President Donald Trump’s mass firings and moves against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts – “DEI” for short – have hurt Black women most of all, economists say.
This summer, a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that roughly 300,000 Black women left the nation’s labor force in a three-month period.
Experts attribute this, first and foremost, to the gutting of federal agencies, which saw huge swaths of staff let go from agencies like the Department of Education. Prior to Trump reassuming the presidency, public sector employment had provided pathways for professional growth and economic stability to Black women, especially, for decades.
But in addition to that, the loss of DEI protections in both the public and private sectors, as well as the cancellation of mentorship programs for marginalized employees, have disproportionately hurt Black women, too. The combined result has seen Black women’s unemployment rates climbing month after month, while white women’s unemployment over the same time period has remained stagnant.
Indeed, the U.S. is seeing less participation from Black women in the economy this year, by force and design – and now, it’s also causing a leadership-pipeline breakdown, with only 0.5% of Fortune 500 companies now run by Black women.
These numbers spotlight the fact that worries about Black women’s futures aren’t “theoretical concerns,” Katica Roy, CEO and founder of equity software company Pipeline Equity, wrote in an op-ed in Fortune.
Rather, “today’s middle managers are tomorrow’s senior vice presidents. Today’s directors become future CEOs,” she continued. “And the current rate of attrition is effectively erasing Black women from that trajectory before they even reach the inflection point.”
The loss of DEI policies doesn’t help the companies who discontinue them, either, it’s worth noting. Big-box giant Target has experienced waning sales this year following a consumer boycott of its decision to scale back DEI initiatives. CEO Brian Cornell is stepping down amid the fallout.
And companies aren’t just being hurt in the present moment by these DEI rollbacks, Roy points out. “When companies lose Black women today, they aren’t just losing high-performing contributors. They’re forfeiting the very leaders their future stability depends on.”
