Purpose This paper examines how equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work is defined, organized and enacted in European academia amid rising anti-gender and anti-race backlash. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on 118 interviews with academic and professional staff across 11 European countries, the study extends Thomas’ framework of diversity regimes. The analysis situates these processes within broader political contexts, including EU equality governance and the uneven resonance of (anti-)gender and (anti-)race movements. Findings Three diversity regimes are identified: (1) an absent regime where inequality is a non-issue, formal EDI infrastructure is absent, and individual goodwill determines whether EDI work is performed; (2) a symbolic compliance regime focused on gender equality and tick-boxing formal requirements from the “top”, while EDI remains largely invisible in daily practice; and (3) a contested regime where attention to gender inequality is growing, influencing a partial institutionalization of EDI work, while EDI is simultaneously performed through visible displays of care that tend to simultaneously serve impression management. The findings further reveal how (inter)national (anti-)gender and (anti-)race politics create contested environments in which EDI takes shape. Pressures from EU equality frameworks and social movements like MeToo play a role in the production of EDI work. Originality/value This paper extends the concept of diversity regimes to the European academic context, showing how EDI is organizationally and politically conditioned. It demonstrates how (anti-)gender and (anti-)race politics and backlash exert pressures that compel institutions to perform EDI in fragile ways.
Purpose The interest of organizational scholars in strengthening the inclusion of neurodivergent employees has spiked in recent years. However, current knowledge on how to undertake organizational research in a neuro-inclusive way is lacking. This is important as failing to do so may lead employers and policymakers to rely on flawed insights and thereby develop policies and practices that do not achieve their intended inclusive impact. Design/methodology/approach We adopt a reflexive, multi-perspective approach structured around three interconnected levels of reflection. First, we draw on the authors’ reflexive narratives as a neurodiverse research team. Second, we examine scholars’ reflections on studying neurodiversity through qualitative survey data. Third, we explore neurodivergent contributors’ lived experiences of participating in research. Findings We propose a neuro-inclusive relational research model, which integrates organizational inclusion scholarship and ethics of care. Specifically, inclusion is the desired outcome while the practices are underpinned by the ethics of care. Originality/value We contribute by advancing methodological debates on how inclusion, the simultaneous experience of belonging and uniqueness, is achieved within neurodiverse research contexts.
Purpose This study investigates how and when AI use at work relates to neurodivergent employees’ task performance and burnout. Drawing on Sociotechnical System Theory, the study proposes that executive functioning (EF) serves as the mediating mechanism and that social support serves as the moderating factor. Design/methodology/approach The three-wave survey data were collected from 286 neurodivergent employees in the United Kingdom, enabling temporal separation of the predictor, mediator, and outcome variables to reduce concerns for common method bias. Findings Results showed that AI use at work was positively associated with EF, which in turn was positively associated with task performance and negatively associated with burnout. Social support moderated these relationships, with AI use’s benefits for EF and subsequent performance and well-being emerging only when workplace social support was high. Originality/value This study advances a sociotechnical understanding of how AI use may support neurodivergent employees. By positioning AI as external cognitive scaffolding and social support as a key social system, the study clarifies how technological and social systems work together to shape work outcomes among neurodivergent employees.
Purpose While anyone can choose to follow and support an athlete, team, sport, or league, not everyone feels welcomed and included as a sport fan. There are numerous examples of sport fandom being a closed, exclusive and unwelcoming space. This paper aims to examine issues of inclusivity and exclusion in sport fandom and explore how fan relationships, interactions, and organizational practices shape sport fans’ experiences of inclusion and belonging. Design/methodology/approach In taking a closer and deeper look at fandom in the sport industry through a review of relevant literature and an overview of articles in the special issue, we draw attention to the dynamics of sport fandom inclusivity, which is experienced as relational, contextual, evolving and complex, and shaped by both fan cultures and organizational practices. Findings First, we highlight the impact of relationships and interactions among fans in real and digital spaces. Articles in the special issue focus on fan relationships with each other and with teams through supporting alternative, progressive values. Second, we discuss the impact of organizational practices on sport fans' perceptions and experiences of inclusion and belonging. In our special issue, we highlight the impact of sport event legacy plans for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and other sexual and gender identity communities, women and non-binary fans, telling different stories about sport heroes and creating media content amongst fans of women's sport. Originality/value Our hope with this special issue is to encourage sport organizations and sport fans to do more to create environments of inclusivity and belonging and work toward the idea that sport fandom is welcoming to everyone.
Purpose This paper aims to investigate the migrant wage gap and the gendered differences at both within-workplace and within-job level, as well as the effect unionization has on this wage gap. Design/methodology/approach Using register data, we use regression analysis to identify within-workplace and within-job wage differences. Findings Taking Denmark – a country renowned for equality, solidarity, and strong labour market institutions – as our context, we demonstrate that substantial wage gaps persist between high-skilled migrants and natives both within workplaces and jobs. We also show that the magnitude of migrant wage gaps varies substantially across workplaces but that these inequalities are significantly less pronounced in highly unionized workplaces. Furthermore, the migrant wage gap among male workers is substantially larger at the workplace level, however larger for women at the within-job level. Our findings suggest that unionization at the workplace level offers a durable strategy for redressing inequality. Originality/value With the analysis of uniquely detailed register data, we have a unique possibility to elaborate on the gendered differences in unionization and how organizing against inequality (i.e. unionization) influences the extent of workplace-level inequalities in wage gaps. The contrast between the between- and within-job gaps further suggests that the mechanisms producing wage gaps are very different for men and women: Male workers from non-Western countries would benefit mostly from human resource policies that address inequalities in labour market segregation, whereas female workers from non-Western countries would benefit most from workplace human resource policies that address equal pay for equal work.
