Dismantling DEI is a Step Backwards for Diversity and Progress
Kamala Harris’s performance at last week’s debate proved she belongs in our 2024 election. But I doubt it will quiet the “DEI hire” epithet spewing on social media or reverse the crescendo of recent lawsuits that has led many companies to dissolve their DEI efforts.
Getting rid of DEI in favor of “merit-only” practices is a mistake.
We’ve never had a meritocracy. Even if we did, it’s impossible to define what “merit” is for most decisions.
U.S. history is rife with white men handed opportunities not available to women and people of color. Those of a certain age remember newspaper want ads divided into “Male” and “Female” categories. Many industries refused to hire anyone but white men, even over equally or better qualified women and minorities.
Women were excluded as airline pilots and military aviators until 1973; it wasn’t until 1993 that women could fly combat aircraft. As one of these women, I had a front row seat to this progress.
These non-merit personnel practices created exclusionary cultures at many organizations that persist today: fewer than 5% of U.S. airline pilots are women. The right-leaning American Enterprise Institute says culture is the biggest barrier to entry into science and engineering career fields for women and minorities, who are interviewed and hired at lower rates, and when hired, are often not welcomed by peers and receive less mentoring and guidance from superiors.
The concept of DEI was created to help underrepresented groups overcome cultural barriers. But the opposition believes this is unfair, that everything should be based on “merit alone.”
“Merit-only” sounds good in theory, but in practice selection decisions can’t be reduced to a spreadsheet. As an Air Force officer and senior civilian who sat on dozens of selection and promotion panels, spreadsheets were useful for scoring resumes to reduce the number of candidates interviewed. But things were more subjective after that. We often used interview panels with a “whole person” concept to determine our “best qualified” candidate. I saw many candidates with the highest scoring resume go down in flames during interviews while a “lesser” candidate wowed us with fresh ideas.
It’s like the Super Bowl.
The team with the best record in football doesn’t always win the Lombardi Trophy. Instead, the NFL playoff system recognizes that a team with a lower record might have had a tougher regular season, lost a key player, or just had bad luck. Sound like life itself?
The playoffs level the field, giving all teams above a minimum qualification a chance to compete for the championship.
DEI does the same. As an example, I was on a civilian hiring panel where a candidate was a young minority woman. Her resume had scored toward the low end because she lacked experience in one area. But she was good enough to “make it into the playoffs.”
She had by far the best interview. During selection deliberations we realized her lack of experience in the one area would bring a fresh perspective to our organization. We didn’t discuss preferences, skin color, gender or anything else.
She became one of our superstars. I hate to think someone might accuse her of being a “DEI hire” because a spreadsheet score ranked her a bit lower than the competition. Like the team that stumbles into the playoffs, we simply gave her a chance to compete. She proved she was the best person for the job.
Best practices exist to help level the field. These include simple things such as casting a wide net for applicants, interview panels that include at least one member from outside an organization and asking all candidates the same questions. Many corporations now have standardized hiring practices that reduce discrimination.
But the anti-DEI crowd thinks leveling the playing field, just as many sports do for playoff entry, is somehow discriminatory. They would have us keep exclusionary cultures in play, even though studies have found that companies with exclusionary cultures don’t make the best decisions and are less profitable than more diverse organizations.
It’s time to level the playing field.
The now radioactive term DEI may need to die. But for the United States to be competitive, the concept needs to live on.
Eileen Bjorkman and Beverly Weintraub will be giving a presentation on “The Path to Equality for Women Military Aviators” at the Udvar Hazy Center in Fairfax, Virginia, on September 19. Click here for more information.
