On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court gutted affirmative action. Now, nearly one year later, we see how rolling back affirmative action has massively impacted diversity in higher education. We’re currently amid the first admissions cycle since the Supreme Court’s ruling, and it’s likely that next year, even fewer Black and Brown students will be admitted to elite, predominantly white institutions. The repercussions of this ruling will impact diversity in tech, entrenching racial divisions systemically from university access through hiring and into the workplace.
Alongside the white supremacist narrative of reverse discrimination gaining legal traction, we’ve seen increased attacks against programs designed to dismantle structural oppression, including gutting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives across the tech industry; introducing legislation that targets education about race and gender in