Leaders丨Business and the culture wars
Jan 11th 2024丨647words丨★★★☆☆
How to cut through the cacophony over DEI
如何消除关于多元性、平等性与包容性（DEI）的喧嚣
Outrage on right and left obscures both the costs of DEI and the benefits of diversity
左右两派的愤怒态度掩盖了DEI的成本和多样性的益处
What, if anything, should firms do to improve the diversity of their workforce? After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, many bosses felt compelled to act. Partly out of fear of being called out for prejudice, corporate America rushed to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes. By 2022 three-quarters of the S&P 500 had a chief diversity officer; more than two-fifths of listed firms set targets to increase the racial diversity of their workforce. Now many think the pendulum has swung too far.
如果需要的话，企业应该采取哪些措施来提高其员工的多样性呢？在2020年乔治·弗洛伊德被谋杀后，许多公司感到必须要采取行动了。部分原因是担心被指控存在偏见，美国企业急忙接受了多元化、公平和包容（DEI）计划。到 2022 年，标普500 指数中3/4的公司任命了多元化主管；超过2/5的上市公司制定了提高员工种族多元化的目标。现在，许多人认为对于多样性的关注和重视太过了。
Now many think the pendulum has swung too far. 「很多人认为钟摆已经摇摆得太过极端。」 起源于钟摆的物理原理。钟摆是由一个悬挂在支点上的重物组成，当被推动或拉动后，会以一定的频率在两个极点之间往复摆动。这种运动方式被用作隐喻，用来形容一种事物或情况在两个极端之间反复波动。
常用来描述各种领域中的变化或倾向。它强调了一个问题或政策出现了过度修正或不平衡的情况，需要进行调整或重新平衡。
The resignation of Claudine Gay, a black woman, as president of Harvard University has ignited a broader debate about merit and identity. Bill Ackman and Elon Musk, two billionaires, have excoriated DEI for itself being discriminatory. After the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to end affirmative action in university admissions last summer, many activists and politicians increasingly have corporate DEI schemes in their sights.
哈佛黑人女性校长克劳丁·盖伊辞职，引发了一场关于功绩和身份的广泛讨论。比尔·阿克曼和埃隆·马斯克这两位亿万富翁痛斥DEI计划本身就具有歧视性。去年夏天，美国最高法院做出了终止大学招生中的平权行动这一具有里程碑意义的决定后，许多活动人士和政治家越来越多地关注企业的 DEI 计划。
As America’s culture wars rage on, bosses are being caught in the middle. Progressives argue that DEI enables companies to do their bit to tackle America’s entrenched inequalities. Conservatives see it as an attack on meritocracy. One side ignores the costs of many DEI schemes, the other ignores the real benefits of diversity. How should businesses cut through the noise?
随着美国文化战争的持续激烈，企业老板们陷入了两难境地。进步派认为，DEI 可以让企业为解决美国根深蒂固的不平等问题尽一份力。保守派则认为，这是对精英主义的攻击。一方（进步派）忽视了许多DEI计划的成本，另一方（保守派）则忽视了多元化的真正好处。企业应该如何应对这些噪音？
The critics are right that the thinking on DEI is muddy, and that many DEI initiatives are ineffective, even harmful. In 2015 McKinsey, a consultancy, identified a positive correlation between the gender and ethnic diversity of the workforce and firms’ profitability. Although academics have since criticised its methodology, the findings were breathlessly cited by bosses and corporate advisers, and the link was treated as causal and cast-iron. For example, from 2023 NASDAQ required firms listed on its stock exchange to have at least one board member who was not a straight white man—or explain why they do not. It was left to Jesse Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, to point out that NASDAQ was ignoring scholarship which finds that board diversity can have a negative impact on performance.
许多批评者认为DEI计划的思维混乱，许多倡议是无效的甚至是有害的。咨询公司麦肯锡在2015年发现，员工性别和种族多样性与企业的盈利能力之间存在着正相关关系。尽管此后学术界对其研究方法提出了批评，但该研究结果还是被老板和企业顾问们津津乐道地引用，而且这种联系被视为因果关系，铁板钉钉。例如，从 2023 年起，纳斯达克（NASDAQ）要求在其证券交易所上市的公司至少有一名董事会成员不是异性恋白人，或者解释为什么没有的原因。然而，哈佛大学法学院教授杰西·弗里德指出，纳斯达克忽视了研究发现董事会多元化可能对业绩产生负面影响的学术成果。
Diversity schemes often fail. Sometimes this betrays bad faith: firms with a discrepancy between their words and actions are often accused of 「diversity washing」. Some schemes are well-meant but ineffective. Research by Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev showed that diversity training programmes fail to reduce bias. In the worst instances, DEI initiatives backfire. Targets can be seen as quotas, which undermine the principle of fair competition and cast a shadow over minorities who do well under them. Other research shows that adding equal-employment statements to job advertisements can put minority candidates off applying. No wonder support for votes on social issues at annual general meetings is draining away.
多元化计划经常失败。有时，这暴露了公司不诚实行为：言行不一的公司往往被指责为 "多元化洗白"。有些计划的出发点是好的，但却没有效果。弗兰克·多宾和亚历山德拉·卡莱夫的研究表明，多元化培训计划无法减少偏见。在最糟糕的情况下，DEI倡议会适得其反。目标可能会被视为配额制，破坏了公平竞争的原则，并给在这些制度下表现出色的少数群体蒙上阴影。其他研究表明，在招聘广告中加入平等就业的声明会让少数族裔候选人放弃申请。难怪支持在年度大会上就社会问题进行投票的人越来越少了。
「蒙上阴影」cast a shadow over minorities
因为配额制度暗示着这些人只是因为符合特定身份而受到重视，而不是基于他们的能力和成就。这可能会削弱他们的成就感和公正竞争的原则，并且使他们的成功变得有争议。
The case for diversity does not need dressing up in pseudoscience. The simple reason for businesses and their shareholders to care about recruiting people from a broad range of backgrounds is that they want the most able people. Mr Musk and Mr Ackman are both successful businessmen: they too want to assemble the best possible teams.
推崇多元化不需要用伪科学来包装。企业及其股东之所以关心从各种背景中招募人才，原因很简单，那就是他们想要最有能力的人。马斯克和阿克曼都是成功的商人：他们也希望组建最优秀的团队。
图源：foxbusiness
Opus DEI
Diversity should be a spur to looking far and wide for talent, no matter someone’s gender, race or sexual orientation. A firm convinced that it is overlooking the best candidates from a particular demographic cohort, for example, could choose to lengthen its shortlists to include more from that group. That will not mechanically create workforces that mirror the population, but it can maximise talent and diversity of thought. Quotas, by contrast, have the perverse effect of narrowing the search by excluding talent. As with so many areas touched by the culture wars, the row over DEI has become muddle-headed. The clear, simple argument for diversity is being drowned out. ■
无论性别、种族或性取向如何，多样性都应成为广纳贤才的动力。例如，如果一家公司认为自己忽略了来自某一特定人口群体的最佳人选，那么它可以扩大候选名单范围，让更多来自该群体的人加入进来。这样做并不会机械地创造出与人口结构相匹配的员工队伍，但却能最大限度地发挥人才的作用，实现思想的多元化。相比之下，配额制度会有逆向效应，排除了一些优秀的人才，从而缩小了搜索范围。与许多受到文化战争影响的领域一样，关于DEI的争论变得混乱不清，使得明确简单的多样性论点被淹没了。
探讨「Opus DEI」
从 语言学角度 来看，"Opus"是拉丁语，意为「工作」或「职责」。这个词是一个单数名词，它强调个人在完成自己的职责和义务时所做的努力。「Dei」也是拉丁语，意为「上帝」的。因此，「Opus Dei」可以被理解为「上帝的工作」或「上帝的职责」。
从 宗教角度 来看，Opus Dei 一个天主教的宗教组织；Opus Dei的目标是通过普通人日常生活中的工作、家庭和社会责任来追求圣德，并将基督教信仰融入到日常生活中。Opus Dei强调世俗化，即在世俗生活中追求圣德，而不是专门从事宗教职业。
宗教与DEI相结合，DEI为多元、平等与包容（ diversity, equity and inclusion）的缩写。在企业组织中推动多元、平等与包容的实践，不仅是一项日常任务，更是一种崇高、近乎神圣的事业「爱、尊重和关怀是其价值观」。这表明DEI领域的工作具有深远的重要性，甚至可视为一种道德或精神上的召唤。
这种精妙的理念融合，暗示着在组织中追求多元、平等与包容是一项重大且有意义的努力，更是高层次的使命或任务。
英文取自【经济学人】官网，部分图源网络，侵删
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