Why is diversity so important to banks?

Hi,

why do banks value diversity so much? Recent studies have shown that both share and general stakeholders, dont really care about diversity. They do care about negative infos like (we only hire white men) but they don't require 50% of an analyst class to be woman (e.g. GS).

So I was wondering what are possible other reasons?

4 Comments
 

Investor grifting. That’s it. As a public company you are at mercy to the public, and generally the loudest public cares about it and those with money see an opportunity to support it —> get support from the public —-> reap social capital etc.

I’m a proponent of the value proposition of diversity too - but I think it’s be disingenuous to think these big huge banks that will be successful anyway, think that increased diversity will make as much as a difference as they say. It’s to appease the public, which is fine.

 
Most Helpful

Correct. I think the core of the issue is trying to solve what “the best person for the job” entails, accounting for clear groups of people having been excluded from the pipelines, resources, support systems that best prepares them for the role.

So diversity programs are a bandaid that artificially picks underrepresented groups, with the idea that if they have indicators of strong potential - they’ll be trainable to be “the best person” since banking is a very trainable job.

I think most against diversity thinks banks are picking random 2.0 gpa diversity kids who clearly have no interest / no desire to take a finance career seriously. In reality, these spots often go to privileged (already rich or elite educated) “underrepresented” minorities so really it’s not as benevolent rags to riches act as they claim. Once again, it’s very complex and ultimately a bandaid for a much larger issue: not everyone has the same starting basis of a good K-12 education and basic financial needs (food/housing/safe neighborhood) covered. The haves typically tend to be white (not always) and the have nots tend to be of color (not always). The government has failed in providing everyone a fair shot to pull themselves up by their bootstraps - banks want to be at the forefront of looking like they care about fixing this, which is largely paradoxical — but that’s an entirely different rabbit hole.

 

Autem rerum libero eos hic voluptas. Ea libero sit iusto. Eligendi et sint unde qui quaerat neque.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”