D&I policy
Definition
D&I policy refers to organizational efforts to improve the representation, treatment, and outcomes of historically marginalized groups, requiring both attitudinal endorsement and behavioral enactment from managers and employees alike. Support for such policies is not a single dimension ranging from resistance to acceptance. Instead, employees distribute across empirically distinct profiles, including Champions, Opponents, Ambivalents, Bystanders, and Reluctants, each reflecting a different configuration of attitude and behavior. Reasoning behind these profiles is equally varied, spanning ideological endorsement, advocacy-oriented critique, meritocratic rejection, and simple unawareness or inaccessibility of the policy itself. Organizational position and perceived group membership further differentiate these patterns, with managers overrepresented among Champions and Reluctants, and perceived minority status associated with more critical profiles and advocacy-oriented reasoning.
Sources: Bokern et al. (2026)
Related Terms
- leadership (1 shared article)
- diversity (1 shared article)
- inclusion (1 shared article)
- policy support (1 shared article)
- policy resistance (1 shared article)
Applications
D&I Policy and Employee Support Profiles
D&I policy support separates into five profiles when both attitude and behavior are measured: Champions, Bystanders, Ambivalents, Reluctants, and Opponents. These profiles are statistically distinct and show clear differences in engagement, confirming that attitudinal endorsement alone does not predict whether individuals act to implement policy.
Sources: Bokern et al. (2026)
D&I Policy and Reasoning Patterns
Five reasoning patterns underlie how employees relate to D&I policy: Expressing Unawareness, Reporting Inaccessibility, Signaling Symbolic Support, Critiquing Policy from an Advocacy Perspective, and Rejecting D&I Based on Meritocratic Beliefs. The association between reasoning pattern and support profile is strong, with Bystanders gravitating toward symbolic support and Opponents toward unawareness or meritocratic rejection.
Sources: Bokern et al. (2026)
D&I Policy and Organizational Position
Managers and non-managerial employees differ systematically in how they relate to D&I policy. Managers are overrepresented among Champions and Reluctants and underrepresented among Ambivalents and Opponents, reflecting the distinct roles and expectations tied to managerial positions when translating policy intent into practice.
Sources: Bokern et al. (2026)
