Abstract
Organizations are key mechanisms by which racism is enacted and perpetuated. Although much of the management literature has focused on organizational efforts to combat racial discrimination, some of the most transformative changes come from the everyday actions of employees themselves. In this study, we develop grounded theory on racial minority employees who choose to challenge racism from within the organizational structures that perpetuate it most (i.e., highly racialized organizations). We present a theoretical model of employee anti-racism that emerged from our analysis of qualitative data—comprising 80.7 audio hours from 48 interviews with Black law enforcement officers. This model articulates anti-racism motivation as a key mechanism that motivates racial minority employees to join and stay within highly racialized organizations. Our analysis suggests that these employees enact anti-racism behaviors targeted at both the racialized organization and their racial community, with these behaviors playing a critical role in positively transforming the interface between the organization and the communities that are harmed by racism. Perceptions of transformation help sustain racial minority employees’ anti-racism motivation, particularly as they experience continued racism and encounter backlash for their anti-racism efforts. In the absence of perceived transformation, we found that racial minority employees are likely to withdraw from the highly racialized organization. Altogether, our study provides a theoretical and practical roadmap highlighting how racial minority employees combat racism via organizational membership and sustain their positive impact on both their work organization and their racial communities.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 249-272 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Psychology |
| Volume | 108 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 28 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was supported by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology’s 2021 Anti-Racism Grant. An earlier draft of this article was presented at the 2020 Academy of Management Organizational Behavior Rapid Research Plenary on Racial Inequality, the Southern Management Association Annual Meeting, Texas Tech University, the University of Texas at Arlington, Simon Fraser University, and the University of Virginia. First and foremost, we extend our utmost gratitude to the Black police officers who trusted us and shared their voices, stories, and time—all while serving and protecting our communities. This project was completed against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, a reignition of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, heightened attention to racism enacted against various racial minority communities, and political turmoil, yet the informants continually reminded us that some of the biggest changes come from the day-to-day actions of individuals striving to transform systems and create thriving communities for all citizens. We also appreciate the valuable feedback on prior versions of the article from Blake Ashforth and Beth Schinoff, and on the reporting of our methods and data from Allison Gabriel. Finally, we would like to thank Penelope Ann Rogers and Kabir Chawla Prabhakaran for their patience and cooperation, allowing their mothers to engage in this personally meaningful and important work
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Psychological Association
Keywords
- anti-racism
- diversity
- grounded theory
- racism
- stigma
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
