Dr. Kang\, Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Manag ement at the University of Toronto\, will present a lecture titled “ A Warm Welcome or A Cold Connotation? Welcoming Language Reduces Anticipate d Belonging."
[image_aligned img_ur l="https://soci.cms.arts.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/02/Sonia-Ka ng-2.jpg" caption="Dr. Sonia Kang" align="right"]
Many organizations attempt to signal an inclusive workplace culture via linguistic nuance in t heir recruitment and selection materials. For instance\, many organizations state that they “welcome” applications from members of underrepresented gr oups. Little is known about how this common practice shapes job seekers’ pe rceptions.
We theorize that\, while well-intentioned\, welcoming lang uage sends a counter-productive message to the very people it aims to attra ct. Here\, we first examine the prevalence and features of various types of diversity recruitment language in a sample of 914 job postings in the Unit ed States and Canada (Study 1a)\, and 410 corporate diversity statements fr om Fortune 500 companies (Study 1b). Our archival study reveals that welcom ing language (e.g.\, “all employees are welcome regardless of race \, nationality\, colour\, religion\, sex\, gender identity or expression\, sexual orientation\, disability or age”) is commonly used to target underre presented groups\, and is significantly more prevalent than belonging langu age (e.g.\, “we are committed to fostering an environment where belongi ng thrives\, and diversity\, inclusion\, and equity are infused into e verything we do”).
Next\, we deductively test the appeal of welcoming language with a series of pre-registered online experiments in the context of gender inclusion in STEM. In Study 2a\, female participants (N = 200) indicated being more likely to apply to job ads with belonging (vs. gender-neutral or welcoming) language. In Study 2b (N = 593)\, we document a novel mechanism that explains why welcoming (vs. belonging) lan guage decreases anticipated belonging: it is perceived as insincere\; this explanation holds even when controlling for social identity threat. In Stud y 3\, we find that both male and female participants (N = 372) who were asked to choose recruitment language that signals genuine inclusion o f women preferred belonging language over welcoming language. In Study 4\, we find that women (N = 1332) with stronger social dominance orien tation and modern sexist attitudes are more inclined to accept an offer for a job that is advertised using welcoming (vs. belonging) language\, wherea s women with stronger egalitarian orientation and feminist attitudes prefer red jobs from organizations using belonging language.
Together\, thes e findings suggest that\, despite its positive intent\, ubiquitous welcomin g language may create sorting mechanisms that inadvertently reinforce exist ing barriers to diversity and inclusion by appealing to job candidates who are more supportive of the status quo.
Dr. Sonia Kang holds the Canada Research Chair in Identity\, Diversity\, and Inclusion\ , and is a Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Manageme nt at the University of Toronto\, where she is also a Faculty Research Fell ow at the Rotman School of Management’s Institute for Gender and the Econom y (GATE) and Chief Scientist\, Organizations in the Behavioural Economics i n Action Research Centre at Rotman (BEAR).
Sonia is also Special Advisor on Anti-Racism & Equity at the University of
Toronto Mississauga. Sonia earned a B.Sc. (Hons) in Psychology from the U
niversity of Alberta\, an M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University
of Toronto\, and completed a SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Northwestern
University.
Find out more about Dr. Kang here.
We strive to host inclusive\, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. To be respectful of those wit h allergies and environmental sensitivities\, we ask that you please refrai n from wearing strong fragrances. To request an accommodation or for inquir ies about accessibility\, please contact us through the RSVP form or email us at soci.communications@ubc.ca.
CATEGORIES:Featured Homepage,Featured News &\; Events LOCATION:ANSO 134 GEO:49.268864;-123.258533 URL;VALUE=URI:https://sociology.ubc.ca/events/event/distinguished-speaker-s onia-kang/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://soci.cms.arts.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/02/250304-DSS-Sonia-Kang.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Vancouver BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 DTSTART:20241103T090000 TZNAME:PST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR