Why gender diversity still matters amid anti-DEI rhetoric

Organizations have made progress in recent years toward making workplaces a safer and more equal place for women — but those efforts are now under fire. 

On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order to end all DEI initiatives and programs for federally funded companies, meaning that DEI-related positions, equitable action plans like diverse recruiting and inclusivity requirements for offices will be put to a stop, effective immediately. With the workforce still being approximately 50 years from gender parity for all women, according to a recent survey from management consulting company McKinsey, the responsibility of keeping women supported and advancing may fall on employers and benefit leaders. 

"Women have already struggled to find equal footing in corporate America, and this adds a convoluted layer on top of the day-to-day requirements and burdens that women already face," says Danaya Wilson, CEO of environmental safety, compliance and professional training company BetterCertify. "We're being guided in ways that we don't necessarily agree with."

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Crackdowns on DEI threaten to erase a large swath of the working population, and often leaders have no choice but to comply, Wilson says, noting companies are "having to go through and change the language on their websites and their initiatives just to make sure they're in alignment with new executive orders."  

Further inflaming the issue is mainstream attitudes promoting toxic masculinity: Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook and CEO of Meta, said on a recent podcast that "masculine energy" is being sucked from the workforce, and that corporations need to bring that "aggression" back. 

Yet women are still a vital demographic in the workplace, and HR leaders and managers have to make it clear these aren't the attitudes — or values — at their organization, if they want to continue to benefit from a diverse workforce.  

"This kind of wording says that maybe [women] don't matter and they're not wanted," Wilson says. "Organizations will have to work harder to ensure that's not the kind of messaging they're supporting." 

To do that, the first thing organizations and HR leaders should be doing is strengthening their existing ERGs if they can. If the executive orders interfere, Wilson urges leaders to then fund other avenues of support, like mentoring and learning and development programs, ensuring women still have access to resources. And while it may seem counterintuitive, Wilson suggests refraining from using the DEI acronym all together.  

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"Instead of just saying we support DEI, spell out diversity, equity and inclusion entirely and then align it with specific metrics that can be tracked and can speak to that collectiveness of who makes up your organization," she says. "It's like doubling down on where your money goes, where your time goes, and making sure that the future you want is in alignment with the policies and the people that you support." 

Wilson also encourages women in all stages of their careers to fight back in small ways by supporting organizations that prioritize diversity and by setting clear expectations during job searches. Still, to have any meaningful impact, the bulk of change will have to come from organizations and their leaders.  

"Diversity is good for our economy as a whole — we want people to come in with unique views and challenge the status quo," Wilson says. "Instead of encouraging women to break the glass ceiling, why don't you build a building that doesn't even have one."