The US research and consulting firm, Catalyst, provides an excellent summary of research showing the business benefits of diversity in this article. Catalyst, Quick Take: Why Diversity and Inclusion Matter (June 24, 2020).
A McKinsey & Co study encompassing 15 countries and more than 1,000 large companies found the most diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform less diverse peers on profitability. The 2019 analysis finds that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile—up from 21 percent in 2017 and 15 percent in 2014 (Exhibit 1). In the case of ethnic and cultural diversity, top-quartile companies outperformed those in the fourth one by 36 percent in profitability, slightly up from 33 percent in 2017 and 35 percent in 2014.
Being around people who are different from us makes us more creative, more diligent and harder-working, according to research published by Katherine W Phillips in the Scientific American journal.
Sundiatu Dixon-Fyle, Kevin Dolan, Vivian Hunt, and Sara Prince, Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters (McKinsey & Company, May 19, 2020).
Steven Turban, Dan Wu, and Letian (LT) Zhang, “Research: When Gender Diversity Makes Firms More Productive,” Harvard Business Review, February 11, 2019.