B2.1
Tracks
Stream B
| Thursday, October 29, 2026 |
| 3:15 PM - 3:30 PM |
Overview
Speaking up isn't enough: Why bystander intervention doesn't automatically create inclusion | 15 mins
Presenter
Dr Laura Jennings
The Australian Centre For Equality And Inclusion @ Work, The University Of Sydney
Speaking up isn't enough: Why bystander intervention doesn't automatically create inclusion
3:15 PM - 3:30 PMAbstract
Bystander intervention is widely assumed to foster workplace inclusion. Organisations invest heavily in active bystander training on the premise that when employees speak up against mistreatment, inclusion follows. Yet this relationship has not been directly and empirically examined, and this research shows the assumption is, at best, incomplete.
This study investigated how bystander intervention relates to workplace inclusion for all three parties involved: targets, bystanders, and transgressors. Using abductive qualitative analysis of 53 interviews across two contrasting Australian organisations (a consulting firm and a remote mine site), the research found that bystander intervention does not automatically produce inclusion. Whether inclusion was fostered depended on the perceptions of all parties involved.
Three influences were identified that shape whether bystander intervention leads to inclusion. Perceived support (experienced through peer and supervisor relationships) and perceived safety (shaped by senior leadership behaviour and policy-practice alignment) were both critical for all parties. For transgressors, a third influence was required: perceived fairness. Without perceiving the intervention as fair, transgressors were unable to perceive support or safety, resulting in resentful compliance or active defiance rather than genuine behavioural change or inclusion.
When all three influences were present, a reinforcing cycle emerged: bystanders became more willing to intervene, transgressors demonstrated genuine behavioural change, and participants perceived greater workplace inclusion, encompassing both belonging and authenticity. When these influences were absent, bystander intervention left parties feeling unsupported, unsafe, or resentful, outcomes that actively undermine inclusion.
These findings challenge the prevailing emphasis on individual-level action as the route to inclusion. Organisations cannot simply train employees to intervene and expect inclusion to follow. Effective inclusion requires moving beyond individual-level expectations to system-level alignment: leadership behaviour, policy-practice consistency, and structures that enable support, safety, and fairness to be perceived by all parties. The presentation offers a framework for diagnosing why workplace bystander intervention may fail to deliver intended outcomes, and for identifying the organisational conditions needed for intervention to translate into inclusion.
This study investigated how bystander intervention relates to workplace inclusion for all three parties involved: targets, bystanders, and transgressors. Using abductive qualitative analysis of 53 interviews across two contrasting Australian organisations (a consulting firm and a remote mine site), the research found that bystander intervention does not automatically produce inclusion. Whether inclusion was fostered depended on the perceptions of all parties involved.
Three influences were identified that shape whether bystander intervention leads to inclusion. Perceived support (experienced through peer and supervisor relationships) and perceived safety (shaped by senior leadership behaviour and policy-practice alignment) were both critical for all parties. For transgressors, a third influence was required: perceived fairness. Without perceiving the intervention as fair, transgressors were unable to perceive support or safety, resulting in resentful compliance or active defiance rather than genuine behavioural change or inclusion.
When all three influences were present, a reinforcing cycle emerged: bystanders became more willing to intervene, transgressors demonstrated genuine behavioural change, and participants perceived greater workplace inclusion, encompassing both belonging and authenticity. When these influences were absent, bystander intervention left parties feeling unsupported, unsafe, or resentful, outcomes that actively undermine inclusion.
These findings challenge the prevailing emphasis on individual-level action as the route to inclusion. Organisations cannot simply train employees to intervene and expect inclusion to follow. Effective inclusion requires moving beyond individual-level expectations to system-level alignment: leadership behaviour, policy-practice consistency, and structures that enable support, safety, and fairness to be perceived by all parties. The presentation offers a framework for diagnosing why workplace bystander intervention may fail to deliver intended outcomes, and for identifying the organisational conditions needed for intervention to translate into inclusion.
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Dr Laura Jennings is a Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion @ Work at the University of Sydney, specialising in workplace diversity and inclusion. A behavioural scientist with expertise in qualitative research methods, her work examines the everyday behaviours and cultural conditions that drive — or undermine — inclusion at work. Laura is committed to bridging the gap between academic research and organisational practice, bringing evidence-informed thinking to real-world challenges. Before pursuing her academic career, she spent more than two decades as a senior executive in strategy, insights and marketing, working across Australia, the USA, the UK and Europe.
