A McKinsey report from 2015 found that among 366 companies, those with gender diversity outperform those without it by 15 percent; those with ethnic diversity o

A McKinsey report from 2015 found that among 366 companies, those with gender diversity outperform those without it by 15 percent; those with ethnic diversity outperform those without it by 35 percent. The problem with analyses like this is that they're observational studies rather than interventional studies. Knowing that successful companies are more likely to have gender and ethnic diversity does not necessarily indicate that increasing gender and ethnic diversity will make companies more successful. There are many things which we consider to be inherently Good Things but are completely disregarded by most of the world's population, simply because they can't afford to be concerned about such things; in a sense, being concerned with diversity is a sign of privilege, and in some cases is a even used as a economic signalling mechanism. If your company is only barely staying afloat, you're far less likely to spend time and money promoting diversity. Differences in priorities extend all the way down the socioeconomic ladder. In many of the world's slums, an asbestos roof is a sign of success and something which people work hard towards obtaining. Don't they know that asbestos can kill them? Of course they do -- but having an asbestos roof makes their home quieter when it rains, cooler when it's sunny, and they'd have to be extremely lucky to live long enough to get lung cancer from it anyway. In the Western world of course the notion of people willingly exposing themselves to asbestos is horrifying; but it makes sense in their context. I hope we can all strive to remember that people may have different priorities based on their backgrounds, and especially their socioeconomic backgrounds. Coming from my privileged position, I think diversity is great; but if a small business in rural Wyoming ends up hiring 100% white heterosexual males because those are the people the business owner knows and he can't afford to spend time looking beyond his circle of acquaintances... well, it's unfortunate, but it doesn't make him racist, sexist, or homophobic.