Posted by on Friday, July 18, 2014
Welcome to this week’s Diversity Dish and Happy Friday! This week’s Diversity Dish features an update on the never ending Fisher case, an interesting study that shows that women and minority leaders are sometimes penalized for fostering diversity and an opportunity to be involved in next year’s Diversity Summit. Enjoy this week’s Diversity Dish, Happy Friday and if you aren’t already, follow us on Twitter @CourtneyDredden.
7.16.14 In the everlasting Fisher saga, the Fifth Circuit upheld the University of Texas at Austin’s use of race as one of many admissions factors. Tamar Lewin writes in the New York Times that the President of the University was pleased with the decision. We have closely covered this case over the past two years and hope that this latest ruling puts Fisher to bed, but we’re not optimistic. Lead plaintiff, Abagail Fisher “said Tuesday that she would continue to press her lawsuit, even if it meant another appeal to the Supreme Court. She has since graduated from Louisiana State University.” Interestingly enough, the use of race as part of a holistic process only accounted for 12 percent of the black students in the class and 6 percent of the Hispanic students in the class.
7.18.14A Business News Daily article reports on a study that suggests that “women and minorities don't shy away from hiring their peers out of fear of the competitive threat they may pose, but rather out of fear of the retribution they may incur.” Further, “[n]onwhite and women leaders who engage in diversity-increasing behaviors in the highest organizational ranks are systematically penalized with lower performance ratings for doing so. Our findings suggest that nonwhite and women leaders may increase their own chances of advancing up the corporate ladder by actually engaging in a very low level of diversity-valuing behavior.” This is a major setback on the diversity front, however this study offers an opportunity for executives to examine their organization and ensure that this is not happening at their shop.
Submit Your Great Ideas and
Programs for the 2015 Diversity and Inclusion Summit
NALP and ALFDP invite you to
participate in the first ever request for proposals for the 2015 Diversity and
Inclusion Summit, to be held on June 12, 2015 in Chicago. We are seeking
exciting and innovative diversity programs, and are especially interested in
programming from employers and law schools who would like to share best
practices and successful D&I programs. We would also like to hear from
consultants and others in the business with cutting edge information to share
with our attendees, partners or other experts with a special focus on diversity
issues, and diversity professionals who would like to share programming ideas
and other information. Learn
more.