For her research, Van Douwen studied diversity initiatives within the Ministry of Defence. She conducted 65 interviews, including with employees of one of the diversity committees. “I researched the Ministry of Defence because it is often seen as an organisation that is at odds with ideas about equality and inclusion. At the same time, there has been increasing attention to diversity there in recent years.”
“What struck me most is that the diversity issues the Ministry of Defence is struggling with are not really that different from the struggles of other large, hierarchical organisations,” says Van Douwen. “Such organisations often draw up impressive plans to tackle diversity, but that does not mean they are actually implemented.”
Organisational power required
Employees who are involved do not always have sufficient organisational power or the expertise to implement the right interventions to bring about change. Van Douwen: “These are often people who themselves belong to a minority group or who have a personal affinity with the subject. But they are rarely given the time, resources or formal responsibility to do so. That makes it challenging to achieve real change.”
Many organisations are focused on a result to work towards. Ensuring that all employees have completed certain training courses within a few years, for example, or that at a given point in time more people with a “diverse” background are active in the organisations. "But diversity is not a vague ideal. It requires knowledge of inequality, of what works and what doesn't. Which groups do you want to target, and what is needed to do so? Without that knowledge, you run the risk of implementing interventions that provoke resistance rather than bring about change."
Symbolic measures
Van Douwen refers to the risks of symbolic measures. “An annual diversity day or awareness training may be well-intentioned, but if that's all you do, you're more likely to create a feeling of 'we've done something about it” than to bring about structural change."
Even with the best intentions, diversity work can get bogged down without the right conditions, the researcher emphasises. Van Douwen: "Many people I spoke to, at all levels of the organisation, are motivated and committed. But motivation alone is not enough. As an employer, be aware of the barriers that exist within your organisation and, at the same time, appoint people who are given real responsibility to change things. That means they don't just do it “on the side”, but that they have enough time, knowledge and position to be able to change something. Otherwise, it will remain nothing more than good intentions."