According to the Environmental Protection Agency, most major and reputable scientific organizations in the United States agree that global warming is occurring and that humans are indeed responsible. In fact, 2015 broke the record for the warmest year according to NASA.

Yet, even with the facts, some people and politicians still argue that global warming is not occurring...that there is no problem. Senator James Inhofe infamously tossed a snowball in the Senate Chamber to deny climate change.

In my eyes, the way some companies view and treat diversity in the workplace is the same as how some people view global warming.

The social imperative aside, greater diversity (gender, race, sexual orientation etc.) positively influence a company's bottom line. According to a study by McKinsey and Company, gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to outperform their less diverse peers. For ethnically diverse companies, that figure is 35%.

Why?

While this isn't exhaustive, diverse companies can better capture the increasingly diverse consumer marketplace and diverse teams encourage innovative thinking and creative problem-solving.

With all the facts proving diversity yields better results, why is there still a debate over creating more diverse workforces? Why are companies not pursuing more aggressive strategies to change the composition of their workplace?

Facebook, arguably considered one of the leaders in innovative work practices, has 77% of men in senior leadership compared to 23% women. In tech, men hold 84% of the roles at Facebook. Ethnicity-wise, blacks only hold 2% and Hispanics only hold 4% of overall roles. At Google, blacks make up only 2% of their overall workforce and 1% of their technology roles. In short, other companies aren't fairing much better.

Even Asian Americans, who are largely seen as represented in the workplace, have trouble breaking the "bamboo ceiling." According to Tim Hwang, the CEO of Fiscal Note, "Despite making up half the technology industry, Asian Americans only made up 11% of startup senior executives (6% of CEOs), 10% of venture partners, and 8.3% of board members. Asian Americans are half as likely to rise to the top as their white male peers."

Based on many companies' advertising, it seems like they are committed to making their workplace more diverse; however, that is not necessarily the case.

Apple's board, which is majority white, recommended that shareholders reject a proposal that would require its board "to adopt an accelerated recruitment policy for increasing diversity among senior management." The board stated that they "believe that the proposal is unduly burdensome and not necessary because Apple has demonstrated to shareholders its commitment to inclusion and diversity."

While this is a systemic problem and there is no quick-fix to solve the lack of diversity, in order for change to start, companies' senior leadership must truly believe that greater diversity will positively impact their company.

Minorities need more than a statement or a small campaign telling them that the company is working to improve its diversity. Starting with its senior leaders, companies must pursue aggressive strategies to make sure that their leadership team and workforce better reflects the geographic makeup of the United States. Otherwise, senior leaders will just be tossing snowballs in the boardroom.

How could companies improve their diversity? Let me know in the comments.

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