Doubling Down on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
DEI is under attack, actively from the right and passively from the left. For the right, it’s the bogeyman, one single point to attack for everything that is ailing. On the left, DEI is a convenient scapegoat for some while others believe it will happen automatically.
First, let’s situate DEI for what it is, using everyday experiences of all of us. We are routinely conflicted when we decide to buy or do something that is at the higher end of expense relative to our wealth or income. It may be buying a couch, a car, or a house or picking a place to vacation. There are often multiple factors to consider. From among the choices that meet our budget constraints, we can dismiss some quickly as inadequate for our purposes. That’s the easy part. The hard part is often that there’s no single best choice. There are multiple options, and each is attractive in its own way. The mathematical terminology for the group of equally good options in “the same ballpark” is an equivalence class.
How do we pick one (or more) from a class of options that are equivalent? There are two ways. One is to order members of the equivalence class through some absolute “merit-based” metric. In the case of going on a vacation or buying a couch, one such metric is the cost. This would mean ignoring all other considerations and picking one over the other even if that is $1 cheaper. As absurd as it appears, to the extent I understand, that admissions to some competitive engineering colleges in India may be decided by a fraction of a percentage, as small as the seventh decimal digit! There’s just no meaningful difference between students separated by a few points in grade or on a college-admission test including SAT the one that is used in the US; factors that make test-taking conditions themselves unequal are discussed elsewhere. From among the options in the same equivalence class that qualify, it’s not unreasonable to consider other factors, just as we do in everyday life choices — because diversity of people, thoughts, or vacation destinations has merit!
Some on the left want to run away from DEI because it is politically expedient. Others assume that diversity and inclusion will happen naturally, for example, if worker rights, wages, and unionization issues are addressed in the sense of rising tides lifting all boats. While improving the plight of workers will help, it’s not a proven recipe for addressing historic inequalities from race and gender. History from the seventies from workers’ movements in the US and histories from across the world inform us so. In the absence of role models and a nurturing environment to facilitate success, underrepresented populations, be it in fields, such as science and technology, or be it elite college admissions and business leaderships, will continue to be underrepresented.
Changing the historical nature of representation takes a concerted effort that’s focused on results not just tokenization or ineffective training. When will we know DEI efforts are no longer needed in a given space? When the distribution of opportunities is normal. A prime example is in sports in the form of professional football quarterbacks, as noted in this writing from a year ago. From there being no Black quarterbacks about 50 years ago to where we are today is the result of a long opportunity pipeline from high schools to colleges to professional football. This year put an exclamation point on that front, as the quarterbacks of both teams in the Super Bowl were Black!
For this Black History Month, I can recommend no better reading than the nearly 200-year-old autobiography of Frederick Douglass from which you can find a few excerpts here. Happy reading!
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
If you wish to be included in the mailing list to receive VijayViolet writings as they are published, please email vijayviolet2020@gmail.com with Subscribe in the subject line. To unsubscribe, write mail with Unsubscribe in the subject line. There will be no unwanted mails. Your email will not be distributed.
