Mixed Messages in a Gender Diversity Initiative

Sammanfattning: This thesis explores how the workforce perceives and responds to gender diversity initiatives. While it is easy for companies to start talking about gender diversity and initiate different campaigns, it becomes challenging or even difficult to implement them in practice. In male-dominated industries gender diversity initiatives are facing different challenges and the progress remains slow. Our case highlights possible reasons for this: contrasting opinions challenge the initiative, an unclear approach for the implementation of theoretical concepts confuses the workforce as well as an unclear communication that leads to responses and could cause resistance. Our aim for this research is first to critically develop the theoretical and practical approaches to diversity initiatives and second to address the role of communication in diversity initiatives.