Revealing the divide: Differential impact of inclusive leadership on marginalized and dominant group members

There have been increasing pushbacks against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in society and organizations, revealing a deepening divide across social groups. Although inclusive leadership has been linked to positive outcomes, existing research has three critical limitations. First, research has yet to adequately account for the role of diversity in defining inclusive leadership and in shaping followers' responses to inclusive leadership. Second, prominent definitions often conflate inclusive leadership behaviors with their intentions or effects, blurring cause-effect distinctions, thereby generating overly positive findings that limit clarity about when, how, and for whom inclusive leadership may generate benefits or risks. Third, much of the empirical literature remains vulnerable to endogeneity threats, which undermine causal inferences about the impact of inclusive leadership. Aiming to address these issues, we draw on signaling theory to develop a diversity-sensitive, behavior-based reconceptualization of inclusive leadership grounded in prior literature. We further advance a conceptual model explaining how inclusive leadership differentially affects marginalized and dominant group members. By doing so, we help enhance conceptual precision and contextual sensitivity in inclusive leadership research. We also provide a roadmap that can enable stronger causal tests of inclusive leadership.