diversity hire

American  

[di-vur-si-tee hahy-er, dahy-] / dɪˈvɜr sɪ ti ˈhaɪ ər, daɪ- /

noun

plural

diversity hires

1. Disparaging. a person perceived as having been hired for a position due to their status as a member of an underrepresented minority group rather than their qualifications or aptitude: often used to refer to people of color.

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Example Sentences

Ms Gayle, who played student Fiona Wilson, said she was never labelled a "diversity hire", and that her character "just existed" naturally within the show.

From BBC • Dec. 27, 2024

Enter Kaling’s Molly Patel, a diversity hire describing herself as “a vibrant splash of color on the gray canvas of our writing staff.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2019

In the show’s original conception, Dre was the diversity hire on a network sitcom, which Barris based on “Listen Up.”

From The New Yorker • Apr. 25, 2016

Still, Barris had his own diversity hire, whose salary was drawn, in part, from a Disney corporate fund: Damilare Sonoiki, nicknamed Dam, a twenty-four-year-old African-American Harvard alumnus and former Lampoon editor.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 25, 2016