The Effects of Double Jeopardy in Organizations

Indianapolis, IN

Diversity is becoming a popular research topic, regardless of the discipline in which the research is based. While research on diversity is critical within a variety of subfields, it is particularly interesting for practitioners and researchers who study diversity within the workplace. Double Jeopardy refers to an increased amount of discrimination faced by an individual due to their membership in multiple non-dominant groups. The individual not only faces discrimination on account of one characteristic, such as race, but additional discrimination due to another characteristic, such as gender or age. The present research investigates double jeopardy resulting from race and gender, specifically minority women in a university setting. The study surveyed over 1200 women employed in staff roles in an academic setting. The survey included measures of climate, job satisfaction, discriminatory experiences, and expected job outcomes. We will be examining whether differences exist between the experiences of minority women and non-minority women. We expect that minority women may experience more negative events at work, have lower job satisfaction, and experience more discrimination. We will also examine whether experiencing discrimination is more strongly related to job outcomes for minority female staff than for non-minority female staff. Future implications for the study involve adopting thorough and educational diversity sessions for faculty and staff, with the ultimate goal of improving the workplace climate for all employees, but especially those who may be subject to double jeopardy.