Executive Order of President Trump Diversity, equity and inclusion The debate on what is the DEI program of the US government and whether it has benefited workers and companies, is renewing the debate on it.
The roots of Dei are in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prevented employment discrimination based on breed, color, gender, religion and other criteria. Over the next decades, many policies have demanded hiring, promoting fairness in the workplace and to exclude prejudice in promoting open career routes for color people, while incorporating sexual orientation and gender identity Has also expanded for.
The shock gained momentum after George Floid's 2020 assassination, as politicians and social workers pressured companies to make their part in facing systemic racism. But Mr. Trump's January 20 OrderThe office was released back on its first day, Dei was criticized as “illegal and immoral”, while the next day a memorandum of US Office of Personnel Management called all federal DEI employees Hijacked,
What is Dei in the workplace?
According to Dei experts, Dei is often considered incorrect as focusing on the race. But such initiatives include many practices that aim to uplift the groups of different margins in the workplace. For example, a policy that adjusts working parents, such as flexible work hours, can qualify as DEI. Therefore, like sexual orientation can establish intimacy groups based on shared identity.
Dei's critics say that the decisions of the employer and promotion should be based alone in relation to the race, color, gender and other categories. Other opponents of policies move forward, arguing that Dei itself promotes racism.
But Dei's defenders say that policies seeking diversity and inclusion within organizations are not in conflict with those who want to reward the most talented or most difficult working employees.
“Dei enhances merit by saying, 'How do we find the best people for a job or make sure that we are promoting the best people?” , Told CBS Manivatch. “And it means thinking about those obstacles and prejudices that can be in the way the full talent pool can be considered.”
In defying Dei, Glasglow described “diversity” as a commitment to diversify personnel within an institution so that American workplaces better represent the population on a large scale. “It is about being engaged in effective outreach at places that can be ignored and not screening when the promotion system is not out of excluding women or color people to ensure that the promotion and promotion system is not out Are, “He said.
Meanwhile, when designed and implemented, the DEI programs are not discriminatory, according to Jessica Fulton, the policy for the joint center and the vice-chairman of the policy for the Economic Studies, is a non-profit organization with aims The socio -economic situation is to improve.
“These policies do not really decide who is hired. They are ways to open doors for those who cannot have access or are not well connected in any industry or business,” Explained.
The equity piece of Dei wants to level the playground for groups of workers who have been historically reduced in a given area or who compared with their white or male colleagues, to do the same work Are underpaid for.
“This may mean that women are traditionally capable of entering male-dominated businesses, such as construction or technology,” Fulton said. “This is about addressing issues around equal pay for equal work, making it ensure that people feel safe in the workplace so that they do not feel discrimination when they come to work, because the workers who do not feel safe They are not the most productive. “
Corporations have generally targeted to develop inclusive policies that help people of different backgrounds feel safe within a given workplace and its culture, they explained. They intend to include all, according to Fulton, and often, and not only the members of the marginalized communities.
Fulton said, “It is also making sure that they can make some policies to ensure that their workers stick around and keep working. It is the formation of a great team and treating that team well. It is capable of doing and maintaining people they rented, “Fulton said.
Given the recent backlash against Dei, however, many corporations are moving away from such inclusion policies, given that they can pose legal risk. It has already dug up his DEI programs in response to pressure from anti -diversity activists after several major American employers. Among them are Ford, Harley Davidson, McDonald's, Meta More.
How is success measured?
Many corporate officials have sour over DEI in recent years because due to the notion that such policies do not increase the performance of the company, Daniel Snail, the co-founder of the arrival, the UK-based consulting firm, the corporate leadership and the culture Is concentrated. Other leaders, recognizing the value of promoting diversity and inclusion, argue that DEI is inadequate for prevention of what are on very broad socio -economic issues.
Glasglow of NYU law admitted that it could be difficult to determine whether the Dei programs are succeeding or otherwise their results clearly assess. He said, “Like the effectiveness of the prejudice training contained in the workplace, it is difficult to measure some DEI interventions,” he said. “It also depends on what you are trying to achieve.”
A tool employer uses to try to measure the efficacy of DEI policies, internal surveys that ask the workers if they think they can be in the office themselves, believe that they are honored by their colleagues, And feel that his opinion matters. When it comes to the company's mentorship and promotion policies, the employers will also monitor whether members of a particular group of workers, such as veterans and black employees, are leaving immediately after hiring – the pattern that is the workplace of the workplace. You can achieve insight into equity and inclusion.
In contrast, if more women or colored people climb the positions of leadership over time, it can be seen as a company achieving its goal of building a workplace who is more representative of their job applicant pool .
Corporate DEI programs are not philanthropist, experts insist, pointing to at least some empirical evidence showing that such efforts show that such efforts change companies, support innovation and even promote the bottom line Can help in
Michael Posner, director of the NYU Styx Center for Business and Human Rights, said, “Diversity and inclusion is that companies, governments, universities, all improve when there are diverse participants in management and in the entire enterprise.” “Its purpose is not to set quota or it is to say that we are going to take unqualified people because they try to remove a certain feature, such as gender or breed, but to make opportunities and remove historical obstacles for entry . “
In one StudyMcKinse found that companies in the top IV in the top fourth for the director's gender diversity of the director are 27% higher than those in the lower fourth. in separate ResearchIn 2024, the counseling firm found that in the last decade, the representation of women at work has increased at every level of corporate management-the female today makes 29% of C-suit level posts in 2015.
,[A] Lots of language and now prepare as dei as illegal and discriminatory unclear, which is actually for us, and for the benefit of companies, “Fulton told CBS Manivach.
Contributed to this report.