I agree with all the above until this point: > The company may have evaluated that the downside of NOT having women / minorities in positions is too high. I d

I agree with all the above until this point: > The company may have evaluated that the downside of NOT having women / minorities in positions is too high. I don't think that's the exact calculus that gets made. I think it's more of a social process, where one person decides to suggest it, and anyone who has misgivings keeps their mouth shut, while anyone who thinks it's a good idea says so with enthusiasm. There probably was a time when hard-nosed cost-benefit evaluations governed decisions like these, but I think that's not how it tends to work currently (although there's enough variation across companies that who knows).