Feb 25

DEI Isn’t “Too Woke.” It’s Not Political Enough.

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New research shows surprising feedback on DEI 


Diversity programs have become an easy punchline. Critics say they’re radical. Too political. Too “woke.” But new research suggests the opposite: DEI isn’t failing because it’s too political. It’s failing because it refuses to be political at all.

A recent study of three highly regarded Australian organizations—each celebrated for “best practice” diversity work—found a striking pattern. On the surface, these workplaces looked progressive. They had policies. Training sessions. Diversity statements. Awards.

Behind the scenes? The same hierarchies endured. 

The researchers describe this as a “repressive equality regime”: a system where equality initiatives don’t just fail to dismantle inequality—they actively stabilize it. Diversity becomes something to manage rather than something that transforms power.

The Illusion of Progress

In the organizations studied, DEI created the appearance of change while leaving deeper structures untouched. Employees were sorted into neat categories—“woman,” “Indigenous,” “LGBTQ+,” “person with disability.” But lived experience is never that simple. Identity is layered. Class matters. Race intersects with gender. Power flows differently depending on who you are and how you’re perceived.

Yet DEI frameworks often flatten this complexity into labels that are easy to report on but hard to politicize. One participant described the reality bluntly: the organization had the “window dressing,” but real dynamics remained the same. Leadership stayed overwhelmingly white and male. Those who spoke up were often branded “troublemakers.”

When inclusion depends on not challenging the status quo, it isn’t inclusion at all.

Diversity as a Corporate Product

Another problem? DEI has become commodified. Organizations buy standardized training packages. Consultants deliver workshops. Metrics are tracked. Reports are published. But power rarely shifts.

Women are promoted—if they behave like “one of the boys.” Racialized leaders are visible—but still questioned. Diversity becomes a performance that reassures stakeholders while protecting those already at the top. DEI becomes a checkbox, not a reckoning.

The Real Issue: Power

The most consistent finding across the research was this: inequality is built into everyday workplace structures. 
  • It shapes who is assumed to be leadership material.
  • It shapes whose voice is taken seriously.
  • It shapes who feels safe speaking up.

Yet DEI programs routinely avoid talking about power. They celebrate difference without questioning dominance. They promote “awareness” without addressing redistribution.

That avoidance is not neutral. It’s protective. By refusing to engage politically—by refusing to confront who benefits from the current system—DEI becomes what the researchers call repressive. It tolerates diversity only within limits. It allows visibility but restricts disruption.

What Would Political DEI Look Like?

Right-wing critics argue that DEI threatens traditional values. But in practice, most DEI initiatives are remarkably cautious. They protect leadership comfort. They soften language. They focus on interpersonal bias rather than structural authority.

A political DEI would look different.

It would ask: 
  • Who holds decision-making power?
  • Who controls resources?
  • Who sets the norms of professionalism?
  • Whose discomfort is prioritized when change is proposed?

It would move beyond representation to redistribution.
Beyond awareness to accountability.
Beyond inclusion to transformation.

The real question isn’t whether DEI has gone too far. It’s whether organizations are willing to go far enough.

Because until diversity initiatives are willing to challenge power—not just decorate it—they will continue to deliver the appearance of equality while preserving the systems that prevent it.

Read the article here 

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