It is a lack of trust and disempowerment, not apathy, that prevents employees from supporting marginalized colleagues

What really stops people from stepping up as allies to support their marginalized colleagues? For example, why don’t more men say something when they see a male colleague or client make a sexual remark about a female coworker?

Our researchA study published in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology suggests that people are often reluctant to intervene when co-workers are mistreated because they themselves feel disempowered in their organizations and suffer from mistrust and polarization.

Our findings are inconsistent Common assumption That people don’t come forward to support their marginalized colleagues because they don’t care or aren’t motivated. Not seeing much action against inequality and injustice can drive this cynical idea. It has been incorporated into many diversity, equity and inclusion training programs that rely on motivational methods of persuasion, guilt and shaming to get people to act.

we Psychology researchers Interested in how people use their strengths to effectively support marginalized others. We surveyed 778 employees in Michigan and 973 employees across all Canadian provinces, representative of urban and rural areas, working class and professional occupations, and of all demographics, including gender, race and sexual orientation. We asked them: “What makes it difficult for you to be an ally to marginalized and underrepresented people (e.g., people of color, women, people with disabilities) in your organization?”

Low motivation accounted for only 8% of the barriers people reported. Lack of awareness that marginalized groups face inequality represented only 10% of the barriers people cited. Most diversity training dollars tend to go toward educating employees about these topics — which suggests why there are so many of them Diversity training programs fail.

The most common barrier to alliance cited by participants was mistrust and tension between people in their organization, which caused them to doubt themselves and self-censor. People also reported feeling powerless, as if they did not have the power, opportunity or resources to make a real difference for their colleagues.

Why does it matter?

Researchers, specialists, and consultants alike approach issues of workplace inequality on the assumption that in order to drive action, they first need to unleash a deep-seated resistance to change in potential allies. For example, specialists assume that people need to become more Motivesmore braveless Biased Or better I was informed About existing inequalities in order to work as allies.

In this study, we temporarily set aside all pre-existing assumptions and asked people directly what, in their words, makes it difficult for them to be allies. Our goal was to identify the practical barriers in people’s minds that prevent them from taking the first step, or the next logical step.

When popular messages, such as on Social mediaand Regulatory interventions If people misunderstand the reasons for people’s inaction, they risk exacerbating frustration and tensions. Interventions must take into account the real views of their audiences about what makes alliance difficult. Otherwise, they will lack credibility, and people are likely to be less receptive to the program’s content.

What is still unknown

We would like to further investigate the effects of the specific barriers mentioned in our study. More insight can help workplaces focus interventions on addressing the barriers that represent the worst pressure points and avoid overspending on interventions that can only move things along.

More than a quarter of participants said they do not face any obstacles to defending their colleagues. We would like to investigate whether these respondents simply do not want to engage with our question, are unsure of the barriers, or are already engaged in some form of allyship. Previous research from our team has shown that even vocal allies who publicly call out bias are often so, too Engage in quiet coalition worksuch as specifically checking how the victim of bias is performing and helping strategize next steps.

What’s next

Our research team is investigating whether programs designed with the findings of this study in mind – starting with building trusting relationships and helping people feel empowered – can increase coalition work. When diversity programs built on inaccurate assumptions don’t achieve the desired results, they risk having their funding withdrawn or stopped altogether. Instead, as organizations evaluate and pivot, evidence from our study and others can help them plan their next move more effectively.

the Search summary It is a short overview of interesting academic work.