Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Organizations: A Positive Psychology Approach

Historically, research on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in organizational contexts rests on a deficit-based approach where studies typically focus on topics related to discrimination and bias, stereotyping and stigma, inequalities and exclusion, and the overall depletion that results from being a member of a negatively stereotyped group (Davidson et al., 2016). This focus is both understandable and necessary given the persistent structural barriers and interpersonal harms experienced by members of historically marginalized groups. Yet, when DEI scholarship centers primarily on adversity, it may unintentionally obscure lived experiences of strength, resilience, compassion, bravery, allyship, resistance, and joy that members of these groups often engage in. Thus, a more holistic approach is needed, one that can deepen theory and expand practical insights into the strengths and opportunities that being minoritized or marginalized can bring to one’s work.The goal of the current collection is to advance DEI workplace research by taking a strengths-based approach. Recent advances in positive organizational scholarship, identity safety, allyship, and resilience provide a foundation to expand the field beyond harm-reduction toward flourishing, agency, collective care, and transformational change. We therefore invite contributions that examine not only the strengths and opportunities experienced by members of historically marginalized groups, but also the theoretical, methodological, and epistemological shifts needed to study DEI more holistically. A strengths-based approach does not simply replace “negative” constructs with “positive” ones; rather, it asks how adversity and possibility are interrelated. Thus, this collection seeks to broaden DEI research by examining how members of these groups resist, adapt, and build community across differences in order to create more inclusive organizations for all.We welcome conceptual, empirical, and practice-oriented manuscripts that advance strengths-based, holistic, and critically informed approaches to DEI in workplace contexts. Submissions may use quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, longitudinal, intervention-based, or participatory designs; we especially encourage multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary perspectives. Topics may include, but are not limited to:• Challenges of dominant assumptions about work and employment, including merit, professionalism, productivity, and fit• Reconsiderations of how workplace “strengths” are defined, recognized, and valued• Examinations of the lived realities of marginalized workers in ways that are analytically and ethically rigorous• Connections between strengths-based inclusion and justice, power, leadership, followership, and/or institutional transformation• Reimaginations of work not only as a site of productivity, but also as a social, relational, political, and embodied experienceTogether, these contributions can expand how scholars theorize and study inclusive organizational life. Topic editors: Nicholas Salter, Thomas Sasso, Mateo Cruz Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82031/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-organizations-a-positive-psychology-approach