Is there *suddenly* a lack of demand for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DE&I) and sustainability?

We’ve all heard this myth echoed by lots of loud people and many media headlines lately. But, as critical thinkers and scholars, let's review some evidence:

1. Meta's Zuckerberg loudly claims to be dismantling DE&I programs and embracing "masculine energy" now (whatever that means 🤷‍♀️), while telling investors they still value (and seek) diversity! https://lnkd.in/eZGk5p8q Moreover, Meta still somehow managed to meet (and exceed!) its DE&I goals anways... 😲

2. Companies like Costco (which remained committed to DE&I) are faring better #financially in terms of customer traffic and market share compared to companies like Target (which rolled back their DE&I commitments) https://lnkd.in/e9K6_RwP. So, while we still need larger scale analyses (which takes time), initial evidence shows the financial advantage of #DEI. 💰

3. ResearchGate, a social networking site for 160 million+ research papers and 25 million+ scholars, informed me that my research (largely focused on #DEI and #sustainability) is the most read of the School of Management SoM-HSG or perhaps the whole HSG (it's unclear how they define "department") every week this year (so far...) 🏆 Hence, people still seem to be very interested in reading the research, too! 🤓

In short, no, it doesn't seem like the demand has suddenly decreased for sustainability or DE&I. What would be the alternative for the latter, anyways, Conformity, Inequity, & Exclusion? 😅 (as cleverly put by Mayor Pete)

As Joan C. Williams wrote, some may call their initiatives something else now to avoid putting a "target on [their] back" https://lnkd.in/egzpg8Rm or avoid backlash from the term (driven by a lot of this hype) https://lnkd.in/en9DPKnK or to navigate new legal implications (in the U.S.)

But as I tell my students at University of St.Gallen, let's keep our critical thinking hats on to cut through the hype here (and beyond!) 💪

Why the future is…funny? (TEDx Zurich talk)

Wow! I’m incredibly grateful for the organizers, coaches, hosts, translators, 100(ish) volunteers and folks behind the scenes, 800(ish) attendees (including some of my family, team, and friends!), and 9 other speakers who bravely shared their big ideas at a very inclusive TEDx Zurich yesterday! What a powerful and unforgettable experience with loads of creative and inspiring ideas and individuals.

In my 12-min. talk, I wove a narrative through my years of research on diversity, (social) sustainability, and humor—condensed into 3 key points—pointing to why the future is (or rather should be) funny.

***Want to know more? Check out the video here.***

As our team grows and we remain active in countless ways across HSG (and beyond), please follow us on LinkedIn or our CCDI page for a more complete and current overview of our team, engagements, research, and impact.

Women in Leadership Micro-Conference in St.Gallen

Just before Easter, we welcomed an all-star group of keynotes and early-career scholars from the the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, Switzerland—and beyond—in the beautiful Weiterbildungzentrum (WBZ) in sunny St.Gallen. These scholars and practitioners are working across psychology, organizational behavior, entrepreneurship, and operations management on topics related to gender/diversity and leadership.

It’s already a few weeks later now, but I’m still feeling inspired by conversations with and presentations by Raina Brands (UCL), Aneeta Rattan (LBS), Corinne Post (Villanova), Alyson Meister (IMD), Amanda Shantz and Charlotta Siren (HSG), our incoming post-doc (Mihwa Seong, Ivey Business School), CCDI scholars and practitioners (Eugenia Bajet Mestre, Theresa Goop, Nicole Niedermann, and Giannina Faktor), the fantastic social innovation duo from practice (Cynthia Hansen and Liana Melchenko at Adecco), Lauren Howe (UZH), Regina Dutz (TUM), Caren Goldberg (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow), and Eva Lin (LBS)!

Thanks again to SNF for funding this event, to our amazing attendees who shared their research and stories behind it, and to Eugenia Bajet Mestre for her extraordinary effort facilitating hybrid participation and organization.