Congresswoman Beatty Chairs First Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee
Congresswoman Beatty Chairs First Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee
Hearing sets stage for Subcommittee's future work
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion, chaired by U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03), held its first hearing of the 116th Congress entitled, "An Overview of Diversity Trends in the Financial Services Industry." The hearing was an opportunity to explore trends in diversity in the financial services sector, as well as challenges that financial firms have identified in trying to increase workforce diversity and practices that firms have used to address such challenges.
Bringing the hearing to order, Beatty said, "It is no secret that the lack of diversity and inclusion in our society leads to persistent income inequality and growing wealth gap. Yet, despite increased diversity in the workplace and elsewhere in society, troubling disparities persist." Beatty continued, "Numerous studies have proven empirically that diversity increases productivity and the bottom-line, but the data on diversity and inclusion efforts in our nation's industries and government are not aligning. We need to find out why and we need to fix it now."
At the hearing, Subcommittee members heard expert testimony from Government Accountability Office (GAO) Director of Financial Markets and Community Investment Daniel Garcia-Diaz who discussed findings from the GAO report, "Representation of Minorities and Women in Management and Practices to Promote Diversity, 2007-2015." In his remarks, Garcia-Diaz highlighted that "minority representation among senior-level managers remained considerably lower than among first- and mid-level managers." Garcia-Diaz went on to note that "the proportion of men and women within various levels of management remain unchanged from 2007 through 2015…" with women representing "about 29 percent of senior-level managers."
According to academics, researchers, historians, authors, and economists, diversity is one of America's greatest assets. For example, research from Forbes concluded that a diverse set of experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds is crucial to innovation and the development of new ideas. Moreover, the international management consultancy, McKinsey & Company, recently released its "Diversity Matters" report, which demonstrated a statistically significant positive correlation between gender, racial and ethnic diversity and improved financial performance.
A full copy of the GAO report can be accessed on the Financial Services Committee's website, and an archived recording of the hearing will be made available on Beatty's official YouTube page.
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