Beyond Symbolic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

This book extends strategic diversity work beyond internal organization efforts toward social engagement and accountability and supports organizations to ground social impact across both business and employee interests, the first of which is ethics, covered in the initial chapter. Organizations around the world are committed to increasing the racial diversity of their employees. Simultaneously, there is also greater interest in creating more welcoming and psychologically safe environments for people of color within organizations.

As the workforce demographics shift because of these initiatives, the interests and needs of the employee population have also shifted. This shift presents a challenge for organizations to move beyond symbolic diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) work, of which increasing racial representation is chief, to helping organizations understand how to determine which issues to support of concern, value, and importance to their employees and society.

Essentially, this book, a venture into the field called transorganization development, also moves beyond the traditional view of corporate social responsibility to take the position that businesses have a responsibility to make the world a better place by taking proactive stances on the many challenges facing the world today, including DE&I and accessibility. Many employees today expect their employers to take positions that will lead to making the world a better place.