Is DEI Really Dead?

Behind the headline-making war on diversity programmes by the Trump administration lies a more complex reality.

- Linda Lim

The new Trump administration has made so-called "culture war" issues a focus of its early executive actions - particularly the dismantling of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programmes and mandates in the federal government, corporations and universities.

As a non-white female economist, business professor and former independent director on the corporate boards of US public companies, I have spent my entire career in white-male-dominant worlds. How does my personal experience fit with the academic and professional research assessing the impact of (primarily) gender and ethnic diversity on business and the economy?

Empirical evidence of the benefits of diversity is voluminous and of long standing. Studies in multiple countries by scholars in different disciplines, and by business organisations like McKinsey, Gartner and the World Economic Forum, have found that increased diversity is associated with higher productivity, more innovation, and better financial performance in corporations.

This is not surprising, since a more diverse workforce and leadership team help in talent recruitment and retention, and closer connection to customers, suppliers and partners. Diverse perspectives also facilitate improved understanding and new ideas, in the classroom and laboratory as well as the workplace.

I saw this in my MBA classes as they became more diverse by gender, ethnicity, nationality and educational and career background, over four decades. Twenty years ago, the head of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's R&D lab in Ann Arbor, a white male, told a visiting Singapore Ministry of Education delegation that diverse teams were very important for drug discovery. (He also said they discarded resumes noting perfect 4.0 GPAs because this indicated that the candidates "never took any risks".)