6 Diversity fatigue

Diversity fatigue is a phrase that emerged in the US in the 1990s, defined by the Oxford Review (no date) as occurring when ‘individuals within an organisation […] begin to feel overwhelmed, disillusioned, or frustrated by the continuous focus on diversity.’

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Photograph of a person at a laptop looking fatigued.

The literature describes different categories of diversity fatigue, including:

• the frustration, or even exhaustion, experienced by those who are committed to the work but see limited results
• the additional effort required from those who have lived experience of discrimination when they are asked to relive and share their experiences as part of a diversity initiative
• irritation for those who see diversity work as being merely for the sake of political correctness and potentially disadvantageous for them

Marr (2019) suggests that ‘when good intentions and hard work don’t produce results both leaders and employees begin to feel diversity fatigue. […] At its core it is about losing hope that the status quo can change.’ She goes on to advise three ways to overcome diversity fatigue:

• diagnose the specific diversity and inclusion (D&I) challenges the company is facing rather than relying on a standard set of programmes or initiatives
• encouragement from the top is crucial, but organisations also need to ensure functional and business unit leaders are reinforcing the importance of D&I in daily operations
• make diversity and inclusion relevant to everyone in the organisation, not just diverse groups.

In the final section this week, you’ll look at some of the barriers to diversity that an organisation might find it more difficult to influence.