From rhetoric to reality: a critical whiteness studies scoping review of communicators' roles in advancing DEI in organizations

Abstract

Purpose This scoping review examines how organizational communication and professional communicators are conceptualized within DEI-related scholarship and identifies recurring patterns in how communication sustains, obscures, constrains, resists, or transforms organizational Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitments. Design/methodology/approach Using Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) as an interpretive lens, the review synthesizes a heterogeneous corpus of empirical, conceptual, theoretical, and review scholarship across communication, management, and DEI research. An iterative, theory-informed analysis identifies recurring patterns in the relationship between organizational communication, institutional conditions, and DEI-related practice. Findings The findings identify four recurring patterns of DEI communication alignment: performative alignment, strategic silence and organizational retreat, exclusionary alignment, and transformative alignment. Rather than cataloging DEI practices, this framework explains how organizational communication may sustain, obscure, resist, or transform inequity within contemporary institutional contexts. Practical implications The paper’s findings suggest that communicators advance DEI more effectively when they adopt dialogic and reflexive practices, integrate diverse voices into strategic messaging, and advocate for transparency over performance. Originality/value This review extends DEI communication literature by applying CWS to synthesize existing scholarship and offering an actionable framework for practitioners to critically examine and transform communication practices within organizations.