As Professor of LGBTIQ+ Workplace Inclusion at Leiden University, Jojanneke van der Toorn works closely with Workplace Pride to bridge academic research and organizational practice. Her latest work offers critical reflections on how organisations can create more inclusive, equitable, and psychologically safe environments for LGBTIQ+ employees worldwide.

Highlights Include:

• Reflections on SOGI Data Collection: New research highlights that employees are more willing to share personal identity data when trust, transparency, and anonymity are prioritized.
  
• More Biased, Yet More Informed? Findings on how perceptions of bias and expertise shift depending on whether researchers belong to marginalized groups.
  
• Staying the Course in a Shifting DEI Landscape: Insights from the Workplace Pride Conference on why keeping identity central in DEI strategies is essential for lasting impact.
  
• Upcoming Event: The 2025 LGBTIQ+ Workplace Inclusion Symposium at Leiden University will gather global researchers and practitioners to explore the latest evidence-based strategies.
  

Through her work, Jojanneke continues to advance evidence-based guidance for HR and DEI teams while elevating employee experiences, trust, and belonging.

Want to dive deeper into Jojanneke’s latest research and recommendations?
Discover the full Rainbow Brief and explore actionable insights to strengthen LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion.

While societal attitudes toward diversity, equity, and inclusion appear increasingly polarized, our research led by Yonn Bokern shows that employees are not simply for or against their organization’s DEI policies. Instead, we identify distinct profiles of support, each driven by different motivations. The challenge, therefore, is not merely to overcome resistance, but to work with it—by listening, engaging, and better understanding the conditions that foster meaningful engagement with D&I policies.

The handout From Resistance to Gain (available in Dutch and English) summarises our research and offers practical advice to better understand support, hesitation and resistance and how to effectively deal with it.

Most important insights:
1. Support is more than for or against. Not everyone is distinct champion or opponent. There are also ambivalent employees, reluctants and bystanders.
2. Resistance often is not refusal. The group which is truly against D&I policy, is smaller than expected. More often, it involves unfamiliarity, insecurity or critical questions.
3. Managers are crucial. They typically see themselves as champion or reluctant: convinced of the importance of D&I, but sometimes critical on the execution. Their attitude and behavior strongly influence  how inclusive employees experience their working environment.
4. Increase support by understanding profiles. Adjust your approach to your target group: appreciate champions, utilize the critical views of reluctants, inform ambivalents, activate bystanders and enter into dialogue with opponents.

The handout is part of the multiannual project Het moet wel werken, a collaboration between Utrecht University, SER Diversity at work and the Netherlands Inclusivity Monitor, made possible by the Goldschmeding Foundation.