[2/2] Around the word: mindfulness - Can mindfulness help employees see social inequality more clearly?
In the first diptych of our new series ‘Around the word’ - shared with Peter Daly - Yanina Rashkova, EDHEC Assistant Professor, analyses the way mindfulness at work can influence how employees perceive broader societal issues (1), such as social inequality.
The benefits of mindfulness programmes in organisations are well recognized (2). Helping employees regulate their emotions, cope with stress, and foster better relationships at work has become a standard part of the corporate mindfulness toolkit. Yet, can this impact transcend organizational boundaries and influence how employees perceive broader societal issues, such as social inequality?
Short answer: Yes — but it depends on which aspect of mindfulness is being cultivated and the context in which it's practiced. Discover the main points of a working paper (1) by Yanina Rashkova (EDHEC) and her co-authors*, steaming from the doctoral dissertation of the former.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a multidimensional concept (3). That means it’s not just about “being present” or “feeling calm” — it includes a range of skills that work together to shape how we experience the world.
In her work, Yanina Rashkova, an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior, and her colleagues explore five key mindfulness skills:
- observing (noticing internal and external experiences, such as thoughts, emotions, and sensations),
- describing (putting experiences into words),
- acting with awareness (engaging in activities with full attention),
- non-judging (refraining from evaluating one’s thoughts),
- and non-reacting (allowing thoughts and feelings to come and go without getting caught up in them).
What is Perceived Distributive Justice?
Perceived distributive justice refers to how fair people believe the distribution of resources and opportunities is within a society. It’s about whether people perceive the system is fair — and that perception can differ even when the facts are the same.
As fairness is in the eye of the beholder, people may judge outcomes differently, regardless of clear-cut inequalities. For instance, women in Europe receive 29% less in pension funds than men (4). But do all managers equally recognize this as unfair?
To explore this, Yanina Rashkova and her team asked 1,054 European managers to evaluate fairness in the distribution of social rights and resources — while also measuring their mindfulness skills.
Does Mindfulness Relate How Employees Perceive Inequality?
Interestingly, only one mindfulness skill made a difference: the ability to describe experiences with words. Managers who were better at identifying and articulating their internal experiences were also more likely to perceive current societal inequalities as unfair.
The other four skills — observing, acting with awareness, non-judging, and non-reacting — showed no significant impact on how inequality was perceived.
What does this mean for mindfulness programs? It suggests that not all mindfulness training is equally effective if the goal is to foster greater awareness of social justice. Programs should consider placing special emphasis on the describing dimension — helping participants put their experiences into words.
The Organizational Context Matters
But there’s more. Yanina’s research also found that the workplace environment plays a crucial role in shaping these perceptions. The impact of mindfulness on recognizing inequality was stronger in organizations where employees felt included and fairly treated.
In other words, if an employee is regularly ostracized or perceives injustice in their own workplace, even the best mindfulness training might not move the needle on how they view broader social fairness.
To conclude, we can say that if organizations aim to foster not only individual wellbeing but also broader social awareness among employees, mindfulness programmes can help — but only if they target the right skills and are supported by an inclusive and just work environment.
* Mathieu Beal (EM Lyon), Isabella Sulis (Cagliari Univ.) and Francesca Cabiddu (Cagliari Univ.)
References
(1) Rashkova, Y., Beal, M., Sulis, I., & Cabiddu, F. (2024). Does Mindfulness Shape Perceived Distributive Justice? A Fine-Grained Analysis. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2024, No. 1, p. 11838). Valhalla, NY 10595: Academy of Management - https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/AMPROC.2024.11838abstract
(2) Good, D. J., Lyddy, C. J., Glomb, T. M., Bono, J. E., Brown, K. W., Duffy, M. K., ... & Lazar, S. W. (2016). Contemplating mindfulness at work: An integrative review. Journal of management, 42(1), 114-142 - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0149206315617003
(3) Chems-Maarif, R., Cavanagh, K., Baer, R., Gu, J., & Strauss, C. (2025). Defining Mindfulness: A Review of Existing Definitions and Suggested Refinements. Mindfulness, 1-20 - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-024-02507-2
(4) Closing the gender pension gap? February 2021? Eurostat - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/fr/web/products-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20210203-1
Photo by Redd Francisco via Unsplash
