Diversity Theatre

For the past year especially, companies have started to support diversity initiatives publicly by speaking out, donating to organizations, and joining movements. As a result, one would think that the public values a company projects in the media would match up with its private ones.

"Diversity theatre." Recently, I came across this term that describes the disparity between what a company claims it stands for and the actions it actually takes internally to increase diversity. Even though companies donate and financially support organizations and causes that create differences in communities, oftentimes, companies do not follow through in their own practices and environments.

An article that I would recommend reading to learn more about the practices of individual companies and more data regarding the diversity of specific minority groups is "What's To Come In 2021 For Diversity, Equity And Inclusion In The Workplace" written by Ashley Stahl, a Forbes Contributor. In her piece, there was one statistic that really caught my eye and, in my opinion, proved just how prevalent "diversity theatre" is.

"The percentage of white staff increases steadily at each level of the corporate ladder,... representing 85% of executives."

Pause for a minute and just reflect on that percentage. Now, think about his as well: 18.5% of the population of the U.S. is Latinx, while 3% of executives are Latinx. Furthermore, 13.4% of the total population in the U.S. is Black, but only 2% of executives are Black. Clearly, the higher we go, the more we see how lacking true diversity in a company is.

"The higher one ascends in a company’s ladder, the more precipitously diversity drops off ... These numbers are striking, and illustrate the fact that inequality is deeply structural in the world of business."

When looking at the percentages for women, particularly women of color, the results are even more astonishing, and it is impossible to genuinely say that there is not a systemic issue in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Stahl's article highlights this and is worth the read.

Click here to read the article.