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Prof.dr. Naomi Ellemers

Distinguished university professor

Social psychologist Naomi Ellemers examines the behavior of people in organizations. Her main topics of expertise are Diversity and Inclusion, and Integrity and Ethics at work.

To investigate the behavior of people in organizations, Naomi Ellemers combines experimental methodologies examining brain activity and stress with observations of people in the workplace. Her aim is to understand how group affiliations impact on individual behaviors in organizations. In her diversity lab, she identifies the work experiences of women, ethnic minorities, and members of the LGBT community. In her integrity lab, she also examines how individuals are guided by the ethical climate at work, for instance in the financial sector.

Ellemers was elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), and Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. Among the distinctions she received is the NWO-Spinoza Award.

She is member of the supervisory board of PwC the Netherlands, and chair of the Kurt Lewin Institute. She is one of the initiators of the National Integration Fund and one of Athena’s Angels.

From 2020 -2022 she was chair of the KNAW Committee on Roots and Prevention of Inappropriate Behaviour in Academia

‘Koester juist de kritiek op het diversiteitsbeleid van Google’

De memo die Google-werknemer James Damore schreef over het in zijn ogen tekortschietende diversiteitsbeleid binnen het concern, moet worden gekoesterd. Dat zegt Naomi Ellemers, sociaal en organisatiepsycholoog en universiteitshoogleraar aan de Universiteit Utrecht, die al dertig jaar onderzoek doet naar het diversiteitsbeleid binnen bedrijven. ‘Damore stelt terecht de vraag of het diversiteitsbeleid dat wordt gevoerd wel goed werkt’, zegt Ellemers. ‘Veel bedrijven doen maar wat en kijken nooit of hun beleid wel werkt.’