More light, less heat

Diversity, equity and inclusion (or DEI) – the set of values companies and organisations have adopted to promote fair treatment and equal participation for everyone – is feeling the heat.

In America, advocates are having to defend their corner, as companies like MacDonalds, Microsoft, Jack Daniels, Coors, and Ford Motor Company, scale back or scrap their DEI policies altogether.

The reasons for this retreat are various, but political pressure (Republican lawmakers passing bills that limit or restrict DEI initiatives) and changes to the legal framework (a Supreme Court ruling which lowered the bar for what could pass as ‘disadvantage’ in the workplace and the implications that might have for minority mentoring programmes etc.,) are often cited. Some companies have complained that DEI programmes are too expensive and slow to yield results.

And then there’s the so-called culture wars.

While the origins of diversity and inclusion initiatives go back to the civil rights movement of the 1950s, adoption of formal ‘DEI’ programmes has grown significantly in recent years, following the videotaped murder of George Floyd by a police officer in 2020. According to a slew of surveys available online, the number of companies with DEI policies now stands at around 80 per cent, a significant increase on 2020 when the number was closer to 60 per cent.

Lightning rod

But while DEI has been in the ascendency at an organisational level, it has also become a flashpoint in political and cultural discourse with conservative and right-wing commentators using it as a lightning rod for various grievances, from perceived attacks on freedom of speech, reverse discrimination, and a broader attack on America and the West in general.

Others appear to have more sober concerns around the potentially divisive nature of DEI programmes inside the workplace. Alexandr Wang, cofounder and CEO of Scale AI, has spoken out against DEI programmes in favour of what he calls “MEI” — which stands for merit, excellence and intelligence. In a blog, he wrote, “we only hire the best person for the job…we treat everyone as an individual. We do not unfairly stereotype, tokenize, or otherwise treat anyone as a member of a demographic group rather than an individual.”

There may, of course, be another more mundane reason for the backlash. DEI is hard work.

Marjorie Anderson has been working in DEI for four years and runs a consultancy service for not-for-profits called CommunitybyAssociation. She suspects the culture wars have played a part in companies stepping back from DEI but also points to a basic lack of resolve at leadership level.

“It’s easy to set up an employee resource group (ERG), make sure that computer screens have readers so that people with visual impairments feel like they're included. But to look at things at a systemic level, to ask yourself what are the policies and processes that we have in place that are hindering people from being seen, or heard, or included, and how do we change them? That’s hard work. Nobody wants their dirty laundry out in the street, nobody wants to say we've got this completely wrong. And if we need help to fix things, that’s going to cost a lot of money.”

Does she think associations are more likely to persist with DEI strategies?

“I do, because like diversity, equity, inclusion, associations are about people. DEI is about ensuring that people feel like they are seen, like they are heard, like they have a voice, that they have equal opportunities, like they are able to contribute in meaningful ways. And so, for associations and non-profits, because of the very nature of their work, they're more apt to say we need to do more. There needs to be systemic change because it's about the people.”

The extent to which DEI is political or can be depoliticised is a moot point, but one which is relevant to associations and event planners as they implement their own DEI strategies.

For Anderson, DEI is not inherently political but becomes so when it is framed as a loss of power.

“DEI is a call to action to treat people like they matter and that they are seen, and that in and of itself isn't political. That's human decency. We make it political by thinking about equity and inclusion as a loss of power in some way, in a society that says, ‘OK, well, I'm in the majority, and if I give up that power or if I see others who are different from me as equal or include them, then I will lose that power’. That's when it turns political. But DEI is not inherently political.”

Gabby Austen-Brown, a UK-based former event planner who runs consultancy Diversity Alliance, says for historical reasons DEI has been more focused on race in America than in Europe, where initiatives tend to lean more into disability, LGBTQ, or neurodivergence.

She says she has been ‘deflated’ by a noticeable ‘drop off’ in interest around DEI in the UK, but heartened by her interactions in Europe, where the approach to DEI ‘is more positive’.

And while she accepts some aspects of DEI are complicated she, too, doesn’t think it is inherently political – or at least not political with a big P. Here she sees ulterior motives at work.

“I think politicians are using DEI as a way of channelling a lot of resentment about other things – cost of living, public services – and deflecting from those issues, and if you’re the kind of person who was never really interested in DEI in the first place it’s something you can latch onto.

“They’re whipping up a culture war. So, there’s been a lot of interest in so-called ‘DEI hires’ in the US that have gone wrong. You’ll hear people talking about someone being unqualified or being rubbish at their job - as if someone being rubbish at their job were a new thing! Apparently it is when it involves women or people of colour. So, we must be aware of what’s going on here.”

Deeper than diversity

Not that Austen-Browne thinks the way DEI has been delivered has been entirely flawless. For her an over-emphasis on the diversity element of DEI has been one of the main causes of contention, leading to the kind of superficial ‘box-ticking’ that can leave everyone unhappy.

She says the addition of the letter B, for belonging, is a useful corrective here.

For her diversity is an ‘entry-level’ approach to DEI thinking, looking at people’s outward characteristics or group identities. Inclusion is the next step up, but often stops at inviting people to the party, and then, ‘leaving them to talk amongst themselves in the corner’. Equity goes deeper and involves ensuring everyone is coming into a situation from the same starting point. The highest level is belonging – hence DEIB – which is when you’re invited to the party, asked to contribute, and what you bring is genuinely wanted and valued.

Says Austen-Brown: “By prioritising belonging, we establish a better foundation for genuine inclusion, which naturally leads to equity and, ultimately, more diversity. It's when people think the "D" is the be all and end all that it can go wrong, and it can end up being contentious”.

“Associations can centre belonging as a core value of DEI and move away from just inviting people to participate and instead actively seeking out and valuing their contributions. This would shift the focus from ticking boxes for diversity to creating cultures that work for everyone, making the DEIB conversation more inclusive … and hopefully less contentious.”

Anderson also cautions against ‘over indexing’ – or focusing too much on identity groups like race, gender, or disability - which can ignore the complexity of individual human experience.

“There’s a huge risk of boxing people in and being like, ‘oh, you belong in this group, or you belong in this group’, and not seeing the full picture of who someone is. If that's where you need to start to help you contextualise, fine, but know that it needs to go deeper than that.

“People are not one-dimensional. There's so much that goes into who we are, you can't just stop at what you see at the surface. That intersectionality occurs across all of us, you can't just account for the things that you can visibly see.”

The role of meetings

Austen-Brown thinks events are a good place to start DEI, because they provide focus and can deliver tangible wins, which can then be fed back into the broader workplace culture.

But planners know better than most that nothing is ever straightforward.

An association might choose a destination, which makes it easier for people from underrepresented countries to attend but which might be uncomfortable – or even dangerous - for gay people. Here notions of inclusivity and equity begin to look like competing virtues.

Then what? For Austen-Brown safety is key.

“Well, if somebody's life is at risk in relation to the LGBTQ community, for example, then you really must think about that, if a lot of your members are from that community. Hopefully you're going to know because you would have surveyed your community, and you would understand a little bit around the representation of your community. The safety issues are more important than the equity in this case, other people might have a different response to that.

Anderson concurs: “Organisations need to think about the safeguards that are possible to ensure that people can show up and participate as they are without fear of harm. Are you providing cultural training or resources to people who must travel to areas where they normally are not a “protected class”? What are your policies around reporting issues? And are people aware of them? Are there alliances or agreements with representatives from the hosting country that ensure the safety of attendees? An organisation can't control the culture of another country, but they can control the experience of attendees within the confines of that meeting and provide them with as much information as possible to be able to safely manoeuvre that space while they're there. And then it's up to the attendees if they want to make that trip.”

Like anything nowadays, it’s complicated. But for those committed to DEI and the values it represents the battle is far from over. And Anderson, for one, is taking no prisoners. For her now is not the time to become sheepish about DEI but to increase the pressure for genuine action.

“If you're calling me in to do this work (DEI consultancy), I'm going to tell you that setting up an ESG or having a statement on your website is not enough and you have to be willing to take a good hard look at what you're doing and the systems that you have in place that might be holding people back. And make that change.”