How the current political landscape in the United States is shaping policy on diversity, equity and inclusion and its implications will be discussed at a free public lecture hosted by The University of Western Australia this month.

Professor Derek Avery will deliver the public lecture Turning the Tide on DEI on Wednesday 26 November, hosted by the UWA Business School’s Department of Management and Organisations.

Professor Avery is the CT Bauer Chair of Inclusive Leadership in the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, and a fellow of the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology, the Association for Psychological Science and the Academy of Management.

Professor Avery’s research on diversity climates has established its importance in reducing demographic differences in employee engagement, absenteeism, turnover and individual performance, which are all key drivers of customer satisfaction and sales growth.

Associate Professor Alex Luksyte, from UWA’s Business School, said the lecture would focus on the implications of shifts in diversity, equity and inclusion for societies, organisations and  individuals.

Senior lecturer Dr Joseph Carpini, from UWA’s Business School, said there was nothing new about the disagreement concerning how much stratification is too much within the US and the corresponding debates about equality and civil rights.

“What is new is the reinterpretation and reframing of this debate with efforts to promote equal opportunity going from being actively encouraged to being criminalised,” Dr Carpini said.

“Nearly all evidence of historical shifts from the country’s roots as a white male-dominated society are being downplayed or stricken altogether from the historical record.”

The public lecture is on Wednesday 26 November from 5.30pm to 6.30pm at the Business School’s Wesfarmers Lecture Theatre and can be attended in-person or online. To register click here.