Open Letter About Diversity

Dear Voters, Hiring Committees, and Governments,

Did you know that diverse leadership is proven to do much better than hegemony, and yet an overwhelmingly large number of positions of power are held by one specific group of people? White men hold the vast majority of the social and political power, and white women come in second. Most (if not all) of the presidents, vice presidents, mayors, governors, and even CEOs have all been white men in the history of the United States (Zweigenhaft). We need to become a more diverse society when it comes to our leaders because this will make us a healthier and more successful community with many different views and choices.

According to Anna Powers from Forbes, when companies are diverse, they prove to show 19% more success (Powers). The more different types of people there are, the more experience there will be. This makes it easier for companies to tackle problems, and even look at them from different views. If you own a company, you should want to have many different perspectives so you can end up with the best result possible. If one group of people thinks that there is a really good idea, but another group of people doesn’t think it would be good for the rest of society, then they can help troubleshoot to make sure that everyone is happy. These situations could occur when considering raising prices, confronting a problem, adding to designs and projects, and so much more. This way you can ensure that you are meeting everybody’s needs.

Not only does being diverse improve companies, but doesn’t it seem a little unjust and unfair that one type of people holds all of the power? By making our leaders more diverse, we won’t be taking anything away from the people currently in power. In fact, if you think about it, this could actually help them. A good leader wants the communities they are in charge of and essentially responsible for to thrive, and the best way to do that is to make sure everyone knows they matter. Imagine a little girl looking at all of the US presidents, and seeing that none of them are female (“Presidents, vice presidents, and first ladies”). This could bring the message that you don’t matter. This could have a negative impact on people, and that is not what a good leader should want. This is only one example of times that those situations could occur. An ideal leader wants everybody to play their role, because every role is important. Right now, a lot of people who want these leading roles deserve them, yet they aren’t getting them. And for what reasons? Too much of the time it is simply because of their culture, their identity, and even the color of their skin. You may not realize it, but we all witness these injustices more often than we think.

Even though there has definitely been an improvement with diversity in positions of power, there is still much room for improvement. Even now only 1.6% of the CEOs in the Fortune 500 companies are Black, 7-10% are white women, 3-4 are Laninex, and 2-3% are Asian. As you can see, anyone who isn’t a white man is in the range of under 10% (Zweigenhaft). In terms of corporate governance in 2023, 56.92% are white men, 21.4% are white women, men of color (not only Black people, just anyone who isn’t white) are 14.78%, which leaves the remaining 7.19% for women of color. With regards to the board of diversity, white men are 53%, white women are 22.49%, men of color are 15.27%, and women of color are 8.32%, very similar to the corporate governance. Considering how much people of color and women contribute to these corporations, there are not enough of them in the higher positions.

In conclusion, there should be more diversity in positions of power because it makes our communities more successful and it is really important to have different views when trying to solve problems or come up with ideas. Knowing about this set of circumstances, you can actually make a difference! By voting or hiring more diverse groups of people, and not letting people’s backgrounds and identities affect your decisions, you can contribute to changing this unfair truth about nearly all of our leaders.

Yours respectfully,
Mariam Sabe