The Supreme Court\u2019s decision to strike down affirmative action in the college-admissions process Thursday may have also dealt a blow to corporate America\u2019s slow-going efforts toward diversity in top-tier positions, experts and others say.<\/p>\n
A key voice making that argument is Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a member of the court\u2019s liberal wing.<\/p>\n
\n
In a dissent on the cases involving Harvard University\u2019s and the University of North Carolina\u2019s use of race-conscious admissions policies, Sotomayor said diplomas from elite schools bring along high-powered alumni networks and the chance for economic mobility.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdmission to college is therefore often the entry ticket to top jobs in workplaces where important decisions are made,\u201d she wrote in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. \u201cToday\u2019s decision further entrenches racial inequality by making these pipelines to leadership roles less diverse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more:<\/strong> How college admissions will change in America after the Supreme Court knocked down affirmative action<\/p>\nHR professionals fear a \u2018diminished\u2019 talent pool<\/h2>\n
As some human-resources professionals and lawyers review the decision, they also say the watershed decision for higher education will reverberate in the workplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision, while not surprising, will create issues for employers in future,\u201d said Tim Bartl, the president and CEO of the HR Policy Association, a trade association of chief human-resources officers for more than 400 of the country\u2019s largest corporations.<\/p>\n
Civil-rights laws say employers cannot make hiring and promotion decisions based on race, even in the interest of diversity, Bartl noted. But companies can work to broaden the pool of job applicants who come their way in the first place.<\/p>\n
The short-term effect of Thursday\u2019s ruling could be a crimped pipeline to applicants of color over the next few years, he said. The long-term effect could be a labor market where companies have to work harder to find diverse talent pools, Bartl said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to require employers to engage, to educate and to explain and market their brand to attract the highest-level talent among qualified, diverse candidates,\u201d Bartl said. <\/p>\n
The HR Policy Association filed a friend-of-the-court brief, also known as an amicus brief, in support of Harvard and UNC. Its member companies \u201crely heavily\u201d on colleges and universities to supply a diverse and qualified talent pool, the organization said in its filing.<\/p>\n
\u201cCreating this pool of diverse talent requires admissions processes that provide opportunities for students of all backgrounds to achieve a higher education,\u201d the organization\u2019s lawyers told the court. \u201cAccordingly, amicus members are most concerned that the availability of such a pool of qualified candidates as a whole not be diminished.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the member companies, Johnson & Johnson
\n JNJ,
\n +0.70%<\/bg-quote>,<\/span>
\n released a statement after decision.<\/p>\n\u201cWe hire and advance individuals strictly on merit, based on the skills and competencies most needed by our business now and for the future,\u201d said a spokesperson. \u201cWe also believe higher education plays a significant role in creating equitable opportunities for individuals to reach their full potential and in developing the diverse talent that corporations need to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson & Johnson remains \u201csteadfast in our commitment to foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce and environment,\u201d the company added.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The decision \u201ceffectively turns away from decades of precedent,\u201d said Charlotte Burrows, the chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal regulator on workplace laws. Still, she said, \u201cIt remains lawful for employers to implement diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs that seek to ensure workers of all backgrounds are afforded equal opportunity in the workplace.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Skepticism from the Supreme Court majority<\/h2>\n
Of course, there are skeptics who question why race should play any role. Those include the Supreme Court majority, which found the admissions policies violated the 14th Amendment\u2019s equal-protection clause.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Harvard\u2019s and UNC\u2019s admissions programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points, those admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause,\u201d the majority wrote. \u201cMany universities have for too long wrongly concluded that the touchstone of an individual\u2019s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned, but the color of their skin.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said, \u201cUniversities\u2019 self-proclaimed righteousness does not afford them license to discriminate on the basis of race.\u201d Federal law doesn\u2019t give allow institutions to lean on race as a justification for action elsewhere, he added, citing employment-discrimination cases as one example.<\/p>\n
Whatever happens next with recruiting and talent development, data shows the current face of C-suite executives doesn\u2019t entirely match the country\u2019s makeup.<\/p>\n
The U.S. workforce is a diverse place as a whole, according to findings this year from a Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance. Still, C-suites in corporate America remain \u201cdisproportionately white and male.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see severe under-representation of women, Black, and Hispanic\/Latino executives in most C-suite positions,\u201d said researchers at Russell Reynolds Associates, a leadership advisory firm.<\/p>\n
Some high-profile attorneys are already looking at the ruling\u2019s employment consequences for businesses and schools.<\/p>\n
After the decision hit, the New York State Bar Association said it had convened a task force on how keep diversity efforts intact. The group is led by Brad Karp, chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and Jeh Johnson, a partner at the high-powered firm and former Homeland Security secretary.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusinesses \u2014 including law firms \u2014 are worried about the legitimacy of corporate diversity initiatives. This could also impact governmental programs that require quotas such as minority business enterprise requirements,\u201d said Richard Lewis, the bar association\u2019s president. \u201cWe want to prepare our members, clients and lawyers throughout the state and nation for any eventuality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson, who became the first Black partner at Paul, Weiss in 1994, said in a statement that \u201cfor all my professional and personal life, I have seen the benefits of a diverse environment.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cNow that the Supreme Court has ruled, we must find the path forward,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cOur task is to identity ways consistent with today\u2019s decision to continue to foster an integrated, not a segregated, America.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Supreme Court\u2019s decision to strike down affirmative action in the college-admissions process Thursday may have also dealt a blow to corporate America\u2019s slow-going efforts toward diversity in top-tier positions, experts and others say. A key voice making that argument is Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a member of the court\u2019s liberal wing. In a dissent on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-29423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\n
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