New research shows that Americans are deeply divided into diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, with significant differences appearing depending on the political affiliation of voters.Publishedon tuesday.
In an NBC News Survey conducted by HART Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies, 49% of registered voters say they should end their DEI efforts in the workplace.
According to a poll, the US 48% share is roughly comparable to 48%.
One percent of respondents disagreed with either statement. 1% wasn't sure.
Over half of respondents, 51%, said “There is too much political correctness in our society today, and there is too much pressure on people to limit what they can and say to avoid angering others.” Another 45% of Americans say that there is “too much” bias in society right now, and that people “need to respect more of what they're doing in order to avoid angering others.”
Since taking office on January 20th, President Trump has moved to eliminate the federal government's DEI program. The Trump administration has directed that all federal workers working in the DEI office will take paid leave and that DEI-related websites and social media pages will be removed.
Many large companies have taken steps to end their own DEI initiatives, both before and after their inauguration.
Those who support the DEI program are widely divided based on their party affiliation, polls found.
The majority of GOP voters, 85%, said they need to end their DEI efforts. Throughout the aisle, the same share of Democrat supporters argued that these programs should stay alive. The majority of independents supported the preservation of the DEI initiative at 59%, with 39% saying it should be cut.
A similar division was seen when asked if there was too much political correctness in today's society or too much bias. 80% of Republican voters say society has too much political correctness. The Democrats' share roughly the same, 77%, claimed they were too biased.
Independents were split more evenly on the questions than on the DEI initiative. Polls show that nearly half of independents, 46%, said they were too politically correct, while 43% said they were too biased.
The survey was conducted between March 7th and 11th among 1,000 registered US voters. The margin for error was 3.1% points.
