Leadership is a relevant area of focus, as leaders can play a major role in diversity efforts. Here, we distinguish between leaders with and without HR responsibility.

Formal leadership responsibility with HR responsibility

Leaders with HR responsibility have a formal duty to oversee the working environment. At the same time, it can be difficult to know how to work on broad topics such as diversity and inclusion. It is important to emphasise that focusing on these topics, starting conversations and making an effort have value in themselves. (Risberg & Corvellec, 2022). 

Leaders can play a role in the formal establishment of diversity work. Diversity work gains legitimacy when a leader supports it, writes about it, talks about it and puts it on the agenda. This also applies to facilitating conversations and group discussions using the KARMA tools, or earmarking resources for initiatives. 

Leaders can:

• Use performance assessment interviews and exit interviews (Slutsamtalen - Kunnskapsbasen - NTNU) to map experiences, sense of belonging, etc.
• Use KARMA tools to facilitate discussions about diversity, inclusion and sense of belonging in their working environment

Academic supervision

In academic working environments, there are many people who do not have formal HR responsibility but still play a leadership role for other researchers. This includes senior researchers, research group leaders, and academic supervisors who have roles related to management/leadership within the working environment. This can happen through how tasks and assignments are distributed, the type of support and encouragement given and to whom, the way meetings and seminars are organised and led, and how one interacts with people in their group.

In the mapping process, one can also focus on:

• What is the network culture like? Is it easy for newcomers and people with different backgrounds to join in?
• What kind of jargon/in-group language is used in different groups?
• Who among the leaders sets the tone, and how do people with informal power exercise their authority?