Evaluating DEI Internship Programs

Submission Date:

Question:

Our organization has for many years now used a “DEI” internship program to bring people from under-represented communities into the library profession. With the new directives coming from the POTUS and various agencies in January 2025, should we stop this program?

Answer:

Should your institution stop a program designed to attract people from populations under-represented in librarianship to librarianship? NO.[1]

Should your institution submit its DEI program for careful and routine evaluation for legal compliance and effectiveness? ALWAYS.

And now let’s ask: Why is submitting your DEI program for “careful and routine evaluation” important?

In New York, just as in the United States, it is illegal to deny a person a job or educational opportunity on the basis of a “protected category,” such as race, sex, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, veteran status, etc.[2] At the same time, it is legal to intentionally build a workforce or program[3] to meet particular goals, including a goal of addressing the impact of past harms, and/or benefitting from a diversity of experiences and connections.[4]

These two things are true under federal law too, but with New York and the federal government often applying different law and terminology,[5] and with the POTUS now workshopping the term “illegal DEI,”[6] some are questioning if DEI is “illegal” under federal law.

NOW HEAR THIS: DEI is no more illegal, than the concept of “good government” or the principal of “fiscal responsibility.” That is because like “good government” and “fiscal responsibility,” DEI is not a static legal concept. Rather, it is an acronym with no fixed technical meaning from place to place.[7]

So, POTUS notwithstanding, DEI is not “illegal.”[8] That said, a hiring or recruitment program that bars opportunities on the basis of a protected category absolutely could be.

Because of this, at all times (even times that were ten years ago, or more), DEI initiatives (or whatever you want to call them) should be carefully crafted to avoid use of “quotas” and should never use a protected category as a determinative factor to give or deny a benefit. Rather, initiatives to either bring a great diversity of experience and social connections into the workforce, and/or to address the quantifiable impacts of past wrongs, should be tailored to meet specific objectives.

This “tailoring” is the difference between: “We won’t select white people for this internship,” (WHICH WOULD BE WRONG) and “We will seek candidates with confirmed competencies and experience with defined communities,” (WHICH WOULD BE RIGHT).

Because of this distinction, programs designed to bring under-represented groups into a profession or educational experience should focus on measurable outcomes for either the profession, or the people under-represented in it. In addition, those outcomes should actually be measured, with the program adjusted when outcomes are not reaching established goals.

Here is an example of a program and evaluation method that focuses on the benefits to a profession:

EXAMPLE 1: Profession-focused

NAME: Community Connections Library Internship

PURPOSE: The purpose of this internship is to attract to librarianship people to from communities currently under-represented in the profession. The objective of this effort is to ensure the future stability and value of libraries by keeping them connected to the communities they serve. In [REGION], these communities are located in [DEFINED AREAS] (“Under-Represented Areas”). For that reason, past library experience is not needed for this internship, but direct experience and connections with communities in Under-Represented Areas, and an interest in librarianship, are.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

  • Please tell us about your connections to a community in an Under-Represented Area.
  • Please tell us about a strength you have from your connection to that Under-Represented Area.
  • Please tell us how you think a librarian from the Under-Represented Area could benefit that community.
  • This internship does not require you to become a librarian, but we will solicit feedback about your career path in the years after you complete the internship. Do you agree to that?

RUBRIK FOR ANNUAL EVALUATION

  • What are the Under-Represented Areas? (Has there been a population change requiring adding/subtracting?)
  • How many applications were received?
  • How many positions were awarded?
  • Of past interns, how many applied to library school?
  • Of past interns, how many are currently in library school?
  • Of past interns, how many are working in a library?
  • Is the program reaching a broad applicant pool?
  • Should the program be continued the next year?

Now, here is an example of a program and evaluation method that focuses on addressing the lingering impacts of past wrongs:

EXAMPLE 2: Impact-focused

NAME: Going Forward Library Internship

PURPOSE: While the required advanced degree and commitment to public service makes the path to librarianship a challenge for any person, a legacy of unequal treatment under the law can create additional barriers to pursuing a career in librarianship. The purpose of this internship is to assist future professionals whose path to librarianship may be made more difficult by the lingering effects of legal inequities experienced by their family and community (including but not limited to war crimes, housing discrimination, denial of veteran benefits, forced relocation, treaty violations, educational segregation, discriminatory hiring). While past unequal treatment under the law cannot be undone, this internship seeks to counter lingering negative impacts by creating a defined opportunity to explore a career in librarianship for people so impacted and bring their unique strengths and perspectives into the profession.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

  • Please tell us how your family has been negatively impacted by legal inequities.
  • Please share how this impacted your family and how those impacts are still creating challenges today. NOTE: We appreciate that this may also be an answer that celebrates the strength of your family and community.
  • We believe that families and communities with ties to a librarian and library are stronger than those without such ties. Please comment on this.
  • This internship does not require you to become a librarian, but we will solicit feedback about your career path in the years after you complete the internship. Do you agree to that?
  • Please share how you believe this opportunity could help you consider librarianship as a career.
  • Please let us know what else our organization could do to assist you on the path to librarianship.

RUBRIK FOR ANNUAL EVALUATION for Impact-Focused Approach

  • How many applications were received this year?
  • How many positions were awarded this year?
  • How many interns has the program had, to date?
  • Of past interns, how many have applied to library school?
  • Of past interns, how many are currently in library school?
  • Of past interns, how many are working in a library?
  • How was the opportunity publicized this year?
  • What communities in our area of service are we enhancing our connections to because of this program?
  • Should the program be continued next year?
  • What ongoing connections and support do we offer to program participants after the experience?

So, to repeat: should your organization end your DEI initiatives? Only if your leadership believes they no longer have value. However, whether starting or continuing a DEI program,[9] it is important to use defined outcomes, tied to measurable benefits related to the purpose of your organization, to craft a program that doesn’t simply admit or deny opportunity on the basis of a protected category.

For this, careful thought and analysis of the final criteria and evaluation process by your lawyer has always been, and remains, important.

Thank you for an important question.

 

[1] Unless they want to. That’s up to your leadership. But it sounds like a worthwhile program to me.

[2] The full listing is in the law here: https://dhr.ny.gov/new-york-state-human-rights-law.

[3] This answer does not apply to academic merit-based university/college admissions, which as you know got handed a whopper of a change by the SCOTUS in the case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/600us1r53_4g15.pdf.

[4] I am aware that for some, the “diversity benefits all” justification for DEI undercuts DEI as a coordinated effort to remedy the cumulative effects of multiple generations being denied equal opportunity (which, among other things, can lead to people being under-represented in certain professions). I don’t take a position here on that here, but I will say this: it is import for an institution to know WHY it has adopted a DEI program, because the program should use its stated purpose to evaluate its success and show that it is not engaging in a mere act of imposing “quotas.”

[5] New York has more, and better-defined, protected categories.

[7] And no fixed combination of letters, with “DEI,” “DEIA,” and “EI” being some of its variants.

[8] With all due respect, Mr. President.

[9] Or whatever your organization wants to call it. Due to political pressure, it is possible the term will fall out of favor. Call it whatever you like; if the purpose is to strengthen your organization, your profession, or your community, it is important to find a way to get it done.

Tag:

Templates, Internships, Executive Order, DEI