When Inclusion Excludes: The Hidden Cost of Overcorrecting DEI

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have become central to modern business culture—a welcome shift. As a Latina with a multicultural background, I’ve long supported efforts to create spaces where race, gender, disability, identity and socioeconomic status are not barriers to opportunity, according to Forbes.

But DEI, like any framework, isn’t immune to overcorrection.

In the rush to correct decades of exclusion, some companies—especially in industries like advertising and marketing—are now unintentionally creating new forms of gatekeeping. The result? If someone doesn’t fit a narrow image of what “diverse” looks like, they may be left out in the name of inclusion.

I’ve witnessed this firsthand. At a campaign brainstorm, an Afro-Latina colleague shared a powerful concept rooted in bicultural identity. Instead of support, she faced questions: Was she “Latina enough” if she didn’t speak Spanish fluently? Would her Black identity confuse the message? The irony was striking—her nuanced experience was dismissed in a room championing cultural nuance.

These aren’t isolated incidents. I’ve seen Asian American creatives told their communities aren’t “underrepresented enough.” I’ve met white allies hesitant to contribute, fearing their presence will be seen as intrusive. These dynamics distort the intent of DEI, shifting from inclusion to performance.

Marketing plays a role in this distortion. It often simplifies identities into digestible personas—“the Black mom,” “the Asian overachiever”—and filters DEI through the same reductive lens. When identity is reduced to a checklist, real people get left out.

True inclusion must embrace complexity. A white man raised in a bilingual household may carry deep cultural fluency. A queer Latinx marketer who isn’t fluent in Spanish still holds valid lived experience. DEI should reflect this range—not narrow it.

To course-correct, businesses must broaden their definition of diversity, reject identity policing, and invest in structural inclusion. DEI should not replicate exclusion in reverse.

The goal isn’t to trade seats at the table—it’s to build a bigger one. If inclusion begins to exclude, we’ve missed the point.

Let’s move beyond the optics and make room for everyone’s full humanity.