They Helped Create DEI—and Even They Say It Needs a Makeover

The seeds of a backlash were sown when companies turned diversity into a corporate fad

By Callum Borchers of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Some of the most visible steps that businesses took after George Floyd’s murder in 2020 turned out to be ineffective, according to Harvard sociologist Frank Dobbin, whose research on racial and gender disparities in management is often cited as evidence for robust diversity programs. Those pledges companies made to fill certain percentages of leadership roles with women and people of color? Besides being legally risky, the goals seldom materialized, he says.

And the unconscious bias training that was supposed to produce antiracist allies? Turns out people hate being told they have hidden prejudices.

Dobbin’s research with fellow sociologist Alexandra Kalev found that diversity-training programs commonly involve unconscious bias tests for employees—rapid-fire word-association exercises with white and Black faces, for example. The drills push people to confront evidence of the invisible bigots living inside their brains. 

Instead of feeling energized to improve, though, participants often respond with shame and anger.

“They tend to walk away from it thinking they’ve been accused of something they’re not really guilty of, which is the whole history of the United States when it comes to race and gender,” says Dobbin. “It really pisses people off.”"

"Little wonder the backlash against DEI, led by activist Robby Starbuck, has been so forceful, he says."

"The argument that more diverse leadership teams are directly linked to greater profits has come under fire. Still, companies know they risk missing talent if they don’t actively recruit a range of people, says Fayruz Kirtzman, a senior client partner at Korn Ferry who advises companies on using DEI to help the bottom line.

She says a lot of businesses stumbled in recent years by publicizing demographic targets. Intended to keep companies accountable to the numbers, the goals were easily misconstrued as reverse discrimination.

“By the time the message trickles down, it’s heard as, ‘They won’t hire a white guy,’” she says."