Study Reveals Promoting Diversity Often Viewed Unfavorably

New research by two associate professors of management and entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business indicates that women and nonwhite executives are still penalized for helping women and other minorities. According to the Harvard Business Review article, “It is well known that people tend to favor and promote those who are similar to them — and that this in-group bias is problematic because it reinforces stereotypes and inequality. However, while it is a common tendency, not everyone is allowed to advocate for their own group. Sometimes when women and minorities promote their own group, it garners criticism from others.”

The researchers surveyed 350 executives on “diversity-valuing behavior,” which they defined as behavior that promotes demographic balance within organizations. “Much to our surprise, we found that engaging in diversity-valuing behaviors did not benefit any of the executives in terms of how their bosses rated their competence or performance. … Even more striking, we found that women and nonwhite executives who were reported as frequently engaging in these behaviors were rated much worseby their bosses, in terms of competence and performance ratings, than their female and nonwhite counterparts who did not actively promote balance. For all the talk about how important diversity is within organizations, white and male executives aren’t rewarded, career-wise, for engaging in diversity-valuing behavior, and nonwhite and female executives actually get punished for it.”

In another study, the researchers asked 307 working adults to review a hiring decision made by a fictitious manager. The result: “All managers were judged harshly if they hired someone who looked like them, unless they were a white male.”

How can real estate and other organizations address this imbalance? Researchers conclude that, “As organizations seek to reflect the broader societies in which they operate, increasing racial and gender balance is becoming more urgent. The harsh reality discussed here highlights the importance of putting appropriate structures and processes in place to guarantee the fair evaluation of women and minorities. The challenge of creating equality should not be placed on the shoulders of individuals who are at greater risk of being crushed by the weight of this goal.”

Editor’s note: visit NAIOP’s Diversity Resource Center for information and best practices on increasing diversity in commercial real estate.

From March 29, 2016 NAIOP Source – Click here to view article.