Table of Diversity Weekly: State of DEI 2024

In today's dynamic landscape, fostering diversity and inclusion is more crucial than ever. I'm thrilled to announce a unique opportunity for you to explore the Table of Diversity- a groundbreaking tool designed to redefine how we approach diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Here's the recording of this year's State of DEI!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdbEf16nt-8

We've gone through the archives and found the 2023 State of DEI! As a bonus, you can watch it below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyJ3Xqio7CU

Research we discussed during the State of DEI:

Affirmative Action:

• The Changing Meaning of Affirmative Action (The New Yorker). This is the article that made me question everything I thought I knew about Affirmative Action. Here's a snippet: "The terrible paradox of the civil-rights movement is that outlawing racial discrimination made it harder to remediate its effects. Once we amended the Constitution and passed laws to protect people of color from being treated differently in ways that were harmful to them, the government had trouble enacting programs that treat people of color differently in ways that might be beneficial. We took race out of the equation only to realize that, if we truly wanted not just equality of opportunity for all Americans but equality of result, we needed to put it back in. Our name for this paradox is affirmative action." Read More
  

• Supreme Court guts Affirmative Action, effectively ending race-conscious admissions (NPR). Just in case you need a refresher on the Supreme Court ruling from 2023. Here's a snippet: "In a historic decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday effectively ended race-conscious admission programs at colleges and universities across the country. In a decision divided along ideological lines, the six-justice conservative supermajority invalidated admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. The decision reverses decades of precedent upheld over the years by narrow Supreme Court majorities that included Republican-appointed justices. It ends the ability of colleges and universities — public and private — to do what most say they still need to do: consider race as one of many factors in deciding which of the qualified applicants is to be admitted." Read More
  

• How the Supreme Court affirmative action decision is affecting college applicants (CNBC). Here's a snippet: "With competition at an all-time high and admissions practices increasingly unclear, it’s not an easy time to be a college applicant, especially for students of color. The Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action was considered a massive blow to decades-old efforts to boost enrollment of minorities at American universities through policies that accounted for applicants’ race. “In terms of ensuring access to higher education and income opportunities, the barriers are already so high,” said Cara McClellan, director of the Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice Clinic and practice associate professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. However, this year’s admissions cycle, which marked the first in which race was not considered, is already reflecting an unexpected dynamic." Read More
  

• How Outlawing Collegiate Affirmative Action Will Impact Corporate America (MIT Sloan Management Review) Here's a snippet: "On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 6-3 in favor of outlawing the use of race and ethnicity as factors in college admissions. This was a momentous decision that stands to have widespread societal and organizational implications. Although the scope of the ruling was limited to college admissions, we can draw upon existing data to forecast the impact on corporate America. The evidence clearly points to two key outcomes: First, collegiate patterns of racioethnic diversity will change fairly dramatically; and second, these changes will have considerable downstream consequences for workplace composition as well as patterns of racioethnic inequity across a host of other measures." Read More
  

• The growing battle over corporate diversity practices, explained (The Washington Post). Here's a snippet: "When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions in June, the effects ricocheted far beyond academia. In recent months, a flurry of litigation has aimed to translate the court’s race-blind stance on education to corporate diversity and inclusion policies. Companies have long tried to eliminate inequality in their ranks, in part by encouraging the hiring and promotion of women and racial minorities. But recent lawsuits claim those efforts perpetuate discrimination on the basis of race and gender — the very injustice they claim to stamp out. Here’s what you should know about the growing legal battle over corporate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts." Read More
  

• What SCOTUS's Affirmative Action Decision Means for Corporate DEI (Harvard Business Review). This is the article that I loved! It provides a great framework for thinking about your DEI efforts in general, but also with the Affirmative Action ruling in mind. Here's a snippet: "Prior to the Supreme Court’s recent bombshell decision on affirmative action, some predicted that a ruling to ban the practice would “take down” the diversity industry or deliver a “concussive” blow to workplace diversity and inclusion efforts. After the court effectively abolished race-conscious college admissions, some voices doubled down. The organization America First Legal — founded by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller — declared that “all DEI programs” were now “illegal.” Not so fast. We believe the court has left plenty of room to continue advancing diversity and inclusion in the workplace." Read More

Artificial Intelligence:

• What is generative AI? (McKinsey & Company). McKinsey & Company have the most up to date and complete research around AI and its impact on the workplace. Here's an overview of what AI is. Here's a snippet: "Generative AI systems fall under the broad category of machine learning, and here’s how one such system—ChatGPT—describes what it can do: Ready to take your creativity to the next level? Look no further than generative AI! This nifty form of machine learning allows computers to generate all sorts of new and exciting content, from music and art to entire virtual worlds. And it’s not just for fun—generative AI has plenty of practical uses too, like creating new product designs and optimizing business processes. So why wait? Unleash the power of generative AI and see what amazing creations you can come up with!" Read More
  

• Rewired and running ahead: Digital and AI leaders are leaving the rest behind (McKinsey & Company). Lots of good information here. What does this report say about your industry? What do you think about the 6 areas highlighted where AI can have the biggest impact? Here's a snippet: "The distance between digital and AI leaders and other industry players is big, and it’s getting bigger. Over the past three years, the spread in digital and AI maturity between leaders and laggards has increased by 60 percent. This development provides a compelling counterpoint to the underwhelming results of digital and AI transformations many companies have experienced to date. Earlier research has shown that companies on average have captured less than a third of the value they expect from their digital transformation initiatives, despite significant investment.2 But a set of leading companies are not just figuring out how to harness digital and AI to generate value but are also doing it more quickly and putting ever more distance between themselves and other players." Read More
  

• Gen AI's impact on Black economic mobility (McKinsey & Company). Despite the title, the research looks at the intersection of multiple identities! Here's a snippet: "New wealth created by digital and AI capabilities flows through an economy where the median Black household has only about 15 percent of the wealth held by the median White household. The data are striking: the median Black family has amassed about $44,900 in wealth; the median White household holds $285,000 in total assets. Without correcting long-standing patterns, gen AI has the potential to increase this racial wealth gap. Annual global wealth creation from gen AI is projected to be about $7 trillion, with almost $2 trillion of it expected to go to the United States, given its share of global GDP. US household wealth captures about 30 percent of US GDP, suggesting the United States could gain nearly $500 billion in household wealth from gen AI value creation. This increase would translate to an average of $3,400 in new wealth for each of the projected 143.4 million US households in 2045." Read More
  

• Which U.S. Workers are More Exposed to AI on Their Jobs? (Pew Research Center) Here's a snippet: "Which jobs are more exposed to AI? Work-related tasks vary in their exposure to AI. Some activities, such as repairing equipment, may have low exposure to AI, while others may have a medium or a high degree of exposure. Also, activities with different levels of exposure may be equally important within many jobs. In our analysis, jobs are considered more exposed to artificial intelligence if AI can either perform their most important activities entirely or help with them. For example, AI could replace, at least to a degree, the tasks “getting information” and “analyzing data or information,” or it could help with “working with computers.” These are also among the key tasks for judicial law clerks and web developers, and they are more exposed to AI than other workers. However, AI alone cannot “assist and care for others” or “perform general physical activities.” Thus, nannies – for whom these are essential activities – are less exposed to AI." Read More

From Awareness to Action

When we get back together in 2025 for the State of DEI, what will you (and your organization) have accomplished?

Declare and Share! Leave a comment and let us know what you want to accomplish in 2024!

How will AI play a role in your 2024 strategies?

How do you normalize DEI in your day-to-day life?