𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗛𝗥𝗠 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀

𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗛𝗥𝗠 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀

𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹:
The International Journal of Human Resource Management

𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿:
Taylor & Francis Group

𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲:
30 November 2026

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲

Inclusion has become a defining aspiration of contemporary Human Resource Management (HRM), embedded across recruitment, leadership development, employee engagement initiatives, and organizational values. However, the institutional foundations supporting inclusion are increasingly fragile. Political retrenchment, economic uncertainty, organizational ambivalence, and cultural contestation are collectively challenging the norms and mechanisms that once sustained inclusive workplaces.

This Special Issue explores the concept of institutional fragility of inclusion—a condition where inclusion is publicly endorsed but inconsistently implemented, weakly governed, or symbolically maintained without substantive commitment. It seeks to understand how identity differences continue to shape workplaces when formal inclusion structures weaken or become contested.

The issue encourages contributions that move beyond static and categorical understandings of identity and instead conceptualize inclusion as a dynamic process influenced by power relations, legitimacy, resistance, and institutional uncertainty. It also examines how HRM systems may simultaneously promote, regulate, suppress, or contest workplace inclusion.

𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁

Submissions may address, but are not limited to:

• Organisational responses to the erosion or contestation of inclusion mandates
• Identity construction, negotiation, and resistance within HRM systems
• Symbolic inclusion versus substantive organisational change
• Performance management, leadership pipelines, and “culture fit” as mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion
• Comparative and global analyses of inclusion across institutional, legal, and cultural contexts
• HRM as a mechanism of voice suppression, identity masking, or strategic silence
• Intersectional identities and their influence on opportunity, legitimacy, and recognition in organisations
• Informal networks and shadow structures that sustain or undermine inclusion efforts
• Experiences of inclusion and exclusion following organisational retreat from formal DEI commitments
• Institutional logics, power asymmetries, and the politics of belonging in HRM systems
• Decolonial and Indigenous critiques of Western-centric inclusion frameworks in global HRM
• Identity as both an object of organisational regulation and a site of resistance
• Inclusion practices and identity experiences in non-Western and underrepresented contexts

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀

As organizations increasingly face political polarization, economic pressures, and shifting societal expectations, the sustainability of workplace inclusion has become uncertain. Formal commitments to diversity and inclusion may coexist with weakened implementation, contested legitimacy, and growing institutional ambiguity.

This Special Issue provides an important platform for critically examining how inclusion is interpreted, enacted, challenged, and transformed within contemporary HRM systems. It seeks to generate new theoretical insights and practical understanding of identity, power, and institutional change in workplaces across diverse global contexts.

𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀

Professor Benjamin Laker
Henley Business School, University of Reading, United Kingdom
Email: Benjamin.laker@henley.ac.uk

Professor Sven Horak
St. John's University, New York, USA
Email: horaks@stjohns.edu

Professor Toyin Ajibade Adisa
Royal Docks School of Business and Law, University of East London, United Kingdom
Email: t.adisa@uel.ac.uk

Dr. Fulya Acikgoz
University of Sussex Business School, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Email: F.Acikgoz@sussex.ac.uk

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀

Benjamin Laker is a Professor at Henley Business School whose research focuses on leadership, organizational behaviour, workplace inclusion, and future-of-work strategies.

Sven Horak is a Professor at St. John’s University specializing in comparative management, cross-cultural leadership, diversity, and international human resource management.

Toyin Ajibade Adisa is a Professor at the University of East London whose research interests include diversity and inclusion, work-life balance, equality in organizations, and contemporary HRM practices.

Fulya Acikgoz is a scholar at the University of Sussex Business School whose research focuses on organizational behaviour, workplace diversity, talent management, and employee inclusion.

𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀

• Manuscripts should generally not exceed 10,000 words, including references, tables, and figures.
• Empirical, theoretical, conceptual, and methodological contributions are welcome.
• Critical literature reviews, historically informed analyses, and comparative or multi-level studies are encouraged.
• Contributions grounded in intersectionality, social identity theory, critical race theory, feminist perspectives, and postcolonial approaches are particularly welcomed.
• All manuscripts should follow The International Journal of Human Resource Management submission guidelines and will undergo a rigorous peer-review process.

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹

The International Journal of Human Resource Management is a leading international journal publishing high-quality research on strategic human resource management, employment relations, organizational behaviour, leadership, diversity, and global people management. The journal promotes theoretically rigorous and practically relevant scholarship that advances understanding of contemporary workforce challenges across diverse international contexts.

𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘂 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 — 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 & 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Visit official website of the publisher