In a new era where diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices are under scrutiny, some DEI experts note the future of diverse talent in the college-to-corporation pipeline could see adverse effects; while others, despite challenges, offer hope for the future. As the Black community faces continued attacks on DEI, equity advocates emphasize the need for diversity in companies and institutions. At the same time, rising entrepreneurs stress the importance of self-investment to forge a path towards success.
Following George Floyd’s murder and the social prowess of the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2020, DEI initiatives saw a resurgence that upended companies’ approach to consumers and personnel. In 2023, NBC News reported that DEI roles increased by 55% following demands for racial equity and justice, and the Black Business Leadership Survey found that 88% of companies made a commitment to DEI strategies after Floyd’s death.
However, with recent litigation against minority-tailored organizations and the June 2023 Supreme Court ruling to overturn affirmative action, the national fight for diverse representation looks slightly different than four years ago, leaving businesses and institutions to consider the future of diverse applicants.
“Any time that there’s social progress on any issues relating to things like race and gender and so forth, I anticipate that there will also be a backlash coming from people on the other side who want to stamp that out,” says David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and an adjunct professor at New York University (NYU) School of Law. “What we’re seeing now is there’s a lot of people on the anti-DEI side who want it to just completely go away or die or what have you…but there are too many people committed to the work.”
The Beginning of DEI Efforts in the Workplace, Why Diversity is Important for Companies Today
The origins of diversity in the workplace can be traced back to the mid-1960s with the introduction of affirmative action during the Civil Rights Movement. The policy, originally prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, religion, and national origin, was later amended to include women, and eventually adapted into college admissions by the late 1960s.
When the Supreme Court United States (SCOTUS) ruled 6-3 to ban affirmative action in college admissions in June 2023, it left many institutions and DEI advocates alike in upheaval, worrying about the future of applicants.
Even some corporations were concerned about the court’s decision, despite the direct impact falling on higher education.
“I think that one of the most immediate impacts of that [SCOTUS] decision on the workplace is just going to be a more challenging landscape for organizations to find the kind of diverse talent that they want,” Glasgow says. “If you are an employer like Google or Microsoft that heavily recruits from the college educated workforce, it just stands to reason that the actual pool of talent that you’re recruiting from might be less diverse than it was when affirmative action was committed.”
According to Forbes, months prior to the official ruling, 60 major companies, including Apple and Starbucks, filed a brief in support of Harvard and Carolina – the two institutions at the forefront of the affirmative action case. The companies argued that “racial and ethnic diversity enhances business performance” and said they rely on universities to produce diverse leaders for businesses to recruit.
As a member of the National Black MBA Association, seasoned freelancer and current lecturer at North Carolina Central University, Brett Chambers considered a pivotal conversation with an undisclosed CEO about the realities of homogeneity in the workplace.
“He said, ‘diversity, equity and inclusion is not a social issue…It’s a business strategy. If you don’t have people representing the populations that you’d like to serve from your company, [it’s] going to be really hard for you to serve those communities,’” Chambers says. “He talked about how diversity may be bringing people in, but inclusion is when you listen to them. We can bring in different people from different backgrounds, but are we listening to them? Because that’s when we start having an impact in a lot of ways.”
In the brief, the companies stated that “acknowledging, supporting and promoting the benefits of diversity—specifically including racial and ethnic diversity—among their workforces is essential to meet client needs, achieve business goals, and strengthen relationships both internally and with the communities (they) serve.”
According to the Washington State University’s Business Program, other research that supports diversified companies cites improvement in financial performance, investor relationships, problem-solution approaches, and more.
“It is not good for democracy, it’s not good for social cohesion to have our institutions of power, whether that be Congress, corporations, media and so on, not representative of the wider public,” Glasgow says. “I think everybody, no matter who they are, what their background is, deserves to have an equal opportunity to access those kinds of positions. So having a more narrow kind of talent pool going into these organizations is negative on that basis, too.”
‘Making a Way Where There’s Historically Been Very Few‘
One way that students have notoriously paved their financial paths is through the normalization of side hustles, gig economy and entrepreneurship. According to a January survey from The Neighbor Blog, 69% of recent graduates do gig work, while 34% of college students and recent graduates use side hustle culture as a secondary source of income.
In addition to financial security and hobby fulfillment, some freelancers utilize their time and access to institutional resources to develop entrepreneurial skills and forge a path into the industry and self-investment.
“The side hustle culture can take on many different bases, but it can be a great way to start to make your way into an industry that has historically had very few of us,” says Raschanda Hall, president and founder of Social Pearls LLC, a Chicago-based digital marketing agency.
As Black entrepreneurship has skyrocketed in recent years (the Annual Business Survey (ABS) estimates that Black-owned firms’ gross revenue soared by 43% between 2017 and 2021), some emerging entrepreneurs found solace in developing businesses that shape the broader community and advance Black creators.
Howard University recent graduate Lauren Smith, who self-started a multimedia production company as a junior, has seen the benefits of side hustle culture firsthand.
“I’ve always had this sense of whatever I create, I want to own it. You see a lot of hustle mentality at Howard University, and I really took a lot of that hunger and culture to transition into my own business,” says Smith. “In that environment, everybody is on their grind, everybody is building something from the ground up, so it really pushed me to do what I wanted to do.”
She emphasizes “serving the needs of others” and reframing the idea of Black progress in an ever-changing industry.
“This is probably an opportunity for us to just reinvest ourselves. We should start putting it back into our own spaces, or creating our own spaces. I think history beats us up, but we can repeat it or change the outcome to be something better,” she says. “In the end, it comes down to connections, networking and community, and I think we have to do better as minorities, as people of color, and support one another.”
While the future of DEI in corporations hangs in the balance, Smith believes that employers can ultimately benefit from imploring various perspectives in their business agendas.
“Everybody has different experiences and different opportunities that can contribute to creating a better product. I think when we open up to people who have different backgrounds, different experiences, regardless of their skin color, gender or sexual orientation, we’re able to tap into aspects [and explore things] that we probably wouldn’t have if we kept ourselves to be single-minded,” Smith explains.
The Future of DEI in the Workplace
For Glasgow, the legal and legislative attacks on DEI will distinguish entities truly committed to these values from those that only prioritized equity under political pressure. Despite a shift in the technicalities and language behind the phenomenon, he says, the “substance of the work” in DEI will remain for decades to come.
The diversity and inclusion specialist foreshadows a change in the way diversity initiatives are presented, referencing “universal DEI” as the future of mixed representation on the corporate level. While some people are concerned about potential policies rooted in a conservative SCOTUS or government, Glasgow has hope for the future.
“If the composition of the Supreme Court remains as it is and the law evolves in a conservative direction, I suspect that we will see a lot more of what I would call universal DEI – DEI-type programs that are really targeted at trying to improve the overall workplace culture and benefit everyone, whether you belong to a majority or minority group in that work environment,” he told The Informer.
Though some might argue that eliminating race-conscious initiatives could minimize intentional DEI efforts, Glasgow sees it as a chance to shape the future of diversity, equity and inclusion.
“I think this could be an opportunity to try to build a wider community of allies who are involved in these efforts and…mitigate some of the backlash to these programs. And I think, in reality, a lot of the people who are applying to participate in these kinds of programs are likely to belong to those marginalized or underrepresented groups as well,” Glasgow explains.
Like Glasgow, Hall seconds the notion that this is not the end of DEI, but could be the beginning of creating a world where DEI can be implemented naturally and celebrated from colleges to corporations.
“People shouldn’t need a law to know that diversity in the company is good. You shouldn’t need a diversity hire to want diverse talent in your business,” Hall says. “I hope that the next generation can really…know that diversity is not just good on paper – it’s good for our company, it’s good for our bottom line, it’s good for the culture that we’re trying to create. We may not see change, but I really hope that we will be able to pick up the rings and continue to see companies commit to doing this work.”