Diversity & Inclusion: Wokeness Run Amok or Simply Good Business?: Sally Helgesen on Plant Yourself
Channel: Sick to Fit | Plant Yourself Podcast
Date: 2024-02-09

DEI - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - has been under attack for a while, but the issue came to a head over the recent public kerfuffle regarding the resignations of the presidents of Penn and Harvard Universities. Both women, one Black - they were portrayed on social and right-wing media as tokens, unqualified, and examples of affirmative action run amok. 

Companies that have embraced DEI initiatives are being ridiculed and boycotted, their troubles blamed on hiring employees based on race, gender, and sexual orientation rather than competence. For example, Boeing's "door blowing out of the airplane" disaster has been portrayed as a company abandoning its mission in favor of a quest to redress historic inequality - with deadly consequences.

I reached out to my friend and teacher Sally Helgesen - author of "Rising Together," "How Women Rise," and "The Web of Inclusion," among other titles - to ask her about the current backlash against DEI, and whether there's merit to any of its claims. 

She came armed with facts, not theories. Turns out that Boeing was gutted decades ago - by rich white men, as it happens - and the manufacturing problems that are turning up now have everything to do with their desire to prioritize short-term profits over long-term excellence. 

She spoke about her experience fostering diversity and inclusion in the corporate world, and explained that companies are seeking to expand their employee and leadership pools not in the service of "wokeness" but good business. 

Enjoy this provocative and enlightening conversation!