It’s been a tough year for the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) industry, which aims to reshape America’s colleges and workplaces.
A Supreme Court ruling effectively prevented college admissions teachers from giving applicants an advantage because of their race. Major brands like Bud Light, Macy’s and Target have lost customers and faced legal battles over diversity programs.
But while DEI managers are in trouble, they’re not going away anytime soon.
A survey of DEI professionals last month found they were floundering in 2023, but adapting their efforts rather than disappearing.
DEI professionals are concerned and present their topic differently, but do not change course
Edward Blum’s Supreme Court defeat of affirmative action changed the game for DEI
Carolyn Berkowitz, president of the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals, who surveyed 112 of its members, said nearly two-thirds were “concerned” about their company dropping its diversity goals.
Nearly all said they started talking about their work differently after the SCOTUS decision.
About two-thirds said they used different language to discuss DEI, while another quarter said they simply talked about it less.
Yet fewer than one in 10 members said their company had actually scaled back its diversity goals.
For Berkowitz, a staunch advocate for getting more women and minorities into good jobs and colleges, the change has been “largely cosmetic.”
The “work continues” despite the “uncertain environment” in 2023, she added.
While proponents of DEI say they bring more Black, brown, female and queer talent into companies and boost morale across the board, critics call them a virtue-signalling exercise that promotes discrimination against straight, white men.
In offices and factories across the country, DEI teams are clashing with long-serving employees, thanks to their mandated training in addressing racial bias, microaggressions and “white privilege.”
They have faced increased scrutiny since the Supreme Court ruled in June on race-conscious admissions programs at two universities, effectively banning affirmative action policies on U.S. campuses.
Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s collaboration with Bud Light sparked a conservative backlash and boycott that cost the beer maker millions
The court’s ruling did not include companies, many of which launched their own DEI efforts as part of a broader anti-racism push following the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis officer.
Among other things, they made it easier for women and minority staff to raise awareness of the problems they face or to report harassment and abuse.
Other companies introduced hiring and promotion quotas to get more non-white men into senior positions.
Some went further and put diversity and inclusion at the heart of how a company presented itself.
Sometimes these public expressions of unrest had an adverse effect, even with disastrous consequences.
Bud Light’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney led to a boycott that caused sales and stock values to decline.
Customers complained about Target’s in-your-face displays of LGBTQ+ gear, including “tucked-in” swimsuits for trans women.
Shoppers destroyed clothing displays with their bare hands and shared images on social media.
Target’s ‘Pride’ range caused a similar backlash, with some conservative shoppers vandalizing displays with their bare hands
A protester outside a Target store in Miami, Florida
Macy’s was added to the list this week, with more than 40,000 people signing a petition and some calling for a boycott over the inclusion of two non-conforming Broadway performers in the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
But perhaps the bigger problem with DEI is in the real courtrooms – and not in the court of public opinion.
Edward Blum, a long-time enemy of affirmative action who brought the successful Supreme Court case, has diverted his attention from universities and focused on diversity hiring in the private sector.
Blum’s group, the American Alliance for Equal Rights, sued the law firms Morrison & Foerster LLP and Perkins Coie LLP over fellowship programs, which were open only to minorities and effectively discriminated against whites.
Both companies have since eliminated these diversity rules.
Drugmaker Pfizer has dropped race-related requirements from a similar grant program after a lawsuit challenging it was dismissed.
America First Legal (AFL), a legal action group founded by Stephen Miller, a former senior adviser to President Donald Trump, has filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about companies’ DEI arrangements.
Charges against more than two dozen companies, including American Airlines, Macy’s, McDonald’s and Salesforce, say their efforts to hire and promote more women and non-whites amount to discrimination.
There are other signs of setbacks for DEI teams.
Earlier this year, research from employee data processing company Revelio Labs found that Amazon, Applebee’s, Twitter, Nike, Wayfair and other top companies had reduced the size of their DEI teams.
When the tech industry laid off tens of thousands of employees last summer, DEI teams laid off about a third of their workforce.
Macy’s was accused of staging a ‘trans extravaganza’ during the Thanksgiving Day Parade, which has kicked off the holiday season since 1924
Tens of thousands signed a petition against Macy’s ‘non-binary and transgender extravaganza’ on a national holiday
The petition was against the appearance of Justin David Sullivan, a trans non-binary Broadway performer
Other departments at the same time lost only a fifth, researchers said.
Elon Musk is said to have set aside diversity targets when he halved Twitter’s 7,500 workforce after completing his takeover deal of the social media company in October 2022.
Among those who stepped out was Chief People and Diversity Officer Dalana Brand.
Another notable departure from one of Musk’s companies was Bobby Berretta-Paris, a five-year Tesla veteran who led the automaker’s LGBTQ+ efforts.
Google’s Director of Global Mental Health and Well-being, Kristin Maczko, was also fired.
Those cuts raised tough questions for Diversity Officers, who have struggled to stay relevant in the corporate world, making mediocre profits despite generous budgets, and as memories of the killing of George Floyd and the anti-racism protests it sparked fade. .
At the same time, there are signs that DEI is becoming increasingly embedded in American institutions.
The Pentagon this week requested $114 million for its DEIA programs, which also promote “accessibility.”
It was the largest request ever from the Defense Department, which officials said was necessary to meet diversity obligations within the armed forces.
The request angered conservatives, who accused the military of taking a soft line and focusing on liberal social policies instead of preparing for war.
“Abolish DEI, send the money back to the taxpayers,” tweeted Chris Rufo, a conservative pundit.
“Abolish DEI,” says conservative academic Christopher Rufo
It remains unclear whether a muted version of DEI work will continue to reshape silent workplaces, or whether the backlash from legal activists and consumers will put an end to quotas and other targets for good.
Large companies with long-standing diversity programs are more likely to stick with them, industry insiders say.
Those newer to DEI are more likely to eliminate or downgrade it.
Berkowitz believes that only a “vocal minority” or naysayers are trying to sink DEI, and that growing talented, modern-minded and diverse teams make companies richer and more successful.
But for Samia Kirmani, co-leader of the corporate diversity practice at employer law firm Jackson Lewis PC, DEI has become a hot-button issue that must be approached with care, she told Bloomberg.
“There is a risk of challenge, risk of liability, risk of reputational damage,” Kirmani said.
AFL general counsel Gene Hamilton told the newspaper that “countless” companies had exposed themselves to “substantial liability” and that his group was “legally and morally right” and would continue its crusade against DEI.
“No American should have to suffer discrimination based on race or gender,” he said.