Academics Claim DEI Is A Moral Duty As Firms Retreat

Executives across the corporate world are facing mounting pressure to defend or abandon their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes. Many are choosing to retreat from these commitments, responding to growing political headwinds and a return to traditional business pragmatism. However, academics are now posing a challenge to this common sense retreat. They argue that inclusion should be considered a moral imperative, rather than a mere business strategy subject to the winds of political change.

Marketing scholars studying consumer ethics and corporate responsibility have spent years examining how companies treat the public. Their recent research, published in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, argues that inclusion is an issue of ethics. They claim that three of the oldest traditions in moral philosophy make the case, regardless of political convenience.

Political and Financial Pressure

A few years ago, many companies were competing to signal their commitment to diversity. They hired across race and gender lines, tackled discrimination, and designed products for previously ignored groups.

That trend has reversed sharply. Faced with the threat of investigations, lost government contracts, and lawsuits challenging identity-based hiring, many companies have scrapped DEI programmes. Others have renamed initiatives to avoid scrutiny or simply gone silent.

Beyond political and legal pressures, some executives have retreated to an economic argument. They argue their primary obligation is to maximise profits, making inclusion programmes that do not boost the bottom line a liability at best.

The researchers argue this financial framing treats inclusion as a strategic bet, one placed or withdrawn depending on returns. They claim this misses the moral dimension. Businesses are not just economic machines, they argue. They are part of society, making choices that affect real people, which makes them moral actors.

Duty: Rules That Apply To All

The first philosophical tradition examined is deontological ethics, associated with the 18th-century philosopher Immanuel Kant. The core idea of deontology is that some actions are right or wrong in themselves, regardless of consequences. People have inherent dignity and must be treated as ends, never merely as a means to a goal.

Applied to the marketplace, the researchers argue companies have a duty to respect the rights of every person. A bank that denies loans based on race, or a retailer stocking only small sizes, are not just making bad business decisions. They are moral failures.

Kant proposed the