ILR WIDE Research Grants

ILR WIDE Fast Grants allow for quick access to funds for smaller expenditures related to organizational DEI research. ILR WIDE will respond to fast grant applications within 10 business days. This grant will fund up to $5000.

Eligibility:

• At least 1 Principal Investigator for the research project must be an ILR WIDE Faculty Fellow.
• Other PIs can include faculty, staff, and/or graduate students.

Application Procedure:

• Please download and fill out this application form.
• Completed application forms should be sent to ilrwide@cornell.edu.
• Application deadline is rolling.

 

ILR WIDE Applied Research Grants fund research projects with a substantial applied component. Projects should either collaborate with an organization or yield directly actionable outcomes for organizations. ILR WIDE will respond to applied research grant applications within 28 business days. This grant will fund up to $25000.

Eligibility:

• At least 1 Principal Investigator for the research project must be an ILR WIDE Faculty Fellow.
• Other PIs can include faculty, staff, and/or graduate students.

Application Procedure:

• Please download and fill out this application form.
• Completed application forms should be sent to ilrwide@cornell.edu.
• Application deadline is rolling.

Applied Research Grants

National Survey of Walmart Warehouse Workers

Alex Kowalski, Beth Gutelius, Sanjay Pinto

Despite the growing importance of warehousing in the U.S. economy, evidence on the experience of frontline workers in major firms is relatively thin. The current survey project aims to help fill this gap by focusing on Walmart’s 200 warehouses, which employ more than 140,000 people nationally. It will contribute to actionable knowledge on DEI issues by generating a national picture of working conditions within Walmart’s warehousing operations. In addition, this project will address an important methodological question for the field: How can online firm-level data collection better reflect the diversity of the populations being studied?

The Impact of a Longer List Manipulation on the Gender Diversity of Candidate Referrals

Brian Lucas, Aneesh Rai, Erika Kirgios, Katy Milkman

In the current project, we partner with an organization whose goal is to increase the gender diversity of its recruitment pipeline and, consequently, increase the number of women hired into its workforce. We propose to implement an intervention that manipulates the structure of the organization’s referral forms and we will measure the effects of this intervention on the number of women referred to the organization and, ultimately, the number of women hired.

 

Fast Grants

Artificial Intelligence & First-Generation Students

Sangah Bae, Sean Fath

When first-generation college students who are about to enter a job market seek help to improve their attractiveness as a candidate, how would outsiders, especially hiring managers perceive their attempts to get help? Would they perceive them differently based on their social background (first-gen vs. not) and use of technology (AI vs. traditional means, such as university career services)? This research explores whether perceivers (i.e., hiring managers) judge first-gen students negatively when they look for help from AI (vs. career services) to improve their resume, which is a critical document to apply for a job.

DEI Leadership & Racialized Hiring

James T. Carter, Rebecca Ponce de Leon

Our research advances organizational DEI by examining the role that of race and job selection for diversity management positions. If it is indeed the case that hiring managers and evaluators are making assessments about fit based on race, then the findings suggest that other races who may qualified to fill these positions are being looked over. Additionally, it may be the case that Black people without expertise are filling these roles and becoming overwhelmed and leaving which may speak to high attrition, turnover, and exit. Given that so many organizations are creating diversity manager positions, it is incumbent upon us to understand the criteria—especially the relatively irrelevant criteria—that goes into making these hiring assessments and decisions. 

Allyship Judgments of LGBTQ+ Directed Advertisements

James T. Carter, Michael White

This project explores how people evaluate LGBTQ+ targeted advertisements by organizations. Specifically, we are interested in how the timing of an advertisement (e.g., during Pride Month or not) shapes the extent to which people believe the advertisement is values-based, strategy-based, and consequently, that the organization authenticity cares about the welfare of LGBTQ+ people. This study will illuminate how targets of allyship displays evaluate solidarity efforts and the factors that shape whether they are perceived as authentic or opportunistic.

An Intersectional Examination of the Effects of Positionality Statements on Leader Perceptions

Chadé Darby, Aaron King, Devon Proudfoot

Leaders engaging in diversity and inclusion efforts are often encouraged to acknowledge their positionality. However, little is known about how such acknowledgments are perceived and interpreted by others and whether a leader’s specific identities may moderate the impact of identity declarations. We hope to provide practical recommendations for organizations as they consider how to implement effective organizational DEI practices.

How Does the Legal System Govern the Working Time of Home Care?

Yiran Zhang

The project aims to inform labor unions and other pro-worker organizations with strategies to better include the marginalized workers (particularly low-income women of color and immigrant women) in their advocacy by identifying the plausible legal changes that aligns with marginalized workers’ causes. The case study of working time and home care might also have broader policy implications for organizations in a post-COVID world to more equitably value and regulate home-based work and to better include home-based workers in the governance of workplaces. 

Devaluation by Omission: Limited Identity Options Elicit Anger and Increase Identification

Sean Fath, Devon Proudfoot

Our research agenda, including both our existing studies and our planned studies, is motivated by the notion that social identity omissions are a subtle yet prevalent form of social identity threat for members of socially marginalized groups. Social identity threats, in turn harm the well-being of members of socially marginalized groups. These studies are relevant to organizational DEI efforts insofar as they highlight the existence of this form of social identity threat and outline steps for organizations to reduce its prevalence. 

Organizational Interventions to Alleviate Burnout and Promote Work-Family Balance and Well-Being among Veterinarians

Brittany Bond, Sunita Sah, Duanyi Yang

Can organizational interventions reduce employee burnout and promote work-family balance and well-being? We are planning to investigate these questions using a randomized field experiment in the setting of veterinarian clinics in the United States. The study will shed light on how managers can facilitate workers, especially women’s personal-life balance, which in turn will reduce their rate of burnout and promote their wellbeing.

Perceptions of Diversity Officer's Initiatives

Chadé Darby, Sean Fath, Miguel Unzueta

Across three studies, we plan to investigate how people perceive diversity initiatives put in place by Diversity Officers of different races as well as who people think is a prototypical Diversity Officer. The implications of our findings will help organizations understand how their diversity initiatives are perceived by employees and other stakeholders.

 

Graduate Student Conference Travel Grants

Claire Malcomb, "Pronoun Policies at Work: How to Increase Inclusivity, Rather Than Just Pronoun Sharing"

Dongwoo Park, "The Missing Worker Voice in Job Quality: Developing a Conceptual Framework and Survey Instrument for Worker Voice"