Apple and Google move to support affirmative action measures at US colleges

The brief argues corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts 'depend on university admissions programs that lead to graduates educated in racially and ethnically diverse environments'.

Google, Facebook-owner Meta, and Apple are among nearly 70 companies filing a brief with the US Supreme Court in support of affirmative action programmes being challenged at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.

The brief argues corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts “depend on university admissions programs that lead to graduates educated in racially and ethnically diverse environments”.

“Only in this way can America produce a pipeline of highly qualified future workers and business leaders prepared to meet the needs of the modern economy and workforce,” the brief said. 

The cases are the first on affirmative action to come before the justices since conservatives gained a 6-3 majority on the court.

A separate brief filed by tech companies is also expected. 

A business impertative

Roughly as many companies signed the amicus, or friend of the court, filing arguing affirmative action is a business imperative as in a 2003 case involving the University of Michigan Law School. Fewer joined similar efforts in two more recent cases involving the University of Texas at Austin.

This time, however, businesses risk inflaming a US conservative backlash against companies taking progressive stances. Diversity, equity, and inclusion advocates say it’s still important for the business community to make its voice heard.

“This is the perfect time for the corporate world to not just sit on the wayside,” said Lael Chappell, the director of insurance distribution at Coalition, which works on diversity, equity and inclusion issues.

'Anti-Asian penalty'

In the latest cases, Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina, the plaintiffs say affirmative action not only hurts white applicants, but amounts to an “anti-Asian penalty” too.

UNC responds that race is only one of “dozens of factors” that the school “may consider as it brings together a class that is diverse along numerous dimensions—including geography, military status, and socioeconomic background”.

“Empirical studies confirm that diverse groups make better decisions thanks to increased creativity, sharing of ideas, and accuracy,” the companies said in support of the universities.

“These benefits are not simply intangible; they translate into businesses’ bottom lines,” they said.

And the increasingly global nature of business makes diversity even more important today that it has been in the past, the companies argued.

Yet, the environment has changed considerably in the six years since the Supreme Court last ruled in an affirmative action case. 

Bloomberg