The sociologist Rosabeth Moss Kanter studied tokenism in her 1977 book Men and Women of the Corporation. She found that people who make up a small minority of a group, roughly less than 15 percent, become tokens. They are highly visible, judged as representatives of their whole group and pushed into stereotyped roles.
Tokenism shows up when a company features one Black employee in its marketing, names one woman to a board, or invites one disabled speaker to a panel without changing how decisions are made. It lets an institution claim diversity while power and pay stay the same. The person in the token role often carries extra pressure and emotional labor.
Tokenism differs from meaningful representation. Representation shares power and changes outcomes. Anti-racist organizations measure whether people of color hold decision-making roles, are paid equitably and stay in the organization, not only whether they are present.