A recent study from Rice University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha found that job seekers leaning towards conservative views are less likely to apply for jobs requiring statements about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
The study, which looked at over 1,100 Black and white job applicants, discovered that conservative-leaning individuals perceived such organizations as less fair, expected a poorer fit, and showed less interest in the job when asked for DEI statements compared to when asked for teamwork statements.
“These responses are consistent with conservative complaints that diversity statements were unrelated to job function, politicized and therefore inappropriate,” the researchers explain.
Lack of support
In the second part of the study, the researchers tried different approaches. They mixed it up by giving some participants a reason for requesting either DEI or teamwork statements, like wanting to create a more welcoming workplace. Surprisingly, even when there was a reason given for asking for DEI statements, conservative participants still didn’t like the idea. They mostly had a negative reaction, even when there were job-related reasons tied to the DEI statements.
Interestingly, those with more conservative views were more comfortable with requests for personal statements that matched their conservative values, like statements about family values.
“So it appears that participants didn’t have issues so much with the seemingly political nature of a personal statement—it was more they had an issue specifically with the DEI statement,” the researchers explain.
Racist roots
In all the studies, participants took a test in a different session that measured their feelings of anti-Black racism. They had to rate how much they agreed with statements like “Black leaders are trying to push people too fast” and “Blacks are responsible for creating much of the racial tension that exists in the United States.”
Interestingly, the results showed that the negative reactions from conservative participants towards DEI statements could be explained by their self-reported scores on anti-Black discrimination. This suggests that the conservative pushback against DEI statements, which might seem unrelated to race, actually aligns with their underlying beliefs. As expected, Black individuals tended to view requests for DEI statements more positively compared to their white counterparts.
“We believe it’s important to continue asking job applicants to provide statements of DEI support, not only because this reflects who is supportive of diversity but also clearly identifies who is not,” the researchers conclude. “Furthermore, reporting from multiple news outlets indicates that there is a well-organized and well-funded conservative effort to do away with organizational diversity programming.”
“Although conservative objections to DEI initiatives are often framed as having little to do with race, our work suggests that it may be motivated by anti-Black racism,” they continue. “Certainly, organizations have a duty to respond to employee and applicant complaints about organizational programming. However, they should also realize that they cannot do away with DEI policies just because some groups frame them as anti-white and discriminatory.”
