Marjolein Dennissen

165 English summary English summary For a non-academic audience *1 In recent years, the use of diversity networks in organizations has increased tremendously. Diversity networks are employee networks initiated to advance employees with specific social identities and to counteract their social exclusion in organizations. In many organizations, diversity networks are part of diversity management and a popular practice to promote equality and inclusion of employees with a disadvantaged position in organizations. The popularity of diversity networks in organizations is based on the widespread idea that involvement in networks is important for successful career development. The first diversity networks were initiated in the US in the 1970s to improve the inclusion and numerical representation of women and ethnic minorities in organizations. Currently, diversity networks also exist for other (often historically excluded) employees, such as networks for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees, employees with a disability, or young and older employees. Despite the proliferation of diversity networks in organizations, it remains unclear how these networks work, and to what effects. In this dissertation, I study how diversity networks are actually functioning as diversity management instrument. Using a broad and critical notion of organizational equality, the aim of my dissertation is to build a better understanding of how diversity networks contribute to equality in organizations. A critical diversity perspective on equality in organizations Most studies on diversity networks focus on their effects on the career advancement ofmembers and their numerical representation in organizations. However, organizational equality is not only about diversity in numbers. Organizational equality also involves organizational culture, norms, behaviors, jokes at the coffee machine, and unwritten rules that all contribute to the inclusion of some employees and the exclusion of others. Diversity, as well as its management, is inextricably linked to power and everyday micropolitics. This means that in order to truly understand diversity and equality in organizations, unequal power relations, the experiences of minority employees, and (subtle) organizational processes that create and maintain inequalities, all need to be taken into account. In my dissertation, I therefore draw on critical diversity studies. This is an academic subfield within management and organization studies where the complex patterns of inequality are key. With a critical diversity perspective on diversity networks, I not only focus on numerical outcomes and individual career development, but also on more structural organizational processes and the underlying mechanisms that create inequality in organizations. In doing so, my research shows how diversity networks either help or hinder equality in organizations. * For an academic summary, please refer to the discussion (Chapter 5).