In April, United Airlines pledged to train 5,000 new pilots by 2030 with the intention of no less than half of these new students being women or people of color. With this announcement came pushback, informed by a common objection to diversity and inclusion efforts, one which extends all the way back to the start of debate around initiatives like affirmative action. The objection is that, in seeking to make greater room for historically underrepresented groups, we risk elevating concerns about identity over a commitment to excellence, to bringing in the best people regardless of skin color, sex/gender identity, or other characteristic which has led to past marginalization. These concerns were particularly potent with regard to the airline industry, where anything less than excellence in the cockpit could put lives at risk.
United’s pledge aligned with ongoing, and welcome, efforts to promote greater diversity and inclusion within organizations. This has been a long time coming, and is something that I have cared about throughout my career. When I first started my time at BU School of Public Health, working with Dean Yvette Cozier we articulated an 11-point agenda for diversity and inclusion at the school. The idea that we should be centering some of these concepts was unusual enough at the time that it was often parodied in right-leaning media. Today, the ideas in the original 11-point plan, since updated regularly are uncontroversial and in fact entirely of a piece with many such plans in institutions throughout the country.
Yet, as the elevation of diversity and inclusion have become a part of the fabric of more and more institutions, we are hearing more frequently the objection that diversity and inclusion are in conflict with excellence, undermining the meritocracy which sustains effective organizations. This has implications for health. Building a healthier world depends on the pursuit of excellence within a range of organizations, from academia, to government, to the public health infrastructure. As this necessity intersects with the growing embrace of diversity and inclusion within these bodies, it is important not to shy away from engaging with objections to this focus. For our institutions to be strong enough to support health, those working within them must be able to respond to this contention. With that in mind, I share a few thoughts about the supposed conflict between excellence and our pursuit of diversity, and this pursuit’s broader implications for health.
Read the full piece on The Healthiest Goldfish.