Equity—or what I like to call accessibility—is the bridge to inclusion, particularly for disabled individuals. When the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) announced it would drop the “E” from their version of the terms Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)—Inclusion, Equity & Diversity (IE&D)—transitioning to “I&D,” it sent shockwaves through the disability community. SHRM’s rationale—difficulty defining equity and backlash against DEI—risks undermining accessibility and authentic inclusion.

Human Resource professionals enforce the tone for which organizations act and as a result have a direct impact on formulating the policies their employees model. They could easily be related to the pillars on which our fair markets are built upon.

Bobbing and Weaving: Rolling with the Punches in Equity

Much of the conversation floating around these professionals as always is being directed by the popular shifts in current political environments and the spins opinionated by our prominent news outlets or media. The pressure they face of remaining in the popular view, if not properly checked and balanced, leads to the hiding away and disregarding of obstacles that have been present in the path of human advancement for ages.

Unfortunately, lately in following the typical knee jerk reactions of this philosophy, SHRM along with many other companies recently find themselves reframing their strategies around DEI efforts brought on by the restructuring of our latest elections and the pains of appeasing the ever changing will of the moment once again. History has had us flip-flopping on this forever.

The Consequences of Removing the ‘E’

We need to realize the concessions in the overall DEI movement carry a direct consequence on the disability community, all marginalized groups and even the popular majorities that refuse to accept them.

Despite the misinformation and campaigns against it, equity is not just a concept; it’s the practical framework that identifies barriers and allocates resources to level the playing field. In honor and acceptance of the generations before us who have fought to create a better tomorrow, we should recognize the pursuit of equity needs to be safeguarded and we should allocate the sufficient resources in its continued work.

As Enrica N. Ruggs and Oscar Holmes IV explained in their Harvard Business Review article Why Dropping the E in DEI Is a Mistake, equity ensures “equal access and opportunities” by addressing systemic disadvantages. For disabled people, equity means adaptive tools, accommodations, and barrier free environments that enable participation. Removing it erases the focus on these critical steps, and diminishes the ability of our disabled community to act as a beacon for all populations facing inequities.

Why Equity Matters in DEI

Without equity, inclusion becomes an empty promise and an excuse to not put in the hard ongoing work it requires. The debate of Equity vs Equality is something that should not be abandoned and discarded simply due to the complexity of the issues it seeks to resolve. In fact, the acceptance in following down the road of those actions flies directly in the face of the principles of progress, and we should rather accept the difficulties to be found in them as globally our greatest challenge.

The facts are after all – proven through the likelihood of disability in a generic human experience- that anyone of us at any time may find ourselves in a marginalized group and be forced to own up to the resistance of their inclusion.

Equality assumes everyone starts at the same place and needs the same tools, ignoring barriers and leaving employees with disabilities stuck without a path of entry. Equity, however, recognizes that adaptations are essential to achieving inclusive outcomes. Without it, we simply fail. Prioritizing equality over equity enables ableism and excuses the avoidance in the hard work toward accessibility in all of its forms.

What It’s Like to Work Without Equity

The myth perpetuated in regards to disability of dropping the necessity of equity in a guise that it is a foregone conclusion that does not require to be mentioned is detrimental to not only the ongoing work of disability inclusion but of the overall practice of inclusion for any in our workforces and overall society.

I know this firsthand. Early in my sales career as a wheelchair user, I avoided requesting accommodations, fearing rejection. I masked my needs, even snuck my boyfriend into work many times to help carry huge six-foot boxes, and put my physical and emotional well-being at risk to fit in and grow my career. I’m not proud of this but I was scared. When I finally sought accommodations, I was met with:

“Alycia, why are you the only one on the team asking for accommodations?” 

I quit that week. And it took years to trust another HR department enough to ask for what I needed.

For years now, I’ve been advocating for HR and DEI leaders to prioritize disability inclusion as our common ground, to ensure we are part of the DEI conversation. Even at the height of DEI’s popularity, disability was too often an afterthought and left out of the conversation altogether. SHRM’s decision to remove equity feels like sitting in that HR office again—rejected and unseen.

Equity Powers Accessibility

Equity in many ways is synonymous with accessibility and it is an essential tool that allows everyone to cross the finish line together. 

Organizations like SHRM, guideposts for so many, must not forget disabled employees when making decisions. Yes, “lead with inclusion,” but understand that inclusion cannot exist without equity—or what I call access.

I understand that terms evolve with time, but the lessons we’ve learned should not be discarded. The fact is that equality does not exist for many people with disabilities trying to overcome the inequality of gainful employment opportunities in our society. At the forefront of it all, adaptability is essential to building a future where inclusion is rooted in fairness, and again equity is the tool that ensures accessibility. 

Let’s Keep Pushing Forward Together

We must rise to the occasion and challenge these discrepancies head on. We must not shy away from the difficulties in navigating the inequities from our histories past by simply pointing out that in attempting to right the obvious mistakes in our past we are creating new challenges for those that have unduly reaped the rewards previously. Yet, we should steadfastly move to a compromise that will help level the playing field while remaining vigilant to the goal that everyone deserves a chance at success moving into the future.