Episode 14: Is DEIB in the United States Partisan? Should it be?

In this episode, co-hosts Dr. Lucy, Dr. Missy, and Alex focus on a question that you cannot escape from in the U.S: Whether DEIB is a partisan issue and whether or not that should be the case.

Over the past year, DEI has increasingly been portrayed as a partisan, progressive agenda. In this episode, co-hosts Dr. Lucy, Dr. Missy, and Alex tackle a pressing question in the U.S.: Is DEIB a partisan, political issue?

They explore the history of DEIB, how it was once positioned as a nonpartisan strategy to address workplace exclusion and business needs, and what its recent politicization reveals about American culture and society today.

Links to Mentions & References:

-Carrillo Arciniega, Luzilda. 2021. “Selling Diversity to White Men: How Disentangling Economics from Morality Is a Racial and Gendered Performance.” Organization 28 (2): 228–46.
-Ely, Robin J., and David A. Thomas. 2023. “Getting Serious about Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case.” In Readings and Cases in International Human Resource Management, 119–28. London: Routledge.
-Lorbiecki, Anna, and Gavin Jack. 2000. “Critical Turns in the Evolution of Diversity Management.” British Journal of Management 11: S17–S31.
-World Economic Forum. 2024. “Shaping an Inclusive Global Economy by Scaling Impactful Corporate DEI Initiatives.” Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, January 10. Updated June 3, 2025. https://www.weforum.org