The idea that diversity initiatives compromise the quality of the workforce is a dangerous fiction. Building a diverse workforce isn’t about charity. It’s about bringing talents and perspectives into the workforce that allow us to generate better solutions to real problems.
We know, for instance, that being treated by Black doctors significantly improves health outcomes for Black patients. We also know that diverse teams produce more ideas, better critiques of those ideas and ultimately better work. We need people in the workforce who have critical knowledge, represent a range of backgrounds and experiences, and can shape smarter approaches. Otherwise, we not only squander talent from which we could greatly benefit, we also waste resources.
When we make no effort to create inclusive, equitable work environments, the high-quality, diverse candidates we work so hard to recruit leave and take their talents and perspectives elsewhere. Their experiences serve as a warning to others to steer clear, which makes future recruitment efforts more expensive and less effective. Creating fair, productive, welcoming work environments is not only the right thing to do; it’s good business.
This is no time to pull back on DEI efforts; it’s time to refine them, find out what works and what doesn’t, and do it smarter. And it’s time to double down on the values that underlie these initiatives to advance the goals of our institutions and the quality of our work.
Marie Norman
Squirrel Hill