Ella Washington
Appearances
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
Well, you know, diversity, equity and inclusion is the terminology that we use at the current date. And it should be noted that this terminology has gone through evolutions over the past six decades.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
I think it's important for us to think about all the ways DEI has an impact on our work and lived experience that maybe we don't realize because the media focuses on just a few ways. impacts of DEI. So things like language translation services, parental leave for fathers, pay equity, time off for religious holidays, remote work or flexible schedules, lactation rooms for nursing mothers.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
I mean, the list of impact is very long. And the media has taken two or three areas of hiring, promotion and admissions and focused in on those. But I think part of helping folks understand why this work is so important is helping them understand all of the ways that DEI actually has a real life impact on us.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
Even if you are not in one of those few classes that are often talked about, you know, women and people of color.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
At the core, what we're talking about with this work is creating workplace environments and systems in our society where everyone has the opportunity to succeed and everyone has the opportunity to thrive. That is the core of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
You know, what you've been asking about is why companies really care. And I think, you know, there are two reasons that are often given. First, as we're talking about, you know, the bottom line implications, the business case, if you will, and then also the moral case, the case of are we doing something that's good for society?
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
Are we creating a more fair and equitable society for ourselves, for our children, for those in the communities that we exist in? And, you know, folks in this work have had a long history of saying it's the business case, the moral case, it's both. But I do think that businesses are paying attention to both.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
You know, looking at Gen Z, which is what many companies are thinking about in terms of the war on talent and how they're going to attract and cultivate and retain top talent. Gen Z is the most demographically diverse group that we've ever seen come into the workplace. And they also have a different perspective on what they expect from their workplace environments.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
And so while they are just entering and they're entry-level workers right now, you know, they will continue to rise in the ranks of organizations and continue to demand differently from the places they work. By 2030, Gen Z will make up 30% of the workforce. And so I think, you know, we can talk about what's right and also organizations are paying attention
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
to the impacts for their talent and for their business.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
Well, let's put it in context of what Gen Z expects, right? They were born between 1997 and 2012, and the ADA Act has been around since the early 90s. And so they grew up in a world that accessibility was mandated, but also part of their lived experience, just like social media has been part of their almost entire lived experience.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
And so when they show up to work, they have very different expectations, for better or for worse, right? of where their workplace environment will be. And they are not afraid to vote with their feet, if you will. You know, 56% of Gen Zers today said they wouldn't accept a job without diverse leadership. And 68% say their employer is not doing enough to build more diverse workplaces. And so
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
I think as we tap into what the future of the workforce requires, we can look at demographics alone, but we also can look at what these Gen Zers are expecting from their workplaces as a signal to where companies may need to be paying attention.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
Well, listen, a one-time training is never going to shift your DEI initiatives. It's never going to have the long-term impacts that you want. And unfortunately, a lot of companies saw training as an easy way to bring someone in, give the whole organization a Some DEI background, some language, some feel good moments, if you will.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
But those companies were still the same ones that were not committed to really integrating this work throughout the whole employee lifecycle. You can't do a one time celebration of Women's History Month or. a one time training and think that it's really going to shift the culture of the organization.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
And so, you know, I think even companies that started doing those things in 2020 were already setting themselves up for failure. Now they're looking back and saying, well, we haven't seen much progress. You know, I'd argue that you didn't approach this challenge of your DEI initiatives with an approach that would lead to those long term outcomes.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
So I think one of the critical things you have to put in context is are these conversations voluntary or are folks being forced to have them? I think the conversations themselves, when they are engaged with folks who really want to be there, who want to learn, who are curious about the experiences of people who come from different backgrounds, I think they are hugely beneficial. However,
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
A lot of the pushback we see, and even from a research perspective, we know that trainings that are mandated are not as effective because people don't come with those open-minded approaches. And so, you know, I completely agree with Dr. Dobbin that we must create environments where people have that exposure to people with different lived experiences, having diverse teams.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
However, I would say sometimes it is a catch-22 of what comes first. We want more diverse teams so people can be exposed to people with different backgrounds. And we know they will likely have a better work experience from that as well as better performance as a team. But yet, if we don't have the systems in place to encourage more diversity, i.e. DEI. then we don't get that experience.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
I think further, we have to be honest about where the diversity sits within our organization, right? You see many organizations have a diverse team that sits maybe in marketing, or they have women in human resources that are leaders, but we don't see them leading other parts of the organization. And so even organizations with demographic diversity
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
in the front line or on paper, are they experiencing that cultural diversity in their everyday interactions? That's not always clear. And so when we rely just on training or just on a monthly culture celebration to be our DEI strategy, it is going to fail when it comes to those measurable outcomes that leaders are now looking for in order to prove that they should continue their DEI efforts.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
You know, I often say systemic problems need systemic solutions. And a training itself is not changing the actual system that created some of those gaps that we see between underrepresented groups.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
Well, I think for me, there's layers here. I'm a black woman. And so not only is this work my professional work, But this is very personal for me. I can't go to work and change my outward appearance and I wouldn't want to.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
But because of that, when there are attacks on race based admission, when there are attacks on, you know, women's rights, it does have an impact on me, not just from a professional lens. And so it's been heavy. Not only that, but for me, there's not often a break from this work. Meaning when I'm at work, I'm counseling and giving advice to my students or my clients.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
I turn off, you know, the laptop and turn on my personal life and it's there too. And so in every party, at every, you know, connection point I have with people, they're eager to talk about this. But those of us who do this work don't often get a break, particularly those of us from underrepresented groups.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
I think they're looking for us, the adults in the room or supposed adults in the room to give them some context on what to believe, what to do next. They've not lived through a moment like this. And what I explain is I haven't either. Right. We are we are really charting new territory in many ways.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
However, I do try to point them to many of the historical lessons that we've been talking about during this conversation today. that while we may not have seen these exact playbooks, we have seen a lot of the same strategies that we are seeing today around the anti-DEI rhetoric.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
And so if there's any place of hope for me, it's looking at this next generation, what they expect and what they will demand, especially just truly looking at their demographic makeup and how they've been raised to really think of these efforts as a necessity and not a nice to have.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
And, you know, I might add just some context around the pendulum swinging and the cyclical nature of social progress. When we look back in history, every major movement from civil rights, gender equity, accessibility, they've all faced pushback at different points in time.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
And if we look back all the way to 1963, for example, a Gallup survey found that only 4 in 10 Americans had a favorable opinion of Dr. King right before his famous speech. And so only 16% of those surveys actually viewed him highly favorable. Fast forward to today, the Pew Research Center says that 8 in 10 Americans... say that Martin Luther King Jr. had a positive impact on the United States.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
And so if you just put that in context of where we are today, it's not shocking that we see people on both ends of the spectrum and many people in the middle not quite sure what to think. I do think history will be a teacher for us again as we see how companies, especially that are not under the federal mandates currently, have shown up in this moment or have failed to do so.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
When contending with legal ramifications, you know, institutions have to be very calculated. There are very real downstream consequences of ignoring federal mandates, especially if you are an institution that receives federal contracts and the like.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
Yet for those in the private sector where there has not been legal mandates just yet, you know, we see companies dismantling these DEI efforts and they are sending a clear message that inclusion and diversity and equity matters. are only a priority when it's easy, when it's popular, as we saw in 2020. And so I think what's at stake is much bigger than any one initiative.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
It's about who gets access to opportunity and who doesn't. And I think that companies that abandon DEI preemptively, they're going to find themselves struggling with things like retention, innovation, and reputation in the long run. Because just as employees and consumers were watching very closely what happened in 2020. They're still watching.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
And, you know, I do think at some point they will be holding these organizations accountable.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
Tanya, if I could add something. So going back to your question around are boycotts effective? In addition to what Dr. Dobbin has said, you know, I think the challenge for the everyday person is balancing the urgency of the moment with a long term strategy. as we've been talking about, you know, this work didn't just start in 2020 or yesterday.
Fresh Air
How Did DEI Become Part Of A Political Agenda — And A Slur?
And it will take, you know, a long time for us to continue to see the progress and unfortunately, reverse much of the damage that is being done currently. But for context, the famous Montgomery bus boycott in the 1950s was 381 days. And so if we learn from history, We know that there has to be a more long-term commitment to these types of boycotts to really see their impact.