The lack of low income/first gen programs prove that diversity is just for publicity
Why do companies claim they want diversity? They say it brings in different perspectives and different ways of thinking to the workplace. However, many of you have been brainwashed by these corporations to believe that's true. The real reason is for publicity and to please shareholders and clients. Companies want to be able to take a picture of the employees and show how different everyone looks. The goal of diversity shouldn't just be to bring in people with different physical appearances, but also people with different life experiences.
I went through recruiting last year and knew most of the kids recruiting for finance because I was active in all the finance clubs and other campus events. I didn't qualify for diversity but knew of students that fit into all the other diversity requirements. To my knowledge, non of these students were disadvantaged throughout their childhood. There were girls with parents at top law firms, Latino students that literally looked like your average white dude, and kids that went to private high schools. If you look at the median family income of all top Wall Street feeder schools, they are all well over $100,000. This means there is a pretty small population of students that are low-income. And this is where the issue with diversity is. The low income/first gen students that benefit the most from diversity programs get shafted. Very few banks include low income/first gen programs. Being low income/first gen helps in college admissions but doesn't matter much once you go into recruiting. Why is it that most of these middle/upper-middle class students get a benefit in recruiting over the low income student? They probably all went the same path of growing up in the suburbs, went to private school, and now are at a top college. The low income student worked 10 times harder to get into a top college and needed a scholarship to attend. They are the ones that bring the most diverse life experiences, but they are the ones shafted by the lack of programs for them. Companies don't care about hiring a diverse mix of backgrounds. They only care about diversity in physical appearance because that is instantly recognizable by shareholders, clients, and the public.
They don't want to get sued
So what
it's not perfectly fair but minorities rich or poor still can face discrimination/unconscious bias/less likely to relate to people who make hiring decisions. Education technically is/should be the great equalizer - just interview / work harder than your peers (diverse or not) and you'll be fine. go after your goals in real life instead of complaining online and feeling bad for yourself. they end up only hiring the best prepared/interviewees from those diversity pipelines anyway. if you're not a minority there's so many other things in life you'll never have to think/worry about/be disadvantaged with that these programs can help offset. if you're prepared/aggressive/an outlier - you'll make it, dont worry - keep going
Look at how Asians have turned into the "model minority." In the US, Indians and East Asians face discrimination in society and have the same struggles as other minorities. However, Asians are not considered for diversity programs or affirmative action because there are too many of them. Asians face the downsides of being minorities in the general population, but don't get the upsides when it comes to higher education or hiring.
Asians do not have "the same struggles as other minorities." Not even close.
I’ve been saying this
You’re not wrong but also what are you going to do about it? Life’s hard, it’s easier for some people and harder for others. I have the biggest problem with female diversity programs. It irks me the most to see rich white women (who are not oppressed at all, literally the most privileged members of society) who are clearly incompetent and just got there because they did girls who invest or went to a not shit college
“rich white women” still have to come to work and perform or they won’t have a career. these often male dominated careers are difficult to navigate especially when there’s few “like you” around to lean on. but you’re right if it’s really correcting any societal wrongs lol i hear you but that’s not even the point of these diversity programs. it’s (amongst other things) so the workplace cultivates different perspectives or limits people hiring others who only resemble themselves - which is always the easiest/more natural way to recruit. recruiting is such a tiny part of anyone’s job in the FO anyway y’all need to just chill on this topic in general - learn to complete without hating/comparing. it’s an important life skill. (replying for all these stupid diversity post not just you)
Was talking to an associate over a networking call about this actually. Him and I connected through our low income backgrounds but we both are ORMs. He told me that seniors are aware of this. He noticed how “fake” some diversity kids have acted throughout their recruitment cycle, especially some of the URMs. Sad truth is that finance revolves around professionalism, which is supported through equality and thus diversity. It attracts clients at the end of the day. However, like you said, its the guy growing up through poverty who will have the unique or “diverse” values and viewpoints on certain ideas than the blacks or hispanics who were born into wealth or education. However, I understand the generational racism aspect of URMs… but to that point, I don’t see why banks shouldn’t offer programs for FGLI kids too.
remember that you said this! if you ever rise up the ranks - you can also try to offer up a program/solution in the future, these issues take time to fix. everyone doesn't have the awareness/experience to even think about it in the first place. but you would be surprised. lots of wall st seniors actually prefer to hire non-silver spoon kids who are polished. having a non-traditional background/story actually goes a long way (diversity hire or not) this idea that there are any kind of "handouts" in this industry is just weird. you literally still have to perform/do the job well every-single-day.. and lots of FO jobs are "up or out" anyway. sucky ppl get pushed out and there's WAY more qualified talent than there is jobs - it is what it is
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