Toward a Human-Centered Workplace: Empowering Diversity and Inclusion in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Introduction

This Special Issue aims to advance understanding of how AI is reshaping work and employment for underrepresented groups, and to stimulate research on how HRM can foster more inclusive, equitable, and human-centered AI-enabled workplaces. It seeks to bring together multidisciplinary scholarship examining both the opportunities and risks of AI for women, migrants, refugees, older workers, people with disabilities, and Indigenous employees. These aims will be met by inviting conceptual, empirical, and review-based contributions that examine bias, accessibility, trust, human–AI collaboration, inclusive design, and responsible governance in AI-HRM systems. In doing so, the Special Issue will generate new theoretical insights, practical implications, and future research directions that position HRM scholarship to respond more effectively to the challenges and possibilities of AI-driven organizational change, while helping organizations foster more equitable, inclusive, and human-centered human–AI interactions (Krakowski et al., 2025).

This Special Issue offers an original contribution by bringing AI, HRM, and diversity management into one integrated conversation, rather than treating them as separate streams. Its novelty lies in advancing understanding of how AI reshapes workplace inclusion, exclusion, and inequality for underrepresented groups, while also showing how HRM can design more fair, ethical, and human-centered AI systems. The issue moves beyond predominantly technical and productivity-focused debates by encouraging new theory on algorithmic bias, intersectionality, trust, and human–AI collaboration, alongside practical insights on inclusive AI design, reskilling, AI literacy, equitable adoption, and governance. It also highlights the importance of human oversight, minority voice, and cross-sector collaboration in reducing bias and improving responsible AI implementation. By bridging the fields of HRM, organizational behavior, information systems, and diversity and inclusion, this Special Issue contributes to positioning HRM scholarship at the forefront of debates on responsible AI and inclusive organizational transformation.

List of topic areas

1. AI in Talent Acquisition and Selection How do AI-based recruitment and selection systems create, reproduce, or mitigate biases against candidates from underrepresented groups (e.g., people with disabilities, older workers, migrants), and what mechanisms can ensure equitable outcomes in AI-assisted hiring?
2. Accessibility and Inclusion in Employment In what ways can AI technologies be designed to enhance workplace accessibility, enable equitable participation, and expand employment opportunities for employees with disabilities or other marginalized groups?
3. Human–AI Collaboration and Bias Mitigation How can human oversight, input from minority employees, and inclusive design processes help AI systems learn more equitably—reducing bias and performing more human-like or human-better tasks in HR contexts?
4. Talent Development, Reskilling, and Learning in the Age of AI How can HRM leverage AI-enabled learning, development, and reskilling systems to support diverse employees and prepare both workers and organizations for ethical AI use? How can organizations use talent development strategies to “train” both humans and AI systems toward ethical and inclusive performance?
5. Ethical, Legal, and Governance Challenges in AI-HRM What are the ethical and legal implications of using AI in managing diversity and disability inclusion, and how can organizations establish responsible AI governance frameworks aligned with human rights and DEI principles?

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/prev

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/pr

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”. 

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 01/09/2026 

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 01/03/2027