“Dangerous, Demeaning, and Immoral”: The Real Costs of Defunding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in U.S. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Higher Education

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the potential individual, institutional, and societal implications of ongoing federal and state funding cuts for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)‐related research and programming across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in United States higher education. We draw on the concepts of organizational inequality regimes, institutional isomorphism, and neoliberalism to conceptualize likely consequences of defunding and dismantling DEI, referencing sociological and related literature for support. We demonstrate that the elimination of funding for DEI‐related work (and attempts to outlaw DEI) in higher education compounds existing organizational processes that maintain racial, gender, and other categorical inequalities; discontinues essential material and non‐material resources required to produce scientific innovations and support STEM students; compromises the well‐being of educational institutions and the many organizational actors within them; and jeopardizes the future of STEM research and the STEM workforce in the U.S. Rather than doing a perceived public good by eliminating funding for DEI‐related work in academic STEM fields, the prospect of public harm is potentially profound and protracted.