The DEI Backlash is real, and what we need to do.
Yes Trump’s second presidency and the associated media hype around his executive orders are creating a backlash against Diversity Equity and Inclusion work. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a new situation.
Diversity Council Australia’s (DCA) 2023-2024 Inclusion@Work Index revealed opposition to DEI efforts has doubled since 2017. Though workers who oppose actions that support are still the minority, at 7%. In November 2024 Rio Tinto also reported pockets of male employees who resent the push for greater diversity.
In my work with clients and my experience as an employee, there has always been some form of pushback or resistance to this work, however the current political environment in the US, is providing more high profile fuel to the social fire.
Why are we seeing this backlash?
Diversity Equity and Inclusion work is about the policies, practices, and initiatives that promote a more inclusive and equitable environment for all, particularly those who may have been historically underrepresented or discriminated against. This work is about recognising and valuing differences among people, and building fairness into our current organisational systems that were often built for one kind of person. Heterosexual men who have someone, usually a woman, tending the home and the children.
These systems exclude the people in the minority. People of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. Different sexualities. Different ages. Different abilities. Just being any kind of different.
This work and actions organisations have been taking to drive DEI can be seen as attacks on people’s sense of identity, particularly for those in the majority who feel like they have to lose, so others can win. These people are rejecting change because change is uncomfortable and hard. It’s normal for even the most self-aware people to feel threatened and become defensive.
I have had senior experienced men tell me:
They are now in the “minority”. In my view the only reason this person was in the minority was because they were earning well in excess of US $500K.
They don’t have “opportunities” in this business anymore. It was hard for me to see this when the organisation had less that 20% women employed and a large gender pay gap, and
“People are scared of losing their jobs” during Covid and post George Floyd being killed by the very people supposed to protect. I retorted with “you may be scared of losing your job but others are scared of losing their lives!”
Now while these comments made to me were not grounded in reality, they were telling about how people were feeling.
So DEI backlash has some traction because people who built the system don’t like it when other people want fair access.
Here’s another view of how the DEI backlash has gained traction. The following is two excerts from the transcript from the No Filter podcast with Jameela Jamil where she talked about toxic masculinity and how women are the solution.
“but I think ultimately it's the male loneliness epidemic. And rather than them looking at the fact that the patriarchy destroys men's lives, they look at us as the problem.
They see that women are getting ahead. We know we're doing better at school. We learn to read and write faster than boys, and we generally tend to excel at secondary school.
We are buying houses faster than boys. We are securing ourselves financially.
I make as much money as him. I can afford my house on my own. I have a great circle of friends.
He's in my life because I want him, not because I need him.”
and“
“I think that men have no tools as to rise to the occasion to be the emotionally intelligent partners in crime that we need. So it's easier just to drag us down.
It's easier to drag us back down to where we were before rather than level up to where women are now. And we see that all the time. We've seen that throughout history.
Anytime women start to excel, rather than men going, fuck, they're kind of catching up with us or they're getting ahead. We need to step up our game. They just go, okay, let's just rip them back down, take away their rights, distract them, make them feel ugly, make them feel old, scare the shit out of them.”
From No Filter: Jameela Jamil Knows How To Take Down Andrew Tate, 21 Apr 2025 It’s worth a listen 🎧
How are organisations rolling back their DEI work? What are they doing?
I have been researching and collecting these examples over the past few months. In my view some of this work is continuing but in a more “low-key” way but some may not recover in the short term. It is clear to me we need leaders with courage to continue this work and reverse these changes.
Renaming DEI Programs: Many companies are rebranding "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" to more neutral terms like "Inclusion and Belonging," "Talent Management," or "Talent Strategy”, “Employee Experience” and Employee Engagement”
Ending or hiding Diversity Targets: Abandoning specific diversity hiring goals, representation, and supplier diversity targets, and removing targets from public reporting. One leader I spoke to said her organisation moved from measuring specific outcomes, to measuring actions. So instead of having a gender target, they measure how many women’s leadership programs they have implemented.
Removing DEI targets from Executive bonuses. For example, instead of leaders having gender targets attached to their bonus calculation, these are being dismantled in light of general ESG indicators or actions.
Ceasing Participation in External DEI Organisations: Organisations withdrawing from external diversity surveys and ratings, and diversity groups and membership, such as the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index in the US, Diversity Council Australia, and Diversity Works and Pride Pledge in New Zealand.
Removing DEI Language and terminology from their websites, and annual reports.
Restructuring Programs such as consolidating separate employee resource groups into single organizations or redirecting DEI staff to general HR departments.
Reducing Public Commitments: such as stepping back from public DEI events like Pride parades and cultural awareness activities.
Reducing the promotion of DEI publicly and to avoid the rise of complaints against social media posts such as Linkedin, particularly around International women’s day this year.
What is the impact of DEI for business?
Let’s start with the “stick”.
The work I do extends across Asia Pacific, an incredibly diverse and interesting region. I have clients in Asia including Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand and there is a few things to note in these parts of the world.
Firstly Australia and New Zealand have well established legislation that organisations need to comply with.
In Australia, workplace discrimination is unlawful and is prohibited under the Fair Work Act 2009 and several other federal anti-discrimination laws, covering attributes like race, sex, age, disability, and more. In New Zealand, workplace discrimination is unlawful and is primarily addressed by the Human Rights Act 1993 and the Employment Relations Act 2000, protecting individuals from unfair treatment based on various grounds.
Across Asia we are seeing societal changes along with countries introducing and inproving legislation to advance diversity, equity and inclusion. For example:
Thailand legalising same-sex marriage
Indonesia has strengthened parental benefits
Singapore is introducing workplace fairness laws
Japan seeing more people, male and female taking paternity leave
China and South Korea have disability quotas for organisations
India has increased maternity benefits
My advice is to start with work that ensures your organisations complies with legislation, and protects your organisation from legal disputes and reputational risk.
Rio Tinto blowing up ancient indigenous caves and drawings had huge ramifications for them as a business, their Executive leadership and their reputation. Just one example.
And now the carrot! The business case for DEI work is STRONG!
There are many well researched benefits to DEI work but I want to highlight research from McKinsey & Company showing how DEI can impact business finantial success. In 2015, 2018, 2020, and now 2023 McKinsey & Company studied organisations executive teams for gender diversity and ethnic diversity, and the likelihood of financial outperformance. Their work found that:
The business case for gender diversity on executive teams has more than doubled over the past decade. Over these years they found a steady upward trend, of women on executive teams also increased the likelihood of financial outperformance.
The 2015 report found top-quartile companies for gender and ethnic diversity had a 15 percent greater likelihood of financial outperformance versus their bottom-quartile peers. In their 2023 research this figure hit 39 percent.
A strong business case for ethnic diversity is also consistent over time, with a 39 percent increased likelihood of outperformance for those in the top quartile of ethnic representation versus the bottom quartile.
The message is clear. More diversity, better problem solving, more innovation, faster to market and better financial performance.
How can DEI become strategic and essential investments for business?
This starts with thinking about what are you trying to achieve as a business. To gain the benefits of DEI work, it must have a direct link to what you are trying to achieve as a business. If you are a global bank and are wanting to operate in different countries and territories you have to have people experienced in those markets. If you are a pharmaceutical business making dermatology products, you need people who understand the variety of different skin challenges and conditions that exist across different cultures and races.
We need this work to move beyond “it’s good for people” and focus a bit more on “its good for business” so that our business leaders see the value. We should be asking the following questions:
How can DEI objectives can directly support organisational purpose and strategy, financial goals, and market opportunities?
How can we move from compliance work to learning work, that helps people reflect at their pace, and meet them where they are at?
How can we encourage conversations where employees with different lived experiences share their perspectives and provide feedback? This is about creating psychological safety.
How can we support and celebrate incremental progress and change? The beliefs and experiences that we have built have happened over a lifetime. We can’t expect people to change just because we asked them to.
The backlash to DEI efforts is often framed as evidence that the initiative is failing, but it can also be understood as a natural part of the learning and change process. Now is the time to bring issues out into the open. We need to understand all the perspectives we have in our organisations. We need to understand when people are feeling uncomfortable, and why. It’s only then we can start to provide the right tools and support for change.
Want to chat about how we can help your organisation? Book a call.