Barriers to Diversity & Inclusion

One program of research in the lab examines a range of barriers to diversity and inclusion goals. In particular, we are interested in some of the more subtle barriers, beyond blatant prejudice and discrimination, that affect underrepresented and marginalized groups. For example, we have found that bisexual people’s sexual identity (particularly men’s) is often denied (Morgenroth et al., 2021), which may be one explanation for their lower levels of belonging in the LGBTQ community and poorer clinical outcomes – indeed, bisexual people hold their identity at an implicit, or automatic, level (Kirby et al., 2021), suggesting its importance to self-concept. People’s tendency to perceive sexual orientation as a biological or immutable trait is also associated with bisexual people’s lower levels of belonging (Morgenroth et al., 2022).

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We have also found that women are often promoted to precarious leadership positions (Morgenroth, Kirby, et al, 2021) that may undermine their chances at successful leadership. Additionally, women face indirect barriers to equality due to the prevalence of precarious manhood beliefs, which can deter men from fully advocating for gender equality (Sudkaemper et al., in prep; Sudkaemper et al., 2020). Finally, Asian Americans face perpetual foreigner stereotypes that can deter inclusion – interestingly, these stereotypes can intersect with weight stereotypes about Americanness and shape who is perceived as most American (Handron et al., 2017).