From gender equality to inclusive diversity? Discourses among equality workers in Scandinavia

Purpose This study examines how diversity and gender equality workers at technical universities understand their possibilities for effecting change, focusing on how discourses of diversity, intersectionality and Scandinavian exceptionalism shape equality work in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on semi-structured interviews with DEI workers from technical universities in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The interviews were analyzed by finding shared discourses among the interviewees. Findings The analysis shows that diversity and intersectionality are often conflated in DEI work at technical universities. Diversity is commonly framed as organizational value and the management of difference, while intersectionality is acknowledged in principle but remains difficult to operationalize in practice. These tensions are shaped by Scandinavian discourses of exceptionalism regarding gender and ethnic equality, which position equality as largely achieved and render structural power relations less visible. As a result, diversity and intersectionality are frequently adapted to fit meritocratic, measurable and non-disruptive organizational logics, limiting their transformative potential. Originality/value The study contributes to research on gender equality and diversity in Scandinavian technical universities by theorizing exceptionalism as a key discursive lens shaping DEI work. It highlights how exceptionalist narratives limit intersectional and transformative approaches, emphasizing the need for contextual understandings and power analysis in diversity, equity and inclusion work.