Mikki R. Hebl – författare

Few time periods in the past five decades match the intensity of intergroup conflict that people around the world are currently experiencing. Polarized attitudes around various sociopolitical issues, such as gender equality and immigration, have dominated the media and our lives. Furthermore, these powerful social dynamics have also impacted the places where we work and intensified existing strains on workers and workplaces. To address these issues and improve organizational climates, more theories, research and collaborations to understand these phenomena are needed. The volumes in this series will describe and instigate scholarship that advances our understanding of diversity in organizations.

In recognition of the centennial anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted American women the right to vote and the subsequent struggle for women of color to exercise it, this volume features the personal narratives of recognized scholars in the field who have advanced understanding of gender at work. In this way, we appreciate, and gain perspective on, the rewards and challenges of this essential scholarship and the lives of those who engage in it. The combination of these narratives is an exciting and meaningful exploration of the study of gender and its intersection with other marginalized social identities at work that authentically captures the experiences of scholars in the field and inventively pushes our understanding of diversity in organizations.

The current volume, the fourth in the series, provides a broad look at the meaning and understanding of diversity and inclusion in organizations. The contributors to this book look toward the future of D&I in organizations and the scholarship of these phenomena. This future focus references not only the content of the chapters-- which we hoped would offer new ideas, emphases, theories, and predictions-- but also to the contributors, emerging scholars who are the future of the field. Indeed, the chapters in this volume offer new perspectives on diversity in organizations, problematize existing perceptions and practices, and offer potential directions for change. Together, the questions and ideas offered these chapters generate a path forward for a thoughtful and nuanced view of D&I in future organizational science. In spite and because of their critiques of the status quo, the scholars and scholarship highlighted here provide hope for positive change.

Since the term “workforce diversity” was first coined in the 1990s, the topic has received consistent and increasing attention by researchers. Over the last 30 years, a body of theory and research has amassed which recognizes diversity as an important work unit characteristic and explored its influence on organizational functioning and performance. Despite these advancements, the field is at a critical juncture where new ideas, emphases, theories, predictions and approaches are needed to propel our understanding of the meaning, import and functioning of diversity in organizations. Accordingly, this volume looks to the future of diversity work, both with regard to the content of the chapters and to the contributors. We endeavored to give a voice to emerging scholars who are the future of our field and can help to set a future research agenda to push our understanding of diversity in organizations. The scholars raise new and provocative questions about race in organizations that deliberate on the state of our science, our understanding of complex experiences of race, and a more nuanced view of race in terms of intersectionalities. Overall, each of these chapters provokes the status quo and, in so doing, offers a fresh perspective on the study of diversity in general and race and racism more specifically. We believe the end result is a more comprehensive exploration of the phenomenon and the development of an exciting future research agenda.