Socioecological diversity and inclusion: a framework for advancing diversity science

Understanding environmental influences on group processes has been a foundational goal of groups research since its inception. The aim of this paper is to synthesize recent research on the social ecology of diversity and inclusion. In doing so, we suggest a socioecological framework for examining how facets of the natural and social environment shape important intragroup and intergroup outcomes. Socioecological diversity reflects the distribution of social groups within a particular environment, including demographic composition, relative representation, and segregation. Socioecological inclusion refers to cues embedded in the environment that signal a social group's inclusion or exclusion in a given setting. These include cues embedded in the physical environment (physical cues), political environment (policies, practices, and rhetoric), and social environment (aggregated attitudes).