Knowing human nature (primitive primate brains operating in a modern world), I am not sure that financial incentives for inclusivity are the way to go about it. Sure, any business can be forced to meet certain inclusivity quotas and have a diverse staff, but, (and this is a big but), in doing this, are employers also being forced, in some cases, to NOT hire more qualified people? I am all for giving someone a chance in life, but there are certain situations where a meritocracy is better suited, for example, when lives are at stake. If I am a passenger on an airliner, it would ease my mind that this pilot has the intellectual and emotional capacity that exceeds the average person, that this person who is responsible for all of us, is most qualified. As an educator, I don't want to have different criteria for accepting students into a medical educational program. I want the most qualified, in part, because many schools in the US receive their funding based upon pass rate, which then becomes an ethical issue when educators have to "dumb down" the curriculum to achieve a certain pass rate, which, in turn, means the types of individuals being hired in the healthcare system are "less than", which, in turn, puts us all at risk.
The big ugly elephant in the room is that, for a long list of reasons, socio-economic, intellectual/mental health, etc. that some people, for no fault of their own, are at a disadvantage. That disadvantage often translates into less intellectual and emotional capacity to achieve the metrics needed to be effective in certain fields. Lowering standards for specific groups of individuals and meeting quotas, as well-intended as it is, then becomes discriminatory towards people who are most qualified. So, how is that solving any real-world issues? It's making it worse.
Knowing how the typical human reacts to others who are "different" in some way, we need to address the real issue, that being ignorance. The unknown triggers our primate brain (more specifically, the amygdala) to have fear, and fear can be manifested in many different ways from avoidance behaviors, to not creating social bonds, discriminatory behaviors, to all out aggression. Address that component, enhance understanding, minimize ignorance, minimize fear, and you will minimize discriminatory behaviors. If you want to change things with humans, you have to change culture, and not through some sort of well-meaning diversity, equity, and equality program that is forced upon them. Fix the problem, not the symptom.
