Amy Jones Haug has identified and coined the term Diversity-Work.  Her PhD work focused on uncovering the 'burden of diversity-work' and is imposed on students of color, through an ideological shift from equal protection in the US Constitution's 14th Amendment to the 'benefits of diversity' paradigm.

Using four key criteria for the inclusion or exclusion of African Americans in relation to the dominant American society, Dr. Jones Haug's dissertation tracked some of the key decisions for racial incorporation from Reconstruction to today. "Diversity" is the present era of racial incorporation, and this era is the result of court battles and compromises which have weakened the promise of the 14th Amendment and the demands of Civil Rights activists.

Amy Jones Haug is an experienced ethnographer. Her Dissertation work is based on a 5-year intensive ethnography with undergraduate students at a major university. She locates 'diversity-work' in the everyday lived experiences of students of color, particularly African American students, navigating the ideology of diversity at Predominantly White Institutions.

Amy collaborated with a team in Paris at Sciences Po on the implications of diversity admissions programs in the context of France. The diversity ideology has also spread from US higher education into arenas like business, religion, and politics.