The presidents of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and others weigh in on why diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace is critical. Spoiler Alert: It’s not just good for society, it boosts the bottom line.
Felecia M. Nave, president of Alcorn State University, recalled how some of her students fared in their first jobs after graduation:
“A number of my students didn’t make it past five years [in their first jobs],” she says. “It was not because they didn’t enjoy the work or the job. It was the culture and the supervisors and their unwillingness to see them as equals and to see them as adding value.”
The problem Nave describes is a common one. Despite recent renewed interest in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), organizations still struggle to hire diverse graduates and provide the work environment needed for them to thrive. According to a 2020 survey from human resources consulting company Mercer, 64% of workers in entry-level positions and 85% of the top executive positions are held by whites. Women and minorities continue to earn less than white male colleagues.
“Corporations have really had to look inward and see what their focus has been and it hasn’t been everything they need it to be,” said Javaune Adams-Gaston, president of Norfolk State University. “They know that they have to do better. They can see what the world is becoming.”
Research shows embracing DEI and doing what it takes to implement it successfully is not just the right thing to do, it increases revenues. On the flip side, making little or no effort in this regard can actually hurt companies.
“As a nation, we need to recognize how important it is to find talent wherever it exists. It’s a mistake to think that we can remain globally competitive with just a small fraction of our citizens being well-educated and well-prepared for industry and other post-baccalaureate experiences.”
Dr. Larry Robinson, President, Florida A&M University
Diversity and inclusion are terms often used interchangeably, but according to Matt Bush, culture coaching lead at the HR consultancy Great Place To Work, there is an important distinction. Diversity is about the representation of different groups in an entity. “Inclusion,” he said, “is about how well the contributions, presence and perspectives of different groups of people are valued and integrated into an environment.” Equity, of course, is about treating everyone equally. Another term used in conjunction with DEI is ‘belonging,’ or making sure everyone feels safe and can contribute while not being afraid of being themselves.
Bush said a work environment can be diverse but not inclusive if only the perspectives of certain groups carry any weight. A diverse and inclusive workplace makes everyone feel equally involved and supported in all areas.
“We must have diversity of ethnicity, diversity of color. Those are absolutely essential,” Rishad Tobaccowala, author of Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data (2020) said in an interview with STRATEGY Magazine. “But make sure that those voices are heard. Make sure they come from different backgrounds. Make sure even your Caucasian folks come from different backgrounds. Because the reality is innovation is about the conflict of different ideas putting themselves in a new way.”
Quinton T. Ross, president of Alabama State University underscores the importance of inclusion and belonging in retaining employees. “After the excitement of having a new job goes away,” he said “employees begin to look around and say, ‘Well, do they really care about who I am? Am I really making a contribution?’ I think that corporations really have to drill down in that respect.”
As the Mercer data points to continued inequity in hiring and promotions, Bush argues DEI should be present in all areas of the organization. He asks employers to take a look at their organization to see if diversity is present not just in recruiting and hiring, but across different departments and in the leadership ranks.
Colette Pierce Burnett, president of Houston-Tillotson University, gets at the heart of what DEI is about. “The words ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ and ‘inclusion’ are kind of the comfort zone words for us because it’s really about civil rights and social justice in all formats,” she said. “If we as an organization are saying that we are going to start really believing in social justice and in civil rights and in inclusion—and getting rid of unconscious biases—it has to be pushed out into the fabric of the institution.”
DEI + Innovation = Higher Earnings
Research by Great Place To Work (GPTW) shows that a diverse and inclusive workplace contributes to higher revenue growth, greater readiness to innovate, increased ability to recruit a diverse talent pool and higher employee retention.
“I don’t think we’ve ever been as receptive to true diversity as we are today,” said George T. French Jr., president of Clark Atlanta University. “It’s not just a moral imperative now, [employers] realized that diversity and creativity of thought leads to an increased bottom line.”
The research supports this conclusion. A McKinsey report showed that companies in the top quartile for racial/ethnic diversity were 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians. Those in the top quartile for gender diversity were 15% more likely.
A Boston Consulting Group study found that companies with more diversity in management have 19% higher revenues. The reason? Because it spurs innovation. Seventy-four percent of millennials believe their employer is more innovative when it has a culture of inclusion, according to a 2018 Deloitte survey. This is significant since millennial workers will make up 75% of the workforce by 2025 and will fill the leadership ranks by that time, according to the World Economic Forum.
Companies also lose money by not doing enough for DEI. A report from global professional services company Accenture says U.S. companies are leaving $1.05 trillion dollars on the table by not being more inclusive.
“If you look at African American doctors and lawyers, a large percentage of those individuals graduated from an HBCU. This speaks volumes about the level of education we offer. But the key is to offer an opportunity to succeed. We need to continue opening those doors and creating those opportunities.”
Jerryl Briggs, President, Mississippi Valley State University
If there had been no gender and race gaps in education and employment between 1990 and 2019, says a Bank of America report, the U.S. economy would have seen a gain of close to $70 trillion. The same report shows that full gender equality globally can increase the world GDP by up to $28 trillion by 2025. The loss of human capital wealth due to gender inequality is estimated at $160.2 trillion.
Despite these compelling statistics, Bank of America says significant differences remain in employment along race and gender lines. The employment rate of women ages 25 to 54 is 14% lower than of men and Black workers trail white workers by 7%. At the current rate of progress, the report says, closing the gap between men’s and women’s pay will take an estimated 257 years.
DEI Working Thriving
The Society for Human Resource Management suggests training leaders and managers on ensuring all voices are heard and how to make employees feel valued. They also recommend forming an inclusion council with real influence and power, giving underrepresented groups support and providing a safe space for workers to voice their concerns. Companies should benchmark key aspects of workplace culture and understand employee experience in order to make needed changes.
“There’s a real advantage in taking a moment to recognize people’s differences and to remember that culture is what makes us human. Every time we do that, we become better and smarter.”
Brenda A. Allen, President, Lincoln University
Data from Great Place To Work underscores how these efforts can pay off. According to the consultancy, when employees trust that they and their colleagues will be treated fairly regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or age, they are 9.8 times more likely to look forward to going to work, 6.3 times more likely to have pride in their work, 5.4 times more likely to want to stay a long time at their company.
Richard Gallot Jr., president of Grambling State University, points out another kind of diversity important to the workplace. “You want to have not only diversity of skin color and diversity of background [and] diversity of thought,” he said.
Indeed, the different perspectives brought by diversity in the employee ranks are a huge plus for organizations. According to the School of Education at American University, diversity improves cognitive skills and critical thinking because varied viewpoints spur reflection on one’s own beliefs, opening the door to seeing the world with fresh eyes. Diversity also promotes creativity through exposure to a variety of ideas and experiences.
Brenda A. Allen, president of Lincoln University, concurs. “Everything that the literature and the research shows is that solutions to problems are much more thoughtful, have greater depth and more novelty when you get a diverse group of people whose opinions and perspective sort of come together to create new solutions.”
A report by McKinsey titled “Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters” (2020) has this to say about how companies may be using DEI to recover from Covid setbacks:
“We must engage at a higher level with the corporate America, not only from a transactional perspective, but also from a relationship perspective.”
Aaron A. Walton, President, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
“Companies that already see [inclusion and diversity] as a strength are likely to leverage it to bounce back quicker—and they will use this time to seek new opportunities to boost representation and inclusion to strengthen performance and organizational health. As the CEO of a European consumer-goods company told us: ‘I know we have to deal with COVID-19, but inclusion and diversity is a topic too important to put onto the back burner.’”
Hiring: It’s the Whole Funnel
According to Liz Wessel, CEO and co-founder of WayUp, a New York City-based jobs site and resource center for college students and recent graduates, employers continue to struggle to attract students of color:
“Most employers think that the reason they aren’t hiring enough diverse people is because of a ‘top of funnel’ problem—not getting enough diverse applicants. However, in most cases, an equally big problem is the funnel itself, meaning they have parts of their hiring process and criteria that don’t bode well for underrepresented candidates.”
Troy Paino, president of the University of Mary Washington, agrees: “Some of my frustration with businesses is that the CEOs seem to be saying one thing, but their organizations are acting in a very different way in terms of how they actually hire and develop talent.”
Often-times employers aren’t even aware their hiring and recruitment practices are discriminatory. Even well-meaning efforts to streamline the hiring process can lead to discrimination. In 2015 Amazon discovered an artificial intelligence tool it was using to screen job candidates was favoring men over women. Amazon’s computer models vetted applicants by observing patterns in resumes submitted to the company over a 10-year period. Since most applicants during that period were men, the system taught itself that male candidates were preferable.
But most of the practices keeping companies from hiring diverse workers are much more mundane, according to a WayUp report which identified eight of the most common barriers to attracting and hiring diverse candidates. Those factors include: GPA requirements for hires; not offering relocation stipends for hires who can’t afford moving costs; inflexibility with interview scheduling when many students of color work to pay for school; only offering videoconferencing for interviews (a problem for candidates that don’t have access to the needed technology); not paying interns; and focusing on the same select schools or only elite schools for campus recruiting, a practice that cuts out a lot of diverse students who don’t attend those schools.
“We are rethinking and redefining how to identify talent, how to design the pipeline, and how to provide access to opportunity.”
Ronald Mason, Jr., President, University of the District of Columbia
Indeed, the struggles of the Ivy Leagues and other elite schools to diversify admissions and their own leadership is well documented. Although many of these institutions have made strides in recent years, most students of color attend less selective institutions, according to the Education Data Initiative.
Larry Robinson, president of Florida A&M University, argues for a more expansive approach to recruitment that goes beyond focusing on the most selective institutions. “I think it’s important that as a nation, we recognize how important it is that we find talent wherever it may exist,” he said.
As businesses talk of ‘disruption’ or ‘revolutionizing’ their industry, they need creative, entrepreneurial thinkers. Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College said the Ivy’s are not necessarily where you’ll find this:
“Revolutions start from below. They start from the angry, disaffected masses who say, ‘No more.’ That’s not Harvard. The revolution can’t be started by the 40 schools that claim to be top 20. Revolution is going to start from the folks who are educating the bulk of people who are coming through Pell Grants and through working long hours to be able to go to school.”
“I believe that diverse talent is right here. Bringing on that talent is good for corporations. It’s good for America. It’s good for this country.”
Laurence B. Alexander, Chancellor, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Looking again at the overall hiring funnel, dropping barriers to hiring and finding diverse candidates is an important step, but the other part of the problem is not having a diverse pool in the first place. This is where the issue of wider access to post-secondary education and training comes into play. Historically Black colleges and universities and other institutions that get diverse groups into that education-to-employment pipeline have a critical role to play. Companies should consider partnering with these institutions to get the diverse and well-prepared pool they want.
Indeed, how many stories of coming from nothing to beat the odds and achieve massive success permeate American business lore? As companies look to innovate and be the next great thing, they need diverse viewpoints, creativity and grit. Perhaps Elwood Robinson, president of Winston-Salem State University said it best:
“The true value and the true beauty of the human race is its diversity. Diversity gives you a deeper appreciation of the world through so many different lenses that you don’t have. And if you open yourself up to that, you become much more empowered.”
