The Strategy Skills Podcast: Management Consulting | Strategy, Operations & Implementation | Critical Thinking

In this episode, finance professor and author, Alex Edmans, offers a rigorous examination of the narratives surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in corporate strategy. Drawing on his critique of widely cited studies, including those from McKinsey and BlackRock, Edmans illustrates how flawed data interpretations and confirmation bias contribute to the persistence of questionable claims. He warns against relying on correlation-based research that lacks causal rigor, especially when such findings are used to justify high-stakes decisions in boardrooms and policy circles.   Edmans identifies three recurring issues in the current DEI discourse: cherry-picked performance metrics that ignore long-term shareholder value; reverse causality, where strong performance leads to more diversity, not the other way around; and omitted variable bias, such as industry effects that confound diversity claims. He also critiques the narrow definition of diversity, which often reduces individuals to surface-level demog