UC Merced

Despite costly and labor-intensive outreach and recruitment efforts, women and communities of color remain vastly underrepresented within the technology sector. This underrepresentation stymies the potential benefits of diversity on innovation, which finds that groups from diverse backgrounds outperform homogeneous ones. Recognizing the scarcity of systemic and social explanations for this inequity, this dissertation examines the role of belonging-supportive practices for diverse members of technology-focused organizations. Frequently linked with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, belonging is essential for members of underrepresented groups and closely tied to organizational identification, commitment, and turnover intentions. Using multiple ethnographic case studies, this dissertation identifies belonging as a dynamic and interactional construct that can change over time—from how belonging is generated in virtual learning contexts to how it is maintained and eventually eroded in a technology start-up.This research examines organizational and interpersonal practices that support and those that constrain belonging for underrepresented groups in the technology sector. The first case follows geographically dispersed STEM students as they seek belonging to the university during remote instruction using gradually more direct interaction supported by technological affordances of virtual learning communities. The second case highlights practices that support belonging for underrepresented identities, and examines the consequences of practices that constrained belonging by limiting agency and thus psychological safety at a growing technology social enterprise. Key contributions of this include a gradual processual model of belonging generation and an expanded definition of belonging that is dynamic, rooted in interaction, and requires participant agency.