Inclusion near and far: A qualitative investigation of inclusive organizational behavior across work modalities and social identities
通过多样化样本的定性数据,研究员工如何定义职场包容、哪些实践和行为带来包容感、社会身份如何影响包容体验,以及不同工作模式下的包容程度差异。
Summary Though there are clear benefits of being included at work, important questions about employees' views and experiences of workplace inclusion remain unanswered. First, scholars have tended to adopt a one‐size‐fits‐all approach that assumes that inclusion is viewed and experienced similarly by all employees, regardless of their social identities. Moreover, there have been rapid shifts in work modalities over the last few years, and it is currently unclear how modality impacts inclusion and if that impact is similar across all employees. To address these questions, we leveraged qualitative data from a demographically diverse sample to examine how employees define workplace inclusion, what practices and behaviors employees associate with feeling included, how social identities shape definitions and experiences of inclusion, and the modalities in which employees feel the most included. Results indicated that employees primarily define workplace inclusion as being accepted and treated equally regardless of their identities, being integrated into decision‐making, and expressing themselves authentically. Though employees defined inclusion similarly regardless of their social identities, the importance of specific inclusion practices differed across subgroups. Finally, employees felt more included when working in person, though minoritized employees were more likely to prefer remote work. Theoretical and practical implications regarding inclusion are discussed.