Marjolein Dennissen

21 Introduction have developed an understanding of power and inequality as sustained through organizational discourses and practices (Dick & Cassell, 2002; Prasad & Mills, 1997; Zanoni et al., 2010). Thus, critical diversity scholars emphasize a “nonpositivistic, nonessentialist understanding of diversity – as well as the sociodemographic identities subsumed under this term – as socially (re)produced in ongoing, context-specific processes” (Zanoni et al., 2010, p. 10). This means that organizational discourses and practices have to be taken into account when studying diversity and inequality in organizations (Lorbiecki & Jack, 2000; Prasad & Mills, 1997; Zanoni et al., 2010). Using critical diversity studies, this study contributes to new theoretical insights about diversity networks by answering the following main research question: How do diversity networks contribute to equality in organizations? Building alternative understandings of diversity and diversity management in organizations, critical diversity studies draw on a broad variety of critical perspectives (Zanoni et al., 2010). Three perspectives were central to my dissertation: discourse analysis (Dick & Cassell, 2002; Philips & Hardy, 2002; Zanoni & Janssens, 2004), intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991; Holvino, 2010; Verloo, 2006), and practice-based studies (Gherardi, 2009; Janssens & Steyaert, 2019; Nicolini, 2009). Each of these perspectives presents an opportunity for exploring how diversity networks contribute to equality in organizations. These perspectives were translated into three subquestions that are addressed in each of the subsequent chapters of this dissertation. 1. How do diversity network board members discursively construct the value of their networks? The first subquestion concerned the discursive constructions of the de facto leaders of diversity networks: the diversity network board members. As network leaders, board members primarily determine the course of action of their diversity networks and, thus, are responsible for network goals and organized network activities. By communicating the value of their diversity networks to potential members and the organization for resources and support, board members legitimize the existence and functioning of their networks in their organization. I analyze how these diversity network board members discursively construct the value of their networks against the backdrop of discourses on diversity and equality. Capturing board members’ constructions of the value of their diversity networks can demonstrate whether and how organizational inequalities are addressed and how these constructions vary across different networks. Insight into the contradictory discursive practices of diversity network board members can explicate how diversity networks may simultaneously produce and counteract organizational equality. 2. Howdoesthecomplexityofdifferentidentitycategoriesandtheirintersectionsimpactdiversitynetworks?