Dismantling DEI in Academia

A war is happening across the United States, and very few people know. Politicians and conservative academics are working towards dismantling DEI… and it’s setting a dangerous precedent.

A recent Inside Higher Ed article, entitled “DeSantis debuts a new conservative playbook for ending DEI” states:

“The new model legislation has four stated proposals: to abolish DEI bureaucracies; to end mandatory diversity training; to curtail “political coercion”; and to eliminate identity-based preferences.”

In last week’s blog post, I discussed working my way out of DEI. I aim to create environments where every leader approaches their work with a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI should be a part of the company DNA and not an add-on or nice to have if…

Repurposing the Playbook

So I’m looking at this playbook and wondering…how can we make this work in our favor? How do we deepen the work so that if this playbook goes into effect, it will not impact how we operate as an organization?

1) Abolish DEI bureaucracies: embed DEI outcomes and responsibilities into all job descriptions and business objectives and key results

2) End mandatory diversity training: focus on training people leaders on inclusive management skills and leadership development tied to performance goals

3) curtail political conversion: promote inclusive and difficult conversations where ALL voices feel valued and heard. (This may be a bit more difficult, but doable)

4) Eliminate identity-based preference: eliminate referral programs, legacy/nepotism supporting efforts, and increase diversity in outreach efforts to provide more equitable pipelines of talent

This is just off the top of my head, but how we approach DEI now can protect us from what can potentially happen in the future.

The Conversation on Dismantling DEI

Recently I hosted a conversation with three higher education professionals, Dr. Jeffrianne Wilder, Dr. Tammy Hodo, and Gardy Guiteau, where we began to unpack the fight against Critical Race Theory, the push toward anti-Blackness in academia and what we can do to continue pushing for diversity, equity, and inclusion for all.

Watch or listen this special episode of DEI After 5 and tell me your thoughts on this topic.

Looking for support for your organization’s efforts? Schedule your consultation with The Equity Equation today — https://theequityequationllc.com/dei-consultation/

Sacha Thompson is the founder of The Equity Equation, LLC, a boutique inclusive culture consulting and coaching firm based in the Washington, DC area. With 20+ years of experience within the education, non-profit and tech industries, Sacha’s work is about removing barriers or providing support to achieve equity. She helps executives and leaders have that important dialogue and coaches them to the necessary, long-term changes that develop institutional cultures of DEI. She was most recently featured in Forbes, Business Insider, and MSNBC’s The Cross Connection.