... benefits, thus exacerbating their own subjective disadvantage and affecting their inclusion and satisfaction. The resulting identity threat may heighten their need to restore distinctiveness and a sense of belonging, leading to resistance or backlash. H2d. Among employees who are objectively...

.../methodology/approach The article employs a critical high-level literature review of recent DEI-related articles, news stories on the current backlash and existing scholarly literature in both diversity and positive organizational scholarship. Findings Traditional DEI initiatives, often focused...

... exercises create the appearance of inclusion. Interpersonally, cis-heteronormative microaggressions persist, disproportionately marginalising transgender and gender-diverse employees. Politically, a growing global and national backlash against DEI initiatives and Rainbow communities has left Rainbow...

...-DEI labels reduces backlash among White male and conservative employees. Design/methodology/approach We used two experiments to test our hypotheses. In study 1, participants (N = 117) were randomly assigned to review a company website that described either “diversity and inclusion...

... of belongingness. Societal backlash against DEI efforts can impact both organizational framing of DEI efforts and organizational decisions regarding DEI practice. As a result, DEI backlash can disrupt alignment between framing and practice, sending a signal that may negatively impact employee belongingness...

..., the authors shed light on the discursive and relational mechanisms that characterise the denial of Islamophobia undertaken by political actors who use “reverse racism” arguments as a form of backlash, i.e. a strategy of “fragility” (DiAngelo, 2018) consisting in maintaining artificially a never-ending...