Ending Checkbox Diversity

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Where Did DEI Come From?

In many ways, Corporate America’s relationship with taking action to address DEI metrics (or trying to improve inclusion at all) began in the 1980s and ’90s with sensitivity trainings. These trainings focused on a single session highlighting the differences between employees and how to “acknowledge” these differences—and typically ended with a “hug it out” moment. The knowledge was promptly put on the shelf and forgotten by the workplace majority members whom the training was meant to impact most. It’s not surprising to learn that this type of training is now known to be ineffective, and even the term sensitivity training is no longer used.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, as more and more sex-based discrimination ...