Change starts with people and their socioemotional skills at work.

Three papers

• Minority Leaders as ‘Allies’ Within-race and Across-races in ADEI Organizational Change

• Status: 2nd Round R&R, OBHDP

Co-authored With: McKenzie Preston, Terrance Boyd, Angelica Leigh, and Richard Burgess

Abstract: We investigate employee evaluations of racial minority leaders who engage in allyship behaviors aimed at advancing racial equity. We argue that when racial minority leaders engage in racial allyship, perceptions of them as effective allies and leaders vary based on the target beneficiary group (i.e., who the allyship benefits) and the language utilized to explain their allyship (i.e., how the allyship is framed). We hypothesize and find empirical evidence across three experimental studies that suggests that when racial minority leaders engage in allyship behaviors that benefit their own racial group (i.e., same-race allyship), as opposed to another racial minority group (i.e., cross-race allyship), employees view them as displaying more ingroup favoritism, which lowers perceptions of allyship effectiveness. Additionally, we find that decreased perceptions of allyship effectiveness results in reduced employee perceptions of overall leader effectiveness and employee support for racial equity efforts. Finally, we introduce voice amplification framing – a novel framing tactic in which racial minority leaders publicly highlight the ideas and voices of other lower-level employees within their allyship – and we show that using this framing reduces the negative effects of same race allyship. Our theory and findings have several implications for literature on allyship, prosocial message framing, and leadership. Keywords: allyship; race; leadership; intergroup relations

• Socioemotional Skills: The Development and Validation of 14 Measures in Five Sub-Saharan Countries with Implications for Employment and Income Outcomes.

• Status: Working Paper Available

Co-authored With: World Bank Economists: Clara Delavallade, Smita Das, Léa Rouanet, and Tricia Koroknay-Palicz

Abstract: Despite increasing scholarly interest in the role of non-cognitive skills in economic outcomes, the field has been hampered by a lack of psychological measurement tools tailored explicitly for sub-Saharan Africa, the focal region for many randomized controlled trials on skill development. To address this limitation, we developed and tested 14 socio-emotional skill measures across four Sub-Saharan countries, encompassing three languages (English, French, and Swahili), with a total sample size of 10,151 participants, of which 50% were women. The findings showed internal consistency, content convergence to skill definition, and content distinctiveness for the measures. Slight but consistent gender differences emerged in self-reported skill levels within the region. Our longitudinal analyses revealed nuanced implications for hypothesized economic effects, with socio-emotional skills predicting future employment (but not income levels). The study addresses a significant gap in the literature by providing region-specific tools for measuring socio-emotional skills in sub-Saharan Africa. These measures hold potential for future research and interventions to enhance economic and social outcomes in the region. Keywords: noncognitive skills; social and emotional learning; socioemotional skills; psychological assessment; content validation

Shaping Perceptions Through Precision: The Relationship Between D&I Program Customization, The “Make-or-Buy” Decision, and Employee-Perceived Organizational Authenticity

• Status: Design. Expanding on Experiment #1.

Co-authored With: David R. Hekman

Abstract: This paper introduces “diversity cynicism,” conceptualized as employees’ doubts regarding the effectiveness of DEI programs. These doubts primarily arise from perceived organizational (in)sincerity and program resource constraints. Departing from previous cynicism research, which maintains that it cannot be right or wrong, our research differentiates between cynicism towards evidence-supported DEI programs versus those initiatives lacking empirical support. When lacking technical knowledge about DEI program evidence, employees attend to two aspects of program design: the customization (“how”) of DEI initiative implementation and the character (“who”) of the implementor (favoring line executives over HR professionals). Drawing from an inductive study and critical incident techniques, our studies reveal a significant association between in-house DEI program implementation (the “make” decision, not “buy”) and heightened perceived organizational authenticity. This effect depends upon whether the “made” DEI program’s creator is a line executive (more authentic) or a human resources executive (less authentic). While extant experimental literature underscores that employees attend to (in)congruence between DEI proclamations and implementation, this research uses real event memories to explain the mental model for employee interpretation of real-world events. Keywords: diversity; cynicism; DEI programs; organizational authenticity; employee perception; program customization

We know “which” programs work, but we do not know, politically, “how” to get such programs to survive across time. A new answer, in this solo-authored working paper, is “conflict learning” by the pro-ADEI workers.

One paper and one scholarly book.

How Can Good D&I Programs Persist?: Repeated Backlash, Redundant Structures, Resilient Outcomes

• Status: Conference Paper, Best Symposium in Organization & Management Theory Division, Nominee, Academy of Management 2023 (Boston)

Abstract: Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) programs have proliferated, but their persistence remains threatened by phenomena like anti-ADEI backlash. Prior organizational research interprets such backlash as the decline or stagnation of these initiatives. However, this research uncovers a more dynamic perspective through a six-year comparative case analysis of four rapidly scaling firms in the San Francisco Bay Area, known for their initial ambivalence towards diversity. Simplistic, mandatory training programs weathered ideological resistance and economic austerity challenges primarily because the interventions were cost-contained and brief. On the other hand, two attention-intensive ADEI programs, mentorships and apprenticeships, not only persisted for different reasons but also evolved in the face of multiple challenges. They did so through “conflict learning” - leveraging backlash as an opportunity to duplicate the bureaucratic homes for ADEI, repeatedly extracting executive support by pointing to the incivility of the backlash, and emphasizing prior success stories from the previous program cohorts. By surfacing this conflict learning mechanism, I propose that adversity of one type - ideological - can be harnessed constructively in another type - austerity - to improve the duration of organizations’ commitment to ADEI programs. The framework developed here emphasizes agency and strategic action in organizational politics, contrasting with a deterministic account of region-wide institutional logics or nationwide backlash. Keywords: inequality, conflict management, mentorship, apprenticeship, organizational behavior, diversity equity and inclusion, case studies

Life Goal: Establish or Refute Causation for ADEI Program Effectiveness

This is where I’m going. My research “white wale.” It starts with an identification strategy. One cannot usually separate firms by their level of ADEI commitments in a matching design without attending to how they place and then move the ADEI offices in the organizational structure over time.

I propose to use “belonging” active control intervention in one division and a mentor-matching program intervention in a different organizational unit to finally understand if mentor-matching programs are a cause of executive commitment to ADEI or a byproduct thereof.