They hire one person. Different from the rest of the room. Press release. LinkedIn post. “We’re committed to building a diverse team.”
One person. In a room of forty. With no structural change to how the room operates, who speaks, who gets promoted, or what “culture fit” means.
The diversity hire isn’t diversity. It’s a token dressed as progress. And the person they hired knows it. They knew it before they accepted the offer. They took the job because the job was real even if the commitment wasn’t.
Six months later, the diversity hire leaves. “Wasn’t a culture fit.” The culture that was supposed to change to include them instead measured them against itself and found them lacking.