Diversity in Hiring Benefits Us All

On the first day of his new administration, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to place their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employees on administrative leave. Later pronouncements suggest that the Administration will soon eliminate these jobs.

This is misguided. Pushing out federal DEI professionals threatens the progress made by previous administrations in diversifying the federal workforce. It also threatens similar gains made at private firms that work on behalf of the government. 

But the most dispiriting aspect of the new executive order is its likely effect on the next generation of young people who will no longer aspire to government service, and on the communities those young people would have represented.

As a former law school professor, I am grateful to federal DEI professionals for their affirmative outreach to our nontraditional students. This includes those who are nonwhite, or military veterans, or older than average, or the first in their families to attend college or law school, as well as those whose religion dictates their dress, or who hold full-time jobs while in school, or who contend with disabilities, or otherwise fail to fit the usual law student mold. 

Historically, prestigious legal jobs at federal agencies, such as entry-level “honors attorney” roles, went only to the (mostly white and privileged) top graduates of elite law schools. The nation’s recent racial reckoning changed that pattern. Thanks in large part to the work of federal DEI professionals, government agencies now schedule career panels and other information sessions for a broader range of students at a broader range of schools, including historically Black colleges and universities. 

In addition, agency hiring teams now review applications with an eye toward building a workforce that looks like the United States. And federal managers take pains to ensure that all new employees feel welcome from the moment they arrive.

Nonwhite students have benefited from these changes, but so have many others. As noted, the term “nontraditional student” encompasses far more than race. DEI professionals’ efforts to publicize federal work opportunities and to make hiring practices more equitable help all such students. Now, nontraditional students dare to dream that they, too, can shape federal policy on the issues of the day, from artificial intelligence to public health, electric grid reliability to national security.

These nontraditional students have important perspectives to share. They come from communities that are often on the frontlines of the problems facing the nation, from the plague of drug addiction to the hardship of industry offshoring. These students understand their communities’ perspectives and priorities in ways that students from more traditional backgrounds may not. They can assist federal agencies in crafting workable solutions to such problems.

Private sector employers continue to recognize the creativity and productivity benefits of both diverse teams and an inclusive workplace culture. That is why many private companies are doubling down on their commitment to DEI work even as the federal government regresses. By expressing hostility toward DEI efforts, the Trump Administration risks ceding such benefits to private employers. This disserves not only nontraditional job applicants but also the many traditional applicants who enjoy working with and learning from colleagues from different backgrounds.

To be sure, nontraditional students can still apply for federal jobs without attending outreach events organized by DEI professionals. A few nontraditional students may even obtain jobs in the Administration’s brave new world, although Trump’s uninformed statements blaming DEI for the recent plane crash in Washington, D.C., suggest a general skepticism about the competency of employees of color, employees with disabilities, women, and others who benefit from more equitable hiring practices.

But to ensure that the government continues to benefit from the experiences and insights that nontraditional students can provide, we must do more than hope that a few such students happen to make it through the doors of federal agencies. We must affirmatively invite all students to imagine themselves as public policymakers, and we must commit to making them feel welcome at federal agencies. 

In recent years, the government has relied on agency DEI professionals to extend that invitation and to make that commitment. Who will do it when they’re gone?

This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.