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In recent decades, organizations big and small, public and private, and across numerous industries have made efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion. At the same time, researchers have documented the many ways in which organizations continue to be fundamentally unequal in their treatment of members from historically underrepresented groups, including women and racial and ethnic minorities. There is a growing consensus among researchers that simply increasing the numbers of members from historically underrepresented groups in organizations (achieving "representational diversity") will ultimately be insufficient to fundamentally improve equity and inclusion within organizations. This symposium brings together leading scholars of organizational inequality who span micro and macro perspectives to interrogate why simply "adding diversity and stirring" will not be enough to address lasting concerns of organizational equity and inclusion. Specifically, the four papers in this symposium utilize multiple complementary methodologies—ranging from natural language processing of historical texts to attitudinal surveys to video experiments—to shed new light on the mechanisms that continue to uphold inequalities even in the face of changing numeric representation of minoritized groups. The Stability of Stigma: Testing Mechanisms of Negative Stereotype Persistence Across 100 Years Author: Tessa Charlesworth; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Author: Mark HATZENBUEHLER; Harvard U. Defending White Hegemonic Masculinity: A Test of the Projective Identification Hypothesis Author: Robin J. Ely; Harvard Business School Author: Sanaz Mobasseri; Boston U. Questrom School of Business Author: Ivuoma Ngozi Onyeador; - Demographic Similarity, Protective Socialization: Paradox of Punishment in Racialized Organizations Author: Jayanti Owens; Yale School of Management Race and Evaluations of Misconduct in Organizations Author: Mabel Abraham; Columbia Business School Author: Erica Bailey; Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This symposium showcases a set of papers that deepen our understanding of the dynamic relationship between intra-organizational networks and race, ethnicity, and gender-based inequalities in workplace experiences and attainment. It brings together leading scholars to shed light on novel theoretical mechanisms, processes, and frameworks of interest to inequality, social networks, and DEI scholars. The first two papers focus on intra-organizational network inequalities, unpacking the conditions under which race, ethnicity, and gender differences in social networks emerge and persist. The latter two papers focus on unpacking the construct of inclusion by offering novel theoretical frameworks of inclusion and re-conceptualizing it as a structural, network-based phenomenon. Collectively, the four papers presented in this symposium offer novel empirical and theoretical mechanisms to explain differences in intra-organizational network characteristics, attainment, and perceptions and behaviors of inclusion. These papers employ a variety of research methods, ranging from qualitative interviews, observational data, surveys, to field interventions. In line with the AOM 2023 theme, Putting the Worker Front and Center, the four papers in this symposium unilaterally zoom in on the workers, especially workers who are members of disadvantaged groups in organizations and society, and seek to identify new ways in which social networks can be used to mitigate race and gender-based inequalities in work experience and attainment. Gendered and Racialized Effects of New Employees' Initial Ties on Organizational Integration Author: Mabel Abraham; Columbia Business School Author: Sanaz Mobasseri; Boston U. Questrom School of Business Author: Elizabeth Linos; U. of California, Berkeley Author: Dawn Graham; Boston U. Differential Network Resources and Returns for Men and Women Author: Brian Silverman; U. of Toronto Author: Bill McEvily; U. of Toronto Author: Paola Criscuolo; Imperial College London Author: Andrew Cohen; U. of Denver Author: Martine Haas; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania A Structural Framework of Inclusion at Work Author: Lara Yang; Stanford Graduate School of Business Author: Francesca Gino; Harvard U. Author: Paul Isaac Green; U. of Texas at Austin Author: Sameer B. Srivastava; U. of California, Berkeley A Network Perspective on Inclusion: A Research Agenda Author: Adam M. Kleinbaum; Dartmouth College, Tuck School of Business [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many organizations set-up well-intentioned diversity goals but find that the reality falls short of their expectations. We take up this problem -- how organizations can achieve their diversity goals -- by illuminating how the behaviors of individual actors undermine ambitious goals and well-intentioned practices. In this symposium, we bring together four papers that explore novel mechanisms that elucidate how micro-level actions shape the efficacy of meso-level diversity initiatives and macro-outcomes of interest to DEI scholars. The papers' approaches draw on several perspectives, including those rooted in psychodynamics, culture studies and social networks, and diverse methodologies, including longitudinal data, ethnography, experiments, and interviews. Jennifer Merluzzi is especially fitting as the discussant, as diversity in organizations is one of the major themes in her work. A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective on Racial Inequality in Organizations Author: Sanaz Mobasseri; Boston U. Questrom School of Business Act the Part: Race and Social Class in the Modern Workplace Author: Summer Jackson; Harvard Business School Constrained by Good Intentions: Unintended Consequences of Fair-Minded Hiring Rules Author: Jeraul Mackey; Rady School of Management, U. of California San Diego Do referrals disadvantage non-White applicants? Evidence from Silicon Valley tech firms Author: Elena Obukhova; McGill U. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This symposium aims to deepen and expand our understanding of the relationship between the way organizations and managers understand and provide narratives related to inequality and their subsequent diversity practices. The four papers presented in this symposium offer new theoretical insights and mechanisms for the conditions under which organizations are more (less) apt to redress inequality. This symposium brings together strategic management scholars, economic sociologists, and organizational behavior scholars investigating, with a wide range of methods (qualitative, observational, and experimental), inequality in the workplace. We believe this symposium will generate an insightful discussion and fuel further inquiry into the role organizational narratives play in perpetuating inequality. From Self-Diagnoses to Change: Organizational Narratives and the Gender Pay Gap. Presenter: Mabel Abraham; Columbia Business School. Organizational Responses to Diversity Disclosures. Presenter: Daphné Baldassari; U. of Toronto. Presenter: Sarah Kaplan; U. of Toronto. Presenter: Aaron Dhir; York U. What about the Managers? Means-ends decoupling of work policies and the actors liable for their use. Presenter: JoAnne Delfino Wehner; Stanford VMware Women's Leadership Innovation Lab. Presenter: Kristine Kilanski; UC San Diego. Presenter: Alison Tracy Wynn; Stanford U. Intervening to Advance Equity in Tech. Presenter: Robin J. Ely; Harvard Business School. Presenter: William A. Kahn; Boston U. Presenter: Sanaz Mobasseri; Boston U. Questrom School of Business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Text is a rich and naturally-occurring source of data throughout all organizations, but it is not trivial to analyze - it is high-dimensional, sparse, and context-dependent. Each presenter focuses on building scaleable and interpretable models of how people communicate inside organizations. Across all four examples in this symposium, natural language processing is employed to directly observe the contents of organizational communication, and suggest simple conversational interventions that might support the broader goals of the organization. The topic of each of the presentations concerns an interpersonal communication challenge of central interest to OB scholars, such as feedback, team work, and reputation management. Each presentation offers a novel application from a suite of modern advances in natural language processing, including open-source software implementations that can be used to replicate our methods in other domains. Each work considers the managerial implications of natural language processing by drawing on a distinct theoretical framework for the goals of communication in each domain. This allows our work, as a whole, to outline a scope of what is possible in future applications of these natural language processing in organizational research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By examining organizational processes related to engaging in, experiencing, reporting, punishing, stigmatizing, and intervening in misconduct at work, this symposium uses a diverse set of qualitative and quantitative methodologies to advance our understanding of this important topic. Together, the four empirical presentations, corresponding discussion of the research, and the facilitated question and answer sessions are designed to develop new theoretical insights about the connections between individual, group, and organizational-level theories of harassment, misconduct, and reporting at work. By identifying gaps, commonalities, and differences across the four papers, this symposium is also intended to generate new theoretical insights, spark rich conversation, and motivate new research designs and approaches among session attendees and participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although women are still overall more likely to experience career disadvantages relative to men at work, empirical analyses have shown how socialized and cultural expectations about gender in work settings can produce positive and negative career outcomes for both genders. This symposium offers novel insights on the conditions under which gender stereotypes can help or hinder careers in unexpected ways. Specifically, we bring together a set of five papers that examine how cultural beliefs about gender, gendered differences in social tie formation, and the gender composition of teams and organizations can positively and negatively influence the career trajectories of men and women. Identifying these consequences of gender stereotypes serves as a starting point for finding practical ways to promote gender equity and improve working conditions for both men and women throughout professional organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management scholars have devoted significant attention to the role of culture in organizational life, with over 4,600 articles published on the topic. However, until recently, most studies have relied on surveys to empirically investigate culture. A survey-based approach, while valuable, has limited our ability to undertake large- scale and longitudinal analyses of culture. As a result, our theoretical understanding of several aspects of cultural emergence and evolution remain incomplete. The goal of our symposium is to showcase novel and cutting-edge computational approaches to the study of culture, and to highlight how the new methodologies can favor theory building and help scholars addressing gaps in prior literature. The papers invited to the symposium employ a range of methods ' from formal simulation modelling, to supervised machine learning methods (word- based hierarchical alignment models, neural nets), as well as unsupervised methods (topic modelling) ' to investigate culture as reflected in two crucial products of human interactions: language and images. By the means of such cutting-edge computational approaches, the papers address theoretical gaps in the existing literature with regards to: (i) antecedents of culture emergence, and (ii) dynamics of cultural change and its evolution within organizations and markets. Learning to communicate: Micro-foundations of Communication Code Convergence Presenter: Ozgecan Kocak; Emory U., Goizueta Business School Gender and the Give and Take of Emotions in the Workplace Presenter: Sanaz Mobasseri; Boston U. Questrom School of Business Technology Acquisitions, Cultural Fit, and Synergy Realization Presenter: Arianna Marchetti; INSEAD Cultural Drift in Post-Merger Acculturation Trajectories Presenter: Anjali M. Bhatt; Stanford Graduate School of Business Presenter: Amir Goldberg; Stanford U. Presenter: Sameer B. Srivastava; U. of California, Berkeley Presenter: Jan Overgoor; Stanford Who Becomes Famous Among Creative Pioneers? A Study of the Relationship Between Novelty and Fame Presenter: Mitali Banerjee; HEC Paris Presenter: Daniel Kaplan; Adelphi U. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite some progress, stark gender disparities remain in the current corporate landscape as women continually remain underrepresented in top leader positions, are overlooked for promotions at various ranks of organizational hierarchy, and are underfunded in their entrepreneurial pursuits. These current disparities call for a better understanding of the varying types of gender bias that persist and the efficacy of current organizational initiatives aimed at helping women overcome gender-related barriers at the workplace. This symposium showcases four papers focused on understanding these biases and barriers. The first two papers examine the persistence of gender bias in two domains: (a) entrepreneurship (first paper) and academia (second paper). The second two papers consider the effectiveness of organizational practices, social belonging interventions (third paper) and corporate-sponsored egg freezing programs (fourth paper), in overcoming barriers that perpetuate gender-related disparities. Overall, this symposium seeks to spark an ongoing conversation about how to foster gender inclusive workplaces among researcher and practitioner attendees. Women Entrepreneurs Don't Ask (For Enough)?:Divergent Effects of Aggressiveness of Funding Requests Presenter: Anyi Ma; Duke U. Presenter: Rebecca Ponce de Leon; Duke U. Presenter: Ashleigh Shelby Rosette; Duke U. Gender Disparities in Colloquium Speakers at Top Universities Presenter: Christine Nittrouer; U. of Houston-Downtown Presenter: Michelle Hebl; Rice U. Presenter: Leslie Ashburn-Nardo; Indiana U. / Purdue U. Presenter: Rachel Trump-Steele; Rice U. Presenter: David Lane; Rice U. Presenter: Virginia Valian; Hunter College - CUNY The Limits of Brief Social-Belonging Interventions: Evidence from a Field Experiment Presenter: Sanaz Mobasseri; Boston U. Questrom School of Business Presenter: Sameer B. Srivastava; U. of California, Berkeley Presenter: Laura Kray; U. of California, Berkeley Corporate-Sponsored Egg Freezing: A New Frontier in Work-Life Policy Presenter: Elinor Flynn; New York U. Presenter: Lisa Michelle Leslie; New York U. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociological research has long recognized that, even in brief or routine interactions, people constantly make judgments about others' social worlds and that these inferences can have material consequences in contexts as diverse as hiring, venture capital funding, and courtship encounters. Yet it remains unclear whether people are accurate in making these interpersonal judgments and, if so, how far they can "see" into the social structure that surrounds unfamiliar others. In this paper, we draw on the "thin slice" paradigm from social psychology to examine the question: How accurate are the inferences that people draw about the social networks of unfamiliar others whom they observe only fleetingly? Our data set includes over 2,100 interpersonal judgments made by 375 people about the social networks of 23 target individuals. Remarkably, we find that people are accurate in their judgments of unknown others' proximate social structure--that is, the size and composition of targets' reported contacts. They do not, however, make accurate judgments of the distal social structure surrounding unfamiliar other --that is, the nature of connections among targets' reported contacts. We also find that, when people make errors in such judgments, they tend to do so in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes. We conclude with a discussion of this work's implications for research on the interpenetration of cognition and social structure and on the antecedents of gender inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how neighborhood violent crime influences hiring decisions made by local employers. I focus on the labor market outcomes of job seekers with a criminal record, arguing that prior audit studies have overlooked important neighborhood-level factors that could potentially affect employers' evaluations of a criminal record. I develop a theoretical account that helps to reconcile two conflicting expectations as to how employers will respond to recent violent crime. One perspective suggests that employers in neighborhoods with violent crime will look past criminal records because of legal cynicism and desensitization to crime. An alternative perspective indicates that recent exposure to violent crime will instead amplify employers' negative responses to the mark of a criminal record because of employers' heightened fear and risk concerns. Data from an audit study with 368 job applications submitted across 146 neighborhoods in one city provides support for the latter expectation. Findings from this study have important implications for research on labor market inequality, neighborhood effects, and race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]