This article deals with the formation of support groups within the context of corporate diversity policies. There is very little research that looks at the practice of managing diversity. In an attempt to contribute to filling this gap this work analyses a Women’s Committee in order to understand in what way it is influenced by the diversity policy established by the organization’s management and the influence it has. An ethnographic case study was carried out in a transnational company, the Brazilian headquarters of which are located in São Paulo. The results indicate there is a paradox. On the one hand the Committee that was analyzed represents a process of emancipation that point to more inclusive and participative management practices, but on the other it was noted that there are control mechanisms in place, because the management tries to regulate the way it functions.
Diversity management; support groups; collective action; gender; ethnography
