Assault on DEI: Critics use simplistic terms to attack the programs, but they are key to uprooting workplace bias

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

M. Cristina Alcalde, Miami University

(THE CONVERSATION) Prominent politicians have recently increased their attacks on workplace programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. They claim that initiatives that seek to be inclusive are divisive and lack merit, using the term diversity hire.

For example, despite Kamala Harris’ achievements as vice president and California attorney general, some politicians targeted her as a “DEI hire” during her recent presidential run. And after the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse in Baltimore in March 2024, Utah State Representative Phil Lyman blamed Wes Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor, for prioritizing DEI over...