Is DEI Really Dead?

In the beginning, there were diversity initiatives. They have some roots in federal equal employment opportunity laws which prohibit discrimination on the basis of  a number of characteristics such as race and sex including sexual orientation and gender identity.

Over time, these initiatives evolved to emphasize the importance of valuing differences and inclusion of all employees, namely workplace diversity. While encompassing the principles of EEO and affirmative action, diversity has a much broader reach as we discussed in a recent column for HR Exchange Network.

Enter the current debate with internet trolls and conservative activists such as Robby Starbuck bashing diversity initiatives with claims that they discriminate against non-minorities, and that policies should focus on race neutrality. Other backlash equates diversity with hiring quotas.

Let’s look at some facts. Nondiscrimination on the basis of race and sex, for example, means that it is just as prohibitive to pass over an applicant who happens to be a White dude as it is to pass over a Latina applicant for a position.

Without getting too deep into the weeds of compliance, certain organizations that do business with the federal government may not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, and other characteristics and must implement affirmative action programs per specific regulations to increase the workforce representation and participation of women and minorities. These programs are subject to audit by the Department of Labor (DOL).

In an audit of a North Carolina production facility, the DOL found alleged hiring discrimination against Black, Hispanic and White applicants as compared to Asian applicants. As a result, the company was ordered to pay over $400,000 in back wages and interest to resolve the discrimination and to provide 30 job offers to eligible class members—Black, Hispanic and White. Race neutrality and discrimination enforcement in action: sanctions were taken because non-minorities, White applicants, were passed over along with minority applicants, Black and Hispanic, while another minority, Asians, were favored.

Over the summer of 2024, Ford in announcing its talent strategy regarding diverse hiring clarified that it did not “utilize hiring quotas.”  Of course they don’t. Quota are expressly forbidden according to the DOL’s affirmative action regulations. Likely Ford has contracts with the Federal government and is subject to these regulations.

According to a study by Pew Research Center, workers are expressing more negativism toward DEI efforts. With all the noise about it in social media and by political pundits, it’s no wonder. There is no clarity in those spaces about what it truly means causing confusion. As Stephanie Creary, Warton management professor said the problem isn’t DEI, it’s inequality. Back to diversity’s early roots?

The nomenclatures around diversity have changed over time, evolving to DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and on to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. It’s reach is broad and always has been. Let’s not forget that despite all the backlash, at its core diversity is about valuing and respecting people. How did that become something negative?