The impact of confusion: DEI Initiatives vs. Affirmative Action

The current Republican Administration is confused about the difference between Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and the 2023 court ruling against Affirmative Action.

  • The confusion lies in the fact that while one idea is written into U.S. law (DEI) the other is illegal because it favors one group over another as a hiring mandate with numeric goals (Affirmative Action).

DEI is a cultural program and not a hiring mandate. DEI refers to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) laws that make discrimination illegal in the workplace since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act Title VII. This law says that everyone should be hired based on his/her own merits without regard to race, age, gender or disability. Employers can’t discriminate against women, people of color and people with disabilities in their organizations. Click here for more information on this.

Affirmative Action was a hiring mandate and is now illegal.

It was a response to racial and gender biases that were apparent in corporations. There were numeric goals that companies would need to reach in filling open positions by giving preferential treatment to women and people of color. The result of Affirmative Action was that companies favored individuals belonging to certain groups of people so they could meet the numeric goals.

In June 2023 the Supreme Court ruled against Affirmative Action. In SFFA v President & Fellows of Harvard, etal, the court ruled that using race in the decision making process violates the Constitution.

Because our constitution supports equal rights, DEI initiatives are a way to define a corporate culture of valuing our cultural differences (Diversity), treating everyone fairly (Equity) creating an environment where people are comfortable being themselves and feel good about contributing fully (Inclusion). It’s hard to see why someone would be against fair, inclusive treatment of everyone in our country.

These terms were mixed up when Donald Trump’s executive order 14151 fired the head of EEOC stating that DEI is illegal. Read more at this link: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-01953.pdf

Executive Order 14151 is titled, Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs. To comply with this, the Director of Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney General shall review and revise, as appropriate, all existing Federal employment practices, union contracts, and training policies or programs.

There is an impact on companies because of this confusion.

There are organizational benefits to a successful DEI program. Companies which have a strong DEI culture have:

  • Greater employee satisfaction and improved retention
  • Broadened, more diverse customer base
  • Efficient growth
  • Outperform their peers in terms of profitability
  • 5% greater productivity
  • 2.5 times more cashflow per employee
  • Better decision making 87% of the time

For more information about the benefits click here.

There is evidence that abandoning DEI programs can hurt the bottom line of businesses.

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Author: Rose Mary C.

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