Industry least affected by diversity?

Look, I'm very much happy to grind and work hard towards my career, but the thought of grinding so hard just to get passed up for a promotion etc... for diversity requirements leaves me disenchanted.

Therefore, what specific industry would you say is least affected my diversity? I was initially thinking HFs, as it seems the most meritocratic and performance based, therefore very difficult for diversity hires to hide since performance is laid bare for everyone to see. However you could also make the argument that investors want a certain quota on the investment teams, forcing firms to administered quotas regardless of performance.

I was then also thinking law. One of the reasons finance as a whole is so affected by diversity is because the talent pool of people interested naturally leans heavily towards white/Asian males. However when you look at law, its much more of an even gender split. However less so at the partner level so would only really be more meritocratic at the entry level.

I'm also thinking geographically. From what I've read the middle east seems to hold white westerners in a high regard. Therefore ironically, they may have better odds in the middle east than at home in the west.

Can anyone else chime in with any thoughts/anecdotes?

Also and to people responding with "Just work hard and it won't matter!!". Please be quiet, this industry is insanely competitive and fine margins are everything, you can easily be out of luck.

21 Comments
 

Yeah that's probably the best option. Although you could argue if it's a startup, some VCs may prefer to invest in businesses which meet their quotas. If it's a family business type business then yeah probably the most resistant

 

Hedge Funds i think. at the end of the day it's about bringing in alpha and profit. Correct me if i'm wrong tho

 

Agree, only negative is if certain LPs only invest in funds which meet certain quotas, regardless of performance, similar to ESG funds which people invest in even though they underperform

 

I work for a European company which has almost no "diversity candidates" - not because they don't want them or wouldn't hire them, but because they aren't available in the candidate pool. This isn't the case in our NYC offices, but in many of the other ones.
While this may not be the solution to your question; but what I am trying to say is that the office location plays a role in this scenario also.

A large metropolitan city will have more diversity than a smaller city in a certain state/region or country.

For industries I thought that conservative car OEMs used to be fairly non-diverse when I was there. That may have changed.

 

Either start your own company, work for a privately held firm (preferably in a connections based industry) or go to a different country if it is becoming problematic. The first stage of white flight is from major cities (America 1960's), then regions (Brazil/South America, US fast becoming), and finally internationally (ex: South Africa). Depending on how things progress, eventually your own company may be targeted too; it already is guaranteed to if it is a publicly traded one nowadays. In fact, Goldman Sachs won't IPO an all-white male board.  This is against civil rights laws, but these people mainly only care about limiting white people, not equality under the law. They only apply this to their US and Europe business, but not their APAC one, which tells you all you need to know. 

It's also interesting that a country hyped up on globalism and now open borders doesn't seem to reconcile that with the fact that limiting business opportunities in ways other places don't, will just drive away productive people, while continually filling it up with unproductive ones. Canada is sort of a modified version of this, where they don't actually have a good ecosystem for business compared to their Western peers (and it's getting worse over time), yet is going full steam ahead on immigration, more than America is. I actually think it will just implode one day, where as America still has many amazing things going for it and has way more space for people to spread out. It has the first and second amendment, and theoretically, civil rights laws, which may be useful in some manner. Can't say the same benefits are to be had in other countries. 

 
Most Helpful

actually be good at your job and stop trying to scapegoat other people for your own shortcomings. start there. and maybe delete this post. this is getting ridiculous 

 

"Just get good at your job and diversity won't affect you!!!".

It amazes me how people still have this viewpoint, given the lack of critical thinking and shortsightedness. What happens when you are good at your job but then a diverse colleague who is slightly worse gets the promotion?

 

you simply shouldn’t be in the industry. i truly hope no one hires you. go work somewhere that has a team with zero diversity with people your own race since its so important to you. there’s evidence that the opposite happens in reality. it’s a shame people even think the way you do. people want the benefits of living in THE most diverse country in the world. but god forbid a person of color achieves anything more than you. grow up 

 
Controversial

Classic liberal response responding out of emotion. I don't care what race or gender my colleagues are, just don't give people favourable selection to meet hiring quotas.

 

Lmao Middle East work world is more ethnically diverse than the west would ever dream to be

 

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