Companies that keep DEI programs do just as well financially as those that cut them

Abandoning DEI hasn’t proved to be a boon to the bottom line. S&P 500 firms that maintained their DEI programs performed just as well as firms that cut DEI in terms of stock market returns and revenue, according to a study by researchers Hanna Folsz at Stanford University and Jacob M. Grumbach at UC Berkeley. “Businesses and other civil society organizations may comply with executive pressure out of concern that defiance will trigger retaliation and incur financial costs,” the study says. “Our findings suggest that, at least for large corporations, these fears may be overstated.”