Diversity Networks: Networking for Equality?
| Author | Yvonne Benschop,Marieke den Brink,Marjolein Dennissen |
| Published date | 01 October 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12321 |
| Date | 01 October 2019 |
British Journal of Management, Vol. 30, 966–980 (2019)
DOI: 10.1111/1467-8551.12321
Diversity Networks: Networking
for Equality?
Marjolein Dennissen, Yvonne Benschop and Marieke van den Brink1
Institute for Management Research,Radboud University, P.O. Box 9108, 6500 HK Nijmegen, The Netherlands,
and 1Radboud Social and Cultural Science, Radboud University,P.O. Box 9102, 6500 HC Nijmegen, The
Netherlands
Corresponding author email: m.dennissen@fm.ru.nl
In recent years, the use of diversity networksas diversity management instruments in or-
ganizations has increased tremendously. Diversity networks support the needs of employ-
ees with dierent social identities, such as women, ethnic minorities, LGBTs,disabled and
young people. The aim of this study is to come to a better understanding of how diversity
networks contribute to equality by examining how diversity networkleaders discursively
construct the value of their networks against the backdrop of discourses on diversityand
equality. We conducted a multiple case study of five dierent diversity networks in a fi-
nancial service organization in the Netherlands. Our results show that network leaders
tend to construct the value of their networks primarily in terms of individual career devel-
opment and community building, to prevent their members’ isolation. However, they are
much less articulate about removing the barriers to inclusion in the organization as a core
value of their networks. We conclude that the valueof diversity networks is limited when
these networks only address the individual and grouplevels of equality and leave systemic
inequalities at the organizational level unchallenged.
Introduction
Diversity networksare a widely popular practice in
current organizations to promote organizational
equality (Benschop et al., 2015; Kaplan, Sabin and
Smaller-Swift, 2009). As part of the larger diversity
management agenda, these in-company networks
are initiated to inform, support and advance
employees with historically marginalized social
We wouldlike to express our gratitude to the two anony-
mous reviewersand to the associate editor, Professor Olga
Epitropaki, for their valuable comments and support.
Special thanks go to our respondents and to the mem-
bers of the interdisciplinary research group Gender and
Power in Politics and Management for their suggestions
to improve previous versionsof our text.
*A free Teaching and Learning Guide to accompany
this article is available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8551/homepage/teaching___
learning_guides.htm
identities (Foldy, 2002). Hitherto,research has pro-
vided some insights into the value of diversity net-
works for women, ethnic minorities and lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees.
For instance, diversity networks are perceived
to have a positive eect on members’ career ad-
vancement (Cross and Armstrong, 2008; O’Neil,
Hopkins and Sullivan, 2011), facilitate a safe space
for members to shareexperiences (Friedman, 1996,
1999; Pini, Brown and Ryan, 2004) and provide
possibilities to advise management about diversity
and equality-related issues (Colgan and McKear-
ney, 2012; Gremmen and Benschop, 2013).
Despite their valuable contribution to the field
of diversity management research, these studies
present several important limitations. First, the
majority of these studies seem to make ‘diversity’
too easily ‘doable’ (Prasad and Mills, 1997, p. 11).
Diversity networks have met scholarly critique
for their lack of power to challenge organizations
as they would have no choice but to follow the
managerial agenda (Foldy, 2002). Yet, there is
C2018 The Authors.British Journal of Management published by JohnWiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Academy
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