Gender, Dis‐/ability and Diversity Management: Unequal Dynamics of Inclusion?

Abstract

Although the body of diversity research has been growing steadily over recent decades, the impact of diversity management on the inclusion of historically disadvantaged groups is still in question. By jointly examining how gender and dis‐/ability are addressed, shaped and coconstituted by practices labelled as diversity management, this study aims to paint a finer‐grained picture of the inclusionary potential of the ‘diversity turn’. It offers a comparative analysis of two ‘diversity dimensions’ that are assumed to be opposing in terms of social desirability or economic exploitability. It thereby provides insight into the inclusionary and exclusionary dynamics of diversity management. Based on interviews in for‐profit and non‐profit organizations in Austria and Germany, the study reveals persistent, unequal dynamics of inclusion and exclusion: while the inclusion of supposedly non‐disabled women and men with ‘female‐associated living conditions’ revolves around a mostly undisputed gender‐equality norm, the inclusion of disabled people depends on specific conditions and is not taken for granted.