As legal pressures mount, DEI gets a strategic reset

After more than 100 lawsuits challenged corporate diversity initiatives in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 affirmative action ruling, many organizations have quietly reworked their DEI programs. Instead of restricting scholarships, fellowships, internships or retreats to specific demographic groups, Harvard Business Review writes that companies are increasingly opening them to everyone.

While critics see this shift as a retreat from targeted equity efforts, legal scholars Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow argue it may offer strategic advantages. Universal programs can invite broader allyship, put responsibility for inclusion on dominant groups rather than marginalized employees, and reduce backlash fueled by zero-sum thinking. Research suggests inclusive messaging framed around shared opportunity resonates more effectively than approaches perceived as exclusionary.

The transition is not without trade-offs, including administrative burdens and the loss of dedicated spaces for underrepresented employees. But in a volatile legal and political climate, expanding participation may provide companies a durable, lower-risk path to sustaining inclusion efforts while broadening organizational buy-in.

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