Companies that kept policies did just as well financially, even after Trump’s executive order, as those that didn’t
Conservative backlash was supposed to put an end to the diversity, inclusion and equity (DEI) movement as companies were warned “go woke, go broke”.
In January 2025, Donald Trump delivered a death knell, ending DEI within the federal government with executive orders and threatening to target companies that still supported it. Companies including Google, Goldman Sachs, McDonald’s and Walmart that had embraced DEI years earlier fell into line and announced an end to their policies.
But new research published on Friday and shared exclusively with the Guardian found that companies that resisted the pressure and kept their DEI practices, including Costco, Apple and Delta Air Lines, performed just as well as their competitors who pulled back.
This was a big argument for diversity requirements in universities in the first place (aside from trying to undo historical wrongs) : in brain work especially, having a diverse group of very different cultural experiences can provide valuable insights and ways of thinking and approaching problems that a more mono cultural institution might miss. In my experience this is true. There really is value in ensuring your human brain inputs aren't all the same leading to the same brain work outputs.