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De Souza, Lucille (Lucy)

University of British Columbia

Despite increased popular and academic interest, allyship is a conceptually ambiguous phenomenon. This dissertation reflects my arc of discovery in addressing the question “What is allyship?” In Chapters 1 and 2, I introduce my theoretical model, the Typology of Allyship Action, which characterizes allyship actions as reactive (addressing bias when it occurs) and/or proactive (fostering positive outcomes such as inclusion and capacity), both of which can vary in scope (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional). In Chapter 3, I develop and validate scenario-based stimuli that exemplify action forms distinguished in the typology. In subsequent quantitative studies, I use these stimuli to demonstrate meaningful differences in reactive and proactive actions’ effectiveness (evaluations of personal inclusion and workplace culture). As past work largely focuses on the benefits of confrontation, these studies newly demonstrate the unique advantages of proactive action (e.g., increasing disadvantaged group members’ social fit and workplace commitment). Acknowledging the limitations of quantitative paradigms, in Chapter 4, I explored lived experiences of allyship through qualitative methods. I describe findings from a focus group study of professional women who shared their perspectives on and experiences with allyship in STEM. In this work, I used reflexive thematic analysis to inductively understand women’s definitions of allyship, distinctions between actions, and their outcomes. Women’s perspectives both complemented (e.g., viewing allyship as an ongoing pattern of multiple behaviors) and complicated (e.g., focusing on advantaged status rather than group identity) the Typology of Allyship Action. Providing theoretical and empirical insight through both quantitative and qualitative methods, this dissertation offers conceptual clarity on what allyship is and suggestions for future research on the phenomenon.

Text

2025-01-31

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86952

Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/