Mapping diversity regimes in times of resistance: how EDI is defined, organized and enacted in European academia

Purpose This paper examines how equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work is defined, organized and enacted in European academia amid rising anti-gender and anti-race backlash. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on 118 interviews with academic and professional staff across 11 European countries, the study extends Thomas’ framework of diversity regimes. The analysis situates these processes within broader political contexts, including EU equality governance and the uneven resonance of (anti-)gender and (anti-)race movements. Findings Three diversity regimes are identified: (1) an absent regime where inequality is a non-issue, formal EDI infrastructure is absent, and individual goodwill determines whether EDI work is performed; (2) a symbolic compliance regime focused on gender equality and tick-boxing formal requirements from the “top”, while EDI remains largely invisible in daily practice; and (3) a contested regime where attention to gender inequality is growing, influencing a partial institutionalization of EDI work, while EDI is simultaneously performed through visible displays of care that tend to simultaneously serve impression management. The findings further reveal how (inter)national (anti-)gender and (anti-)race politics create contested environments in which EDI takes shape. Pressures from EU equality frameworks and social movements like MeToo play a role in the production of EDI work. Originality/value This paper extends the concept of diversity regimes to the European academic context, showing how EDI is organizationally and politically conditioned. It demonstrates how (anti-)gender and (anti-)race politics and backlash exert pressures that compel institutions to perform EDI in fragile ways.