Wall Street Journal creates diversity and inclusion ranking, research shows diverse companies perform better
The WSJ crunched the numbers, and it turns out diversity does have a positive impact on company performance: The Wall Street Journal created a diversity and inclusion ranking for S&P 500 companies that uses 10 metrics, including the age and ethnic diversity of the company’s employees, how many women occupy leadership roles, and board composition. The ranking, developed by the journal’s environment, social, and governance research analysts, found that the top 20 most diverse companies outperform the least diverse firms when it comes to share price and operating results. The Financial Times had previously probed the correlation between diversity and performance, but in less quantitative terms.
Who’s the best at diversity? The system grants each company a score from 0-100, with 100 being the most diverse and inclusive. Progressive Corp. sits at the top of the ranking, with a score of 85, followed by JPMorgan Chase with a score of 80. The financial sector as a whole was found to be the most diverse, with an average score of 50.4, followed by communications services firms. Interestingly, the ranking found that large companies were more likely to be inclusive and diverse, either because small companies have less money to dedicate to diversity research or because large companies are more likely to face scrutiny for not being inclusive enough.