April 15, 2025
Using the medical profession as an example, its percentage of women and minorities significantly increased from the 1960s to the 2000s - although the latter is still grossly underrepresented when its proportion of the general population is considered[1]. A similar, but far less dramatic trend occurred for women in the construction industry[2] and, also, in law enforcement[3].
Without DEI, I am afraid there will be an increase in straight white men getting jobs for which qualified women and minorities will not even be considered. This will be familiar to those who have benefitted from the "straight white male privilege" system which, I'm ashamed to admit, has included me.
To be clear, being a benefactor of the "straight white male privilege" system does not mean that I didn't work hard (I certainly did) or wasn't qualified (I was) for the various jobs I held during my working years. It's just that there was at least one time (I'm sure there were others) when I know a person of color was excluded from consideration for a job on a work crew of which I was a member.
I knew this individual and knew that he had worked just as hard and was just as qualified as I was (probably, more so). It was simply wrong for there to not have been a DEI system in place which would have forced the company to at least consider his application - to say nothing of judging it by the same criteria which was applied to mine.