Four Takeaways From My DEI Internship
As a Global commerce major interested in marketing, I am used to studying different cultures and how they communicate more effectively. But prior to this internship, I didn’t know much about DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) at all. When I thought about the topic, I only really thought about diversity because of my lived experience. As a black person who has been in predominantly white institutions since I was in 5th grade, I have been especially aware of diversity, or lack thereof, in the spaces I occupy.
I assumed the numerous incidents of racial bias in recent years motivated leaders to make their organizations more safe and fair; however, during my internship, I gained a deeper understanding of the apprehension that still surrounds DEI. Fear around DEI has manifested in various ways, from leaders hesitating to seek assistance to the enactment of legislation opposing DEI initiatives. Notably, states such as Florida, Texas, and Utah have chosen to prohibit DEI efforts within higher education institutions and publishing houses.
This kind of resistance to DEI is unfortunate, but not unexpected given America’s history. There’s a lot of misinformation out there about what DEI means, but I learned these terms are not that controversial:
Diversity refers to the various aspects of identity that make up teams and organizations like race, gender, age, etc.
Equity refers to how fair teams and organizations are
Inclusion refers to creating a culture where everyone can feel like they belong and will be heard
As I prepare to enter the workforce, I carry with me several invaluable insights from working for Robnett Consulting:
DEI is not just soft skills. It’s easy to assume DEI is a fluffy concept that is all about talking about your feelings, but during this internship I saw just how much data and effort goes into culture change. The data required for this work is designed to educate DEI practitioners about the state of the company and allow them to build a strategy for improvement. DEI practitioners leverage change management frameworks and tools to scale and sustain complex culture change. Yes, soft skills like building trust with people and navigating power dynamics are needed to manage change, but hard skills like data analytics and project management are also needed to move an organization from its current state to its future state in a controlled and organized way.
DEI requires an intersectional lens. DEI work demands that we learn about the plethora of different identities that can affect a person's life. I completed my first Group Identity Wheel exercise during this internship which gave me a new perspective on how I think about diversity. I learned there are many other dimensions of diversity that impact our lived experience and access to opportunities beyond the often thought of identities like race and gender. Invisible identities like education, communication skills, and disability status are also critically important to recognize and understand. Despite the fact that these identities often go unnoticed, they are essential to being able to attract and retain top talent and communicate effectively across differences.
DEI requires talking about power. This summer I learned the importance of understanding power dynamics in a variety of situations, especially in the workplace. When people lack awareness or understanding of power, DEI issues are exacerbated and conflict often arises. Power dynamics exist on every team, even on my college soccer team. Power dynamics may seem simple on the surface, but power is not always easily visible. Coaching staff and captains hold authority but, by looking deeper you can observe different kinds of power like who people know, what information they have access to. These subtle differences exist in the workplace as well and effective culture change requires a strong awareness and understanding of power.
DEI gives organizations a competitive edge. Many studies show that inclusive teams with more diversity tend to be more successful than teams with less. Mckinsey and Company found that companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians. Boston Consulting Group found that companies with more diverse management teams are more innovative and have 19% higher revenues.
Even though there is a business case for DEI, I learned leaders are still hesitant to take DEI seriously. Seeing how the sentiment around DEI has fluctuated so dramatically the past few years, I’m concerned our society will become further desensitized to the violent tragedies that target people from underrepresented backgrounds. At a certain point I fear that people will no longer be motivated to make things more diverse, equitable, and inclusive because they have become used to the way things are now.
I have two more years of college before I enter the workforce. I hope by that time leaders rethink their commitment to DEI and find ways to make their organizations more fair and inclusive without a tragic catalyst. Those are the types of organizations I'm interested in working for.
About the author
Kurby Brown is a rising junior studying global commerce at Denison University. He plans to graduate with a fluency in Spanish and the necessary tools to build a career in sports marketing. In addition to being a full-time student, he is also a defender/winger for the Denison men's soccer team. In his free time he plays basketball and spends time with friends. He is from Somerset, New Jersey and attended Berkshire school in Massachusetts.
