I’ve pre­vi­ous­ly tried to explain what Diver­si­ty, Equi­ty, and Inclu­sion (“DEI”) pro­grams are. Click here for my pri­or arti­cle.

Aside from what they are, an impor­tant que­ston is whether diver­si­ty in the work­place (one of the goals of DEI pro­grams) is good or bad for com­pa­nies apply­ing DEI pro­gram. Peo­ple have actu­al­ly stud­ied that issue and have tried to quan­ti­fy eco­nom­ic results from DEI pro­grams. This arti­cle lays out rel­e­vant data.

Data suggests DEI programs are good for business

There is sub­stan­tial data indi­cat­ing that diverse work envi­ron­ments can lead to bet­ter out­comes for employ­ers. Let’s delve into some key stud­ies that explore this relationship:

1. Gender Diversity and Financial Performance

A com­pre­hen­sive study con­duct­ed in 2016 ana­lyzed over 21,000 com­pa­nies across 91 coun­tries. The find­ings revealed that firms with at least 30% women in lead­er­ship posi­tions were more prof­itable com­pared to those with few­er or no women in such roles. This sug­gests a pos­i­tive cor­re­la­tion between gen­der diver­si­ty in lead­er­ship and enhanced finan­cial performance.

2. Diversity and Innovation

Research pub­lished in the Jour­nal of Arti­fi­cial Soci­eties and Social Sim­u­la­tion in 2021 exam­ined the impact of diver­si­ty on col­lec­tive prob­lem-solv­ing. The study con­clud­ed that diverse teams, encom­pass­ing var­ied per­spec­tives and back­grounds, tend to out­per­form homo­ge­neous teams in gen­er­at­ing inno­v­a­tive solu­tions. This under­scores the val­ue of diver­si­ty in fos­ter­ing cre­ativ­i­ty and inno­va­tion with­in organizations.

3. Diversity and Ethical Governance

A 2009 study in the Jour­nal of Finan­cial Eco­nom­ics explored the influ­ence of female rep­re­sen­ta­tion on cor­po­rate boards. The research found that boards with high­er female par­tic­i­pa­tion exhib­it­ed bet­ter gov­er­nance prac­tices, includ­ing improved atten­dance and a greater propen­si­ty to hold CEOs account­able for poor finan­cial per­for­mance. This indi­cates that gen­der-diverse boards may enhance eth­i­cal over­sight and decision-making.

4. Diversity and Employee Performance

A study focus­ing on pri­vate uni­ver­si­ties in Ghana assessed the impact of work­place diver­si­ty on employ­ee per­for­mance. The find­ings sug­gest­ed that diver­si­ty con­tributes to improved per­for­mance by pro­mot­ing cre­ativ­i­ty, inno­va­tion, and bet­ter deci­sion-mak­ing process­es. This high­lights the role of a diverse work­force in enhanc­ing over­all orga­ni­za­tion­al effectiveness.

5. Diversity and National Productivity

On a broad­er scale, a 2013 study exam­ined the effect of birth­place diver­si­ty on a nation’s pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and income. The research con­clud­ed that coun­tries with high­er lev­els of diver­si­ty tend to expe­ri­ence greater eco­nom­ic pros­per­i­ty, sug­gest­ing that diver­si­ty can be a sig­nif­i­cant dri­ver of nation­al eco­nom­ic performance.

In sum­ma­ry, these stud­ies col­lec­tive­ly indi­cate that fos­ter­ing diver­si­ty with­in orga­ni­za­tions can lead to improved finan­cial per­for­mance, enhanced inno­va­tion, bet­ter gov­er­nance, and increased employ­ee pro­duc­tiv­i­ty. How­ev­er, it’s essen­tial to imple­ment diver­si­ty ini­tia­tives thought­ful­ly to max­i­mize these poten­tial benefits.

The actual studies, for further reading

For those of us who want a deep­er dive, here is more detail on these studies:

1. Gen­der Diver­si­ty and Finan­cial Performance

• Authors: Mar­cus Noland, Tyler Moran, and Bar­bara Kotschwar

• Title: “Is Gen­der Diver­si­ty Prof­itable? Evi­dence from a Glob­al Survey”

• Pub­li­ca­tion: Peter­son Insti­tute for Inter­na­tion­al Eco­nom­ics Work­ing Paper

• Date: Feb­ru­ary 2016

2. Diver­si­ty and Innovation

• Authors: Hong­wei Zheng, Wei­hua Li, and Dashun Wang

• Title: “Exper­tise Diver­si­ty of Teams Pre­dicts Orig­i­nal­i­ty and Long-Term Impact in Sci­ence and Technology”

• Pub­li­ca­tion: arX­iv preprint

• Date: Octo­ber 2022

3. Diver­si­ty and Eth­i­cal Governance

• Authors: Renée B. Adams and Daniel Ferreira

• Title: “Women in the Board­room and Their Impact on Gov­er­nance and Performance”

• Pub­li­ca­tion: Jour­nal of Finan­cial Economics

• Date: Octo­ber 2009

4. Diver­si­ty and Employ­ee Performance

• Authors: Sha­keel Ahmad and Fazal Ur Rahman

• Title: “Effect of Work­place Diver­si­ty on Employ­ees’ Per­for­mance in Alla­ma Iqbal Open University”

• Pub­li­ca­tion: Pak­istan Jour­nal of Dis­tance and Online Learning

• Date: 2019

5. Diver­si­ty and Nation­al Productivity

• Authors: Alber­to Alesina, Johann Harnoss, and Hil­lel Rapoport

• Title: “Birth­place Diver­si­ty and Eco­nom­ic Prosperity”

• Pub­li­ca­tion: Jour­nal of Eco­nom­ic Growth

• Date: June 2016

These stud­ies pro­vide a com­pre­hen­sive overview of the pos­i­tive impacts that var­i­ous forms of diver­si­ty can have on orga­ni­za­tion­al and eco­nom­ic outcomes.

Contrary to what some people think, DEI frequently benefits white people

DEI pro­grams can and often do ben­e­fit white peo­ple, includ­ing those from rur­al back­grounds, low­er-income com­mu­ni­ties, and oth­er his­tor­i­cal­ly over­looked demo­graph­ics. While DEI efforts are often framed in terms of race, gen­der, and his­tor­i­cal­ly mar­gin­al­ized groups, they also focus on broad­en­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties and cre­at­ing more inclu­sive work­places, which can have ben­e­fits for many white indi­vid­u­als as well. Below are some key ways in which DEI pro­grams can ben­e­fit white peo­ple, includ­ing those from rur­al areas.

1. Expanding Opportunities for Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Whites

• Many DEI pro­grams rec­og­nize that diver­si­ty includes socioe­co­nom­ic back­ground, not just race or gender.
• Rur­al white Amer­i­cans often face struc­tur­al bar­ri­ers to edu­ca­tion, net­work­ing, and eco­nom­ic mobil­i­ty sim­i­lar to those faced by his­tor­i­cal­ly mar­gin­al­ized groups.
• Exam­ple: Pro­grams that focus on first-gen­er­a­tion col­lege grad­u­ates or peo­ple from eco­nom­i­cal­ly depressed regions (e.g., Appalachia) open doors for rur­al white indi­vid­u­als who might not oth­er­wise have access to cor­po­rate or aca­d­e­m­ic opportunities.

2. Disability and Neurodiversity Inclusion

• DEI pro­grams often include ini­tia­tives to sup­port indi­vid­u­als with dis­abil­i­ties, includ­ing phys­i­cal dis­abil­i­ties, learn­ing dis­abil­i­ties (like dyslex­ia), or neu­ro­di­ver­gence (such as ADHD or autism).
• Since dis­abil­i­ties and neu­ro­di­ver­gence are not exclu­sive to any race, white individuals—including those from rur­al areas—benefit from work­place accom­mo­da­tions, acces­si­ble hir­ing prac­tices, and flex­i­ble work environments.
• Exam­ple: A com­pa­ny offer­ing remote work options or accom­mo­da­tions for neu­ro­di­ver­gent employ­ees ben­e­fits white work­ers with these needs just as much as oth­er demo­graph­ic groups.

3. Veterans and Military Families

• Many DEI pro­grams include vet­er­ans and mil­i­tary spous­es, rec­og­niz­ing that this group faces employ­ment bar­ri­ers due to fre­quent relo­ca­tions and tran­si­tion challenges.
• A large per­cent­age of U.S. mil­i­tary vet­er­ans are white, and many come from rur­al backgrounds.
• Exam­ple: A com­pa­ny pri­or­i­tiz­ing vet­er­an hir­ing may pro­vide train­ing, men­tor­ship, and lead­er­ship path­ways that ben­e­fit rur­al white veterans.

4. Addressing Geographic and Educational Barriers

• Many DEI ini­tia­tives focus on diver­si­fy­ing hir­ing beyond elite urban insti­tu­tions, rec­og­niz­ing that tal­ent exists out­side major met­ro­pol­i­tan areas.
• Some com­pa­nies have start­ed recruit­ment pro­grams tar­get­ing state schools, com­mu­ni­ty col­leges, or tech­ni­cal schools, which serve many rur­al and low­er-income students.
• Exam­ple: A com­pa­ny that broad­ens its recruit­ment beyond Ivy League uni­ver­si­ties to include region­al pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties or trade schools helps white stu­dents from these back­grounds gain access to high-pay­ing jobs.

5. Worker-Friendly Policies

• DEI pro­grams often advo­cate for poli­cies like paid parental leave, flex­i­ble work sched­ules, and liv­ing wages—benefits that sup­port all employ­ees, includ­ing white workers.
• Many rur­al areas suf­fer from job insta­bil­i­ty, low wages, and lack of employ­er-spon­sored ben­e­fits, mak­ing these poli­cies par­tic­u­lar­ly beneficial.
• Exam­ple: A pol­i­cy that pro­motes paid fam­i­ly leave ben­e­fits a white father in rur­al West Vir­ginia just as much as a Black moth­er in an urban area.

6. Protection Against Age Discrimination

• Some DEI pro­grams focus on inclu­sion across age groups, advo­cat­ing against age-based dis­crim­i­na­tion in hir­ing and promotions.
• This is par­tic­u­lar­ly rel­e­vant for white work­ers in indus­tries like man­u­fac­tur­ing or coal min­ing, where automa­tion and eco­nom­ic shifts have dis­placed old­er workers.
• Exam­ple: A retrain­ing or upskilling pro­gram designed for old­er employ­ees ensures job sta­bil­i­ty for white work­ers affect­ed by job displacement.

7. Inclusion of Political and Religious Diversity

• DEI efforts have begun to rec­og­nize that ide­o­log­i­cal and reli­gious diver­si­ty are also important.
• White indi­vid­u­als from con­ser­v­a­tive or reli­gious back­grounds some­times feel exclud­ed in cor­po­rate set­tings where urban, pro­gres­sive view­points dominate.
• Exam­ple: A work­place that pri­or­i­tizes view­point diver­si­ty ensures that con­ser­v­a­tive rur­al voic­es are respect­ed just as much as oth­er perspectives.

Why These Benefits Often Go Overlooked

• The way DEI pro­grams are often mar­ket­ed or dis­cussed tends to focus on race and gen­der, lead­ing some to believe that they are exclu­sive­ly designed for racial minori­ties or women.
• How­ev­er, many com­pa­nies now explic­it­ly include socioe­co­nom­ic sta­tus, dis­abil­i­ty, geo­graph­ic diver­si­ty, mil­i­tary ser­vice, and age as part of their DEI frameworks.
• Rur­al white work­ers who rec­og­nize these broad­er def­i­n­i­tions can active­ly engage in and ben­e­fit from DEI programs.

Conclusion

DEI ini­tia­tives are not zero-sum pro­grams where ben­e­fits for one group come at the expense of anoth­er. When designed thought­ful­ly, they expand access to oppor­tu­ni­ties for all his­tor­i­cal­ly under­rep­re­sent­ed groups—including rur­al white Amer­i­cans, white work­ers with dis­abil­i­ties, vet­er­ans, and low­er-income indi­vid­u­als. The key is ensur­ing that DEI efforts are imple­ment­ed in a way that is inclu­sive of class, geog­ra­phy, and eco­nom­ic back­ground, rather than nar­row­ly focus­ing on race and gen­der alone.