A majority of Americans across nearly all demographic groups said DEI initiatives have made no impact on their personal careers, according to a newly released Harris Poll/Axios Vibes survey.
Why it matters: Republican lawmakers and activists have vilified DEI, a term for diversity, equity and inclusion policies used by employers. Companies have responded by rolling back programs.
- Yet Americans — and businesses — have a generally positive to at least indifferent view on the subject.
- On balance, most demographic groups were more likely to say DEI benefited their career than hindered it.
DEI is a conservative concept: have your corporate masters both decide how anti-racism can justify it’s existence (good for business) and how it should be implemented (top down corpo scolding).
It’s not a social issue, it’s a marketing campaign. And we shouldn’t feel obligated to defend something so hideous and trivial just because it aggravates the reactionary.
In an ideal world, you would be right. Unfortunately, corporations HAVE TO advertise the benefits of DEI and HAVE TO do top down scolding, because if they don’t then many people would either ignore their biases or outright follow their biases. When I moved into management in a large corporation that works hard to have a diverse and inclusive environment, I was shocked at the vile things some hiring managers were saying when they didn’t think the “wrong” people were listening. That subset of people need to either be forced or given justification to implement diversity into their orgs.