Leveraging Identities for Social Change

Abstract

Recent events in the United States have sparked a renewed interest in inequality, discrimination, and social injustice. Yet engaging in behaviors that enact social change is often a complex decision, for both members of marginalized and majority groups. Given the complex challenges people from different groups face when working toward greater social equity, it is imperative to understand the specific behaviors people engage in to enact social change, the decision-making process underlying these behaviors, and their downstream consequences. To this end, the proposed symposium considers how and why employees tackle concerns with inequality and push for social change within and beyond their organization, with a focus on the ways in which individuals leverage their unique social identities and/or account for the unique benefits and constraints associated with their identities. The papers in this symposium draw on both qualitative and quantitative research across organizational contexts (e.g., in Congress, among boards of directors) and multiple theoretical foundations (e.g., boundary and identity management, intersectionality, social role theories) to contribute to important ongoing conversations about diversity, inequality, identities, and social change. You Can’t Be What You Can’t See: Unpacking Role Models of Marginalized Group Members Presenter: Karren Kimberly Knowlton; Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth How Minorities Leverage Racial Identity to Minimize Stigma and Achieve Social Change Presenter: Keana Richards; U. of Pennyslvania Presenter: Rachel Arnett; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Patricia Faison Hewlin; McGill U. When and How Corporate Board Directors Leverage Their Demographic Identities to Advance Justice Presenter: Stephanie J. Creary; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Words of a Leader: An Intersectional Analysis of Gender Differences in Leaders’ Speech Presenter: Cydney Dupree; Yale School of Management