Twenty-second International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

In the contemporary workplace, inclusivity is an ongoing effort. However, the increasing reliance on technology in the workplace—especially since 2020—has left further questions regarding whether the utilization of technology itself might hurt, or help, inclusion efforts. Thus, using an original dataset with employees across six continents (N = 9,289), we conducted multinomial logistic regression analysis to explore employee opinions regarding whether they believe technology will help their organization be more inclusive. We considered how gender, sexual identity, and “minority” status might matter for employee perceptions, as these groups have been historically marginalized in the workplace. Relative to those who agreed with the statement, we found that employees identifying as transgender (RRR 2.19; 95%CI 1.18-4.04), or as a “minority,” broadly defined (RRR 1.28; 95%CI 1.07-1.52) were significantly more likely to disagree regarding the propensity of technology to help with inclusion along with employees surveyed in Australia (RRR 1.67; 95%CI 1.20-2.32), Europe (RRR 1.80; 95%CI 1.44-2.22), and North America (RRR 1.48; 95%CI 1.18-1.86). While the sample is one of convenience (and subject to errors associated with convenience sampling), these results suggest that employees in Western countries—along with those identifying as transgender or as a minority—are more skeptical of the claim that technology can positively impact inclusion. While technology can potentially advance inclusion efforts, it likely falls short of offering a comprehensive solution to inclusion issues in organizations.