Moral licensing in DEI work

Ever wondered why DEI objectives haven't advanced as expected in your #organization despite many efforts?

One of the reasons for it may be because introducing DEI related changes, like developing a DEI #strategy, inclusive #leadership programs, DEI education etc, could lead to 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜.

Moral licensing shows, for example in organization’s lack of action or justifying bad decisions because they’ve made a few good ones.

Whoever felt like they deserve a slice (or four) of pizza 🍕after a week of healthy diet 🥕 knows how this works 😉

Moral licensing has been demonstrated in a number of domains, including bias. For example it’s been proven that people who were given an opportunity to endorse Barack Obama in the 2008 US presidential election, were later on more likely to discriminate against African Americans.*

How can you tell if it's happening in your organization's DEI work? Look out for those signs:

🔹 Selective Diversity Engagement:

An organization may tout its commitment to DEI through specific #initiatives, but behind the scenes, their policies perpetuate inequality. The organization uses past or planned DEI efforts to justify lapses, engaging in moral licensing.

🔹 Tokenism in Leadership Roles:

The appointment of individuals from #underrepresented groups to leadership positions may be a symbolic diversity gesture. However, without substantive policy changes and a genuine commitment to inclusion, it becomes a form of moral licensing. The organization may use these appointments to excuse a lack of further action.

🔹 Unequal Resource Allocation:

An organization might invest in specific diversity programs while neglecting responding to other focal needs. Leaders may use support for targeted initiatives as moral licensing, assuming that backing certain diversity programs absolves them of responsibility for disparities experienced by other groups.

That’s why #accountability based on thorough #metrics are crucial for making sure that we don’t fall for this effect.

Have a look today’s comic to see how moral licensing can be expressed and how does it sound like.

Have you encountered comments about DEI that could be a sign of moral licensing?

*Source: "What works", Iris Bohnet

#diverisity #różnorodność