As the United States counts down to Election Day, all the world prepares to witness the breaking of the glass ceiling by Ms Kamala Harris.  Being female and a person of colour, she has already smashed the “imagination barrier” showing us what a Vice-President and now a Presidential Candidate looks like.  Will the American electorate be ready to install a female, Black-Asian President on 5 November?

The Republicans meanwhile have taken to questioning her credentials by calling her, somewhat disparagingly, a “DEI hire.”

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has become short-hand for tokenism or “woke-ness”.  Referring to Ms Harris as a DEI hire suggests that she has got to where she is today because of her race and gender and not for her past achievements as a public prosecutor, Attorney General and Senator of California.   Some of us would dispute that and say she has got to where she is today despite her race and gender.

It might be helpful first to explore and analyse what DEI actually means as a policy, its rationale and how an organisation might want to adopt DEI strategies.

DEI in a nutshell

Diversity refers to having people of different background and characteristics including gender, race/ethnicity, class, LGBTI+ leanings and disability.  With different so-called “metrics” they would bring to the table different sensibilities and skills (e.g. language skills , social or cultural understanding) which may in turn lead to more diversity of ideas and perspectives.  This would in turn drive improved performance through more innovative solutions, better outreach to customers and improved financial outcomes.  There is therefore a business case for diversity.

Equity refers to fair treatment for all people with fairer outcomes.   Equity differs from equality in a subtle and important way: it does not mean that everyone is treated the same way but equity takes into consideration the person’s unique circumstances, adjusting treatment accordingly so that the end result is equal.

Inclusion refers to the degree to which organisations embrace all employees, and enable them to have a voice, feel respected and valued.  No-one should feel excluded or discriminated against so that individuals would feel psychologically safe, and able to contribute their views. The team as a whole would be able to perform more optimally together.  In this way the organisation can tap and unlock the full potential and power of the diverse workforce.

The business and moral case for adopting DEI strategies

There is both a business rationale as well as a moral imperative for introducing DEI into an organisation.   As a society should we not also be aligning our aims and goals to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030?   E.g.:

Goal 5 – Gender equality

Goal 8 – Decent work and economic growth

Goal 10 – Reduced inequalities

The type of DEI policies introduced and adopted are dependent on the context that we operate in e.g. in specific country/regions or particular sector and industry.  Generally speaking, in the West, the majority ethnic group is white, and in certain industries (e.g. finance and tech) the dominant gender tends to be male.  Other metrics to consider include class and social background, as well as LGBTQ+ and disabilities.

There is also the question of intersectionality (where 2 characteristic overlap).  In the UK it was reported by the Fawcett Society in the 2020 Sex and Power index that just 6% of FTSE 100 CEOs and 35% of civil service permanent secretaries are women, but not a single one is a woman of colour.

What do critics of DEI say?

There is perhaps genuine concerns that if more women and ethnic minorities were promoted then fewer white men would be?  If DEI policies have prompted companies to prioritise recruiting women and certain people of colour because of their race or gender, this could be at the expense of candidates who are better qualified, it has been argued.

There is a back-lash too against ethnic minority quotas for students enrolled at U.S. Universities as exemplified by the Supreme Court ruling in 2023.

Affirmative action in the US has been going into reverse.

On the other hand, in the more progressive societies in Europe, there is a continuous push to correct historic imbalances with targets and quotas.   A European Parliament directive 2381 introduced in Nov. 22, 2022 requires listed companies to have 40 percent of non-executive directors, or 33 percent of all directors, to be members of the underrepresented sex by the middle of 2026.

More and more large multi-national companies have, as part of their ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) strategy, introduced gender balance on their boards.  Protection of employee rights and policies such as flexible and remote working and shared parental leave have also been introduced by law or as standard practice.

Finally, I began the article considering DEI in the context of politicians, and will also end on this as a point of reflection.  It has been noted that having more Members of Parliament of BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) background in UK does not guarantee that they would necessarily stand up for race equality.  The ill-fated Rwandan scheme and deportation for successful asylum seekers to the UK was championed by Ministers of British-Asian descent under the last British-Asian Prime Minister.  Likewise, the systemic challenges and socio-economic problems facing the poor and rural Whites in the United States will need to be addressed, regardless of who wins the coming Presidential race.  The rise of populism not only in the US, but also in the UK and across Europe are symptoms of deeper societal problems and it is these that will need to be solved.  Having more institutions and companies with DEI policies would be a good place to start.

* Merlene was co-founder of Chinese Liberal Democrats and on the executive of the LibDems Overseas. She co-edited “Rise of China – Fresh Insights and Observations” published by the Paddy Ashdown Forum (2021)