Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D.E.I.) initiatives describe programs, guidelines, and resources that aim to mitigate and reduce the impact of inequality. D.E.I. initiatives can be found in the workplace, such as in how organizations hire candidates and compensate and promote their employees. Recently, though, there have been reports about companies rolling back their D.E.I. initiatives, and the The Trump Administration issued an executive order that eliminates all federal D.E.I. programs and instructed government agencies to target illegal private sector D.E.I. initiatives.
However, many companies, such as Costco, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Apple, e.l.f. Beauty, Delta, Goldman Sachs, Cisco, and Ben & Jerry’s still view D.E.I. as a key priority and have continued to invest in D.E.I. initiatives. Many of them argue D.E.I. initiatives are critical to their success as a business.
There are many other companies who have continued to prioritize D.E.I. initiatives, and we encourage students to perform their research to ensure an organization aligns with their values. In addition to researching companies online, students can make use of our employer events, including career fairs, information sessions, and coffee chats, to learn about an organizations values, including their commitment to D.E.I. Additionally, the Career Center has a number of resources that can support your research. In Handshake, we have a collection that highlight employers who invest in D.E.I., and we also have two separate collections showing a selection of companies hire that international students and have Neurodiversity programs. Students can also read our blog posts to learn about which employers are investing in D.E.I. initiatives.
Overall, though government agencies and a selection of companies are no longer prioritizing D.E.I., there are a wealth of companies that still do. We encourage students to learn about the values of the organizations they’re interested in working for, and we are working to make it easier for students to find that information.