Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

It refers to organizational and institutional efforts aimed at:

•Diversity: Increasing representation of people from different demographic backgrounds (race, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, etc.).
•Equity: Addressing unequal outcomes by providing differential support or removing barriers so that groups achieve more comparable results (distinct from pure equality of treatment).
•Inclusion: Creating environments where people from varied backgrounds feel respected, valued, and able to fully participate and belong.

In practice, DEI has typically involved training, demographic goal-setting, employee resource groups, targeted recruiting, and policy changes. Originating largely from U.S. civil rights and affirmative action traditions, it expanded significantly in corporations, universities, and government in the 2010s–early 2020s, before facing substantial legal, political, and corporate pushback in recent years.