As a backlash against the effects of DEI on morale spreads, the institution’s abolition of DEI programs may influence other organizations.
The University of Florida’s scrapping of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives at the beginning of March has fueled a national controversy and led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to urge prospective students not to attend public universities in the state.
Despite the controversy, DEI programs involving bias training—and the hiring and promotion of minority instructors, executives, and staff—are still big business, not just in the United States but around the world.
According to a new Global Industry Analysts report, the fast-growing industry had a $9.4 billion valuation in 2022 and is expected to hit $24.4 billion by 2030.
Yet DEI programs are highly unpopular in some quarters and even liberal organizations and journals are beginning to question the effects on the culture of educational institutions.
Hence Florida University’s move may well turn out to be less an isolated and defiant gesture than the signal of a growing backlash against DEI throughout the county.
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That’s the view of Stanley Ridgley, a professor of management at the LeBow College of Business at Drexel University in Philadelphia