F*ck DE&I

You read that title correctly.

Diversity, equity and inclusion programs at most companies are complete bollocks. I’ve always felt this way, but never expressed it openly until now. This morning I read the following tweet (and the replies!). Many of the replies were full of empathy and support, but some were just pure ignorance. The main theme coming out of the ignorant comments were largely around 1) “why didn’t she stick around and lobby for change” and 2) “now there are zero women in the room”. Fuck these people.

The reason why I think DE&I programs don’t work is purely because of the above mindset. Let’s look at each point:
1) She (like every other marginalized person) has a full time job. Why should she have to take on more responsibility than her male counterparts and fix the diversity issue. Doesn’t she deserve to work in a safe and comfortable environment where her only focus is the job at hand?

2) Where are the men in the room? Why aren’t they speaking up? Why is it always down to the minority groups to have to step up and take on more responsibility?

This is true for all under represented groups. Companies hire for these “Head of DE&I” roles as a way to dust their hands of any real ownership for change. These people do the same things. Kick off DE&I “awareness” conversations and maybe even start a few groups but the pattern and outcome is always the same:
- The groups for women are always comprised of women and a female exec sponsor. Where are the male execs?
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