DEI initiatives and firm performance

Adoption of diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has continued to rise, with the World Economic Forum (2025) reporting that 83% of surveyed employers had DEI initiatives in place, up from 67% in 2023, even as the political climate around DEI has become more contested. Policymakers and regulators have contributed to this growth. The Central Bank of Ireland's 2018 vision for diversity and inclusion, for example, states that the workforce should reflect Irish society. DEI practices are considered relevant to firm management, performance and corporate governance (Herring, 2009; Chen et al., 2021), but how much they matter, and in which direction, is debated. Much of the existing literature studies gender diversity in top management and firm performance, typically using simple metrics such as the percentage of women or the number of women on boards (Bennouri et al., 2018; Zhang, 2020). More recent work looks beyond the boardroom. It examines diversity among employees and middle management (Ferrary & Déo, 2023; Frijns, Garel & Liao, 2025), the market response to firms' DEI commitments (Li et al., 2025), and the setting of explicit diversity targets (Cai et al., 2024). DEI practices operate at all levels of an organisation, and McKinsey (2020) identifies five areas of action for firms: representation, leadership commitment, equality of opportunity, zero tolerance for discriminatory behaviour, and a sense of belonging. The empirical evidence on whether such initiatives affect performance, and under what conditions, remains mixed. This project investigates the relationship between DEI initiatives and firms' financial performance (such as profitability and market valuation) and non-financial performance (such as employee outcomes, governance quality and sustainability outcomes) over the last decade. The findings are intended to inform managers, employees, investors and policymakers about what the evidence does and does not show regarding the performance consequences of DEI initiatives.

An honours degree in Business, Finance, Economics or related disciplines.

Self Funded (Scholarship not available. Fees & Materials to be paid by the student. Materials costs not significant)

If you are interested in submitting an application for this project, please complete an Expression of Interest.