Employers Advised to Focus on 'Narrow But Deep' Equality Work

Experts say organizations can advance inclusion in a legally safe, politically popular, and effective manner by debiasing workplace systems.

Published on Feb. 24, 2026

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In the face of the Trump administration's renewed war against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, experts advise employers to shift from 'broad but shallow' DEI work to 'narrow but deep' equality efforts. This involves comprehensively debiasing workplace systems like performance evaluation, outreach, hiring, and promotion to ensure fair treatment for all, rather than relying on affirmative action or demographic-targeted programs that could be legally risky. The authors argue this approach is not only legally safe, but also politically popular and effective at advancing inclusion.

Why it matters

With the Supreme Court potentially limiting the use of affirmative action and the Trump administration cracking down on DEI efforts, employers are facing increased legal and political risks around their inclusion initiatives. Shifting to a 'narrow but deep' approach of debiasing core workplace systems can help organizations advance equality in a way that is on firmer legal footing and more likely to resonate with the public.

The details

The authors contrast 'broad but shallow' DEI work, which involves high-visibility activities like bias training and diversity retreats, with a 'narrow but deep' approach that pulls apart the architecture of organizational decisions and rebuilds those systems to create equal opportunity. For example, they cite research showing that adjusting performance evaluation scales from 10 points to 6 points can nearly erase gender gaps, as the idea of 'perfect performance' on a 10-point scale can disadvantage women due to gender stereotypes. The authors argue employers should comprehensively audit and debias all their workplace systems, from hiring to promotions, to ensure fair treatment.

  • The Trump administration has spent recent weeks renewing its war against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
  • In 2020, the murder of George Floyd prompted some organizations to take a 'broad but shallow' approach to DEI work.
  • In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, making some DEI tools riskier, especially programs that exclude members of dominant groups.

The players

Kenji Yoshino

The faculty director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at NYU School of Law and co-author of the book 'How Equality Wins: A New Vision for an Inclusive America'.

David Glasgow

The executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at NYU School of Law and co-author of the book 'How Equality Wins: A New Vision for an Inclusive America'.

Andrea Lucas

The chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, who has endorsed a wide array of deep practices that expand equal opportunity in workplace systems.

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What they’re saying

“Even Andrea Lucas, the chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a virulent opponent of 'DEI,' has endorsed a wide array of deep practices that expand equal opportunity in workplace systems, such as auditing job descriptions to remove unnecessary prerequisites like degree requirements, posting promotion opportunities and automatically considering all candidates at a certain level, and implementing standardized leadership development training.”

— Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow, Co-authors (Bloomberg Law)

What’s next

The authors suggest that employers should comprehensively audit and debias all their workplace systems, from hiring to promotions, to ensure fair treatment for all employees.

The takeaway

In the face of legal and political challenges to traditional DEI initiatives, employers can advance inclusion in a manner that is legally safe, politically popular, and effective by focusing on 'narrow but deep' efforts to debias core workplace systems and processes, rather than relying on affirmative action or demographic-targeted programs.