2025

Lempiälä, Tea; Tiitinen, Sanni; Fugere, Taylor

In this paper, we examine how organizations can create inclusion in the field of innovation through interaction rituals, rooted in seemingly mundane practices. We do this particularly in the context of participation of underserved groups in innovation. Our research demonstrates that interaction rituals can play an important role in fostering a inclusive innovation cultures that foster belonging among a diverse group of participants and as well as creative agency, learning orientation, and perseverance. Importantly, we further show how interaction rituals can enable constructing a valued face for underserved groups in the professional domain they aim to participate in, and subtly shift existing power structures therein. Such interactional processes have largely been excluded from the discussion of fostering inclusion and belonging for underrepresented groups in innovation while the focus has been on structural solutions and skill development. Our research highlights the importance of understanding how inclusion and valued ‘faces’ in the innovation domain are actively constructed in interaction.