GenderLAB: Norm-critical Design Thinking for Gender Equality and Diversity

This article addresses recent debates in critical management studies (CMS) on the impact of research beyond academia and critical performativity—in other words, it addresses the need for researchers to engage with and intervene in organizational practices while remaining critical of these practices. GenderLAB has been developed to address this need by organizing academic activism and drawing critical insights from studies in gender equality and diversity in a way that can impact organizations. By combining the reflexive process of norm critique with action-oriented design thinking, GenderLAB contributes a methodology that holds potential for overcoming the current critical/constructive impasse in CMS literature.