justify their work to organizational

leaders, which Carrillo Arciniega (2021) described as “selling diversity to [W]hite men”

(p. 228). If this is true, DEI work will remain at risk of being performative or at risk of putting

forward initiatives and commitments that cannot be delivered on, thus causing more harm to

the movements (Wellman, 2022). Velasco and Sansone (2019) explained that because White

professionals account for more than 50% of workers in private industries, and White men are

overrepresented in leadership positions, DEI efforts will be ineffective without their buy-in

and participation. Wellman continues with an example of the Black Squares that many

Leveraging and

decentering

whiteness in

orgs

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