Why do banks have diversity programs?

Well I wouldn't say there's always a benefit to having a diverse workforce. Studies do show that it can lead to higher conflict rates within the office although the different perspectives are also shown to scientifically help. It's a tradeoff.

However, diversity is NOT simply the color of one's skin or gender. I know plenty of white people who are all different and diverse. Tldr you can't really obtain diversity by such programs and it ends up being reverse segregation imo.

Diversity of thought leads to analyzing problems from more perspectives. Over time this should lead to significantly more good decisions. Making more good decisions compounds on itself and leads to better business results.

EDIT: Apparently I triggered some idiots.

I asked my black friends a question similar to this a couple weeks ago after a lot of my black friends told me that they hate these programs. The text below is their pov to show you that not every URM is in favour of the program.

They believe it is disrespectful to be be hired on the basis of the colour of your skin instead of the other factors such as first gen, socioeconomic status etc. They think that In theory it promotes "diversity" but take a step back and think deeper as to how this program is set up :

Banks promote this as a program that WANT only Black, latino etc ( sounds like doing it for the sake instead of actually attempting to reach out to those communities and make a connection.)

Banks fill quotas to show that they are modern and up to date on the new demographics of society. Improving the PR after the 2008 financial crisis is nothing new and still continues ( banks changing their IG Profile pic to their logo with the gay flag colors in June)

Banks have benefited from this because of the diverse perspectives but due to the basis of hiring it has created a negative view on black, latino co workers who are hired from the program instead of what really matters which is intelligence, work ethic etc. Majority of MDs are white and the glass ceiling can be very intimidating.

TDLR ; The black people i interact with on a daily basis and have fun with have a perspective that is similar to most people on this website. These programs are good when used to help a truly disadvantaged student and continues to benefit the workplace but the structure of the program is not the best way to do it. One of my friends said " Malcolm X said that blacks shouldn't be treated as second class citizens however as we head into 2020 these programs have only encouraged that feeling of superiority of the white male and decreased the reputation of the black male to a point that they believe that the only shot of making it to wall street is on the notion of being black instead of being intelligent, driven, respectable, polished. I don't even feel equal to others nor can I fake that I am."

It might be rich blacks who are getting into these programs. But understanding how insulated cultures are from each other in this country, it definitely makes it worthwhile to have more blacks, even if not poor ones, in those positions.

The white Hispanics and immigrants who are rich in their home country, I don't understand why they're in these programs over poor whites/poor Americans.

mainly its used to fill out the companies brochure.

Diversity, (I hate to say it), resembles more a fad than what CEOs actually want. There aren't many CEOs who would explain anyway diversity if only hiring one race of people boosted the bottom line.

The diversity initiatives compound now, getting into undergrad, internships, jobs, grad school, post grad school jobs...

If you see a white male at Kirkland & Ellis or have a white male surgeon, that guy is probably a savant.

Shut it down, the goyim know!

Truth is companies do it for PR purposes, and PR purposes alone. It's the same reason why all their logos get rainbow color schemes in June. No real value add, a person is a person no matter their skin, but if it makes people hate banks less then they're all for it.

I have noticed that a lot of these "diversity summer programs" are BS internships where the interns don't do much real work at all. And then the company never hires them after because they blacks and Latinos make only a small portion of finance students. So chances are only 15% of them deserve to work there after considering the rest of the competition.

Always have a question for these programs. You obviously can't fake your ethinicity, but if you just self identify as LGBTQ even though you are not, the banks would never be able to find out.

The fact that you have to ask is why they exist.

Its for PR purposes, particularly for brainwashed clients who read the bullshit research supporting diversity and call up the bank pushing for more diversity. Many clients even have diversity requirements in their bank diligence.

The so-called "research" claiming diversity yields better results is bullshit. You should always be skeptical of research as it is usually agenda-driven. Some company will want more publicity for their diversity hiring and will call up like, BCG or someone, and say "hey do a study on diversity driving performance." BCG will happily do this for free as its a great way to cozy up to clients. BCG then picks the 20 clients with the most heavy diversity programs, and digs through metrics until they find a metric where their 20 clients beat the average. The 20 diversity clients are sure to beat the average on at least one metric out of so many possible metrics, so they'll find that metric and bam, we've got a study showing that diverse companies have more revenue, profit, growth or whatever.

You can make a study say anything, and results should only be respected if there is strong intuition supporting the causal relationship. If someone wants to provide strong intuition behind diversity improving company performance, I'm all ears.

But it needs to be strong . . I've heard all the weak answers already ("different perspectives lead to more innovative decisions!" . . give me a break . . banks aren't turning their meetings into creatively disruptive thought orgies because they brought some URM students into the analyst class for a few years).

I'm an Asian male who got accepted to a diversity freshman program once which more or less led to my sophomore internship. I didn't know the freshman thing was diversity at the time. The only people not allowed to be considered were non LGBT white men. I always felt shitty about it afterward, but I'm still grateful to have had that opportunity. It just felt like pandering though when I found out.

This country doesn’t work anymore because people don’t understand the way capitalism works anymore and constantly confuse “freedom” with moral decay and self erosion.