Dear DEI members,
Together with Elena Doldor and Maria Adamson from Queen Mary U. (London) we are putting together a PDW on Change Agents for DEI in and around Organizations. Please see the current abstract below.
We would be eager to assemble people from different horizons on this occasion (for the panel speakers, table facilitators, and participants). So if this caught your interest please send an email asap (and preferably by the end of this week) to Florence Villesèche fv.bhl@cbs.dk and we'll keep you in the loop!
ABSTRACT
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work is often envisioned as work conducted by employees within organizations through various policies, processes, and practices. There is a growing body of research documenting DEI work in organizations, by scholars focusing on diversity management but also by scholars taking interest in how the contemporary concern and interventions to further DEI relates to e.g., HRM, leadership, international management, innovation, strategy, and more. DEI work conducted inside organizations has been hailed as crucial to changing the workplace, and has also been the object of critiques, notably regarding the centrality of the 'business case' for diversity. However, as a number of developing streams of work have pointed out, the furthering of DEI efforts also relies on a broader range of change agents who spearhead these initiatives, both inside and outside of organizations. Such change agents include allies and sponsors, DEI consultants, head hunters, activist groups and social movements, or celebrity role models. In this workshop, a panel kicks us off to take a closer look at these more 'unusual suspects', understanding who they are and what they do to change the workplace for the better. On this basis, panelists and participants in roundtable discussions seed collaborations and develop a research agenda regarding how the efforts of DEI change agents in and around organizations intersect, combine or collide.
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Florence Villeseche
Copenhagen Business School
Frederiksberg
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