The issue of diversity, equity and inclusion programs is among the most closely divided and polarizing questions in the United States at this time, with wide emerging gaps along partisan and racial lines, according to the latest NBC National News Survey.
President Donald Trump has caused the dismantling of the Dei programs to focus early on his administration, and voters are divided over the future of programs in the workplace, with deep differences depending on his political party.
Half of the registered voters (49%) in the NBC news survey, say that the programs should be eliminated “because they create divisions and inefficiencies in the workplace by putting too much emphasis on race and other social factors about merit, skills and experience.”
And 48% say that the Dei programs in the workplace should continue “because different perspectives reflect our country, create innovative ideas and solutions, encourage unity and make our workplaces fair and inclusive.”
When asked to share if they have positive or negative feelings on the DEI programs, a slightly higher proportion of voters (43%) says they have negative feelings, while 39% have positive opinions and 14% are neutral. (The survey error margin is more or less 3.1 percentage points).
Divisions about DEI are part of a broader cultural division. In another question in the survey, asking them to choose between two different statements, 51% of voters say that “there is too much political correction in our society today, and too much pressure on people to limit what they can do or say to avoid offending other people.” Meanwhile, 45% say that “there is too much prejudice in our society today and people must be more respectful in what they do and say to avoid offending other people.”
Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office to end Dei programs in federal agencies, which led some private companies to reverse programs focused on increasing diversity in the workplace. The Department of Education has launched research from more than 50 schools and universities as part of a broader impulse against the DEI programs. The Federal Communications Commission also moved to open an investigation into Dei in Comcast practices. (Comcast has NBCuniversal, the NBC News parent company).
“When we see these conversations heated at the partisan level about Dei, it really is reduced to: How are American society looking today?
Below the surface of the general division in the electorate there are wide gaps depending on the affiliation and race of the voters party. 80% of Republicans believe there is too much political correction, while 77% of Democrats say there is too much prejudice. The independents are divided, with 46% saying that there is too much political correction and 43% saying that there is too much prejudice.
An overwhelming part of the Republicans (85%) believes that the Dei programs should be eliminated, while the same participation of the Democrats believes they should continue. More independent on the side of the Democrats in that question, and 59% say that the programs ofi should continue and 39% saying that they should be eliminated.
And although younger people were more likely to support Dei programs than older respondents, the problem highlights another example of a wide gender gap among younger voters about politics in Trump’s era.
Among women between 18 and 49, 67% say that the programs ofi should continue, while 31% want to eliminate them. But among men between 18 and 49, 40% want to continue the DEI programs, while 57% say they should be eliminated. More older women support programs that older men, but the gap between them is not so great.
“The survey also indicates that there is more political intensity and prominence for Republicans around these issues than for the Democrats,” said Cardona-Arroyo, pointing out the overwhelmingly negative opinions of the Dei programs of the voters who make up the Trump base, including white men without university education, republicans of self-described and conservative self-described magicians.
Republican interviewer Bill Mcinturff, of public opinion strategies, said that Trump’s actions on Dei and other issues, such as immigration, underline the almost unified support of the President of the Republicans, which has reinforced Trump’s first approval numbers.
“You can see how their efforts, even in Dei, are really echoing with their main political base,” Mcinturff said.
The survey also finds divisions along racial lines, with most white voters who say that the programs should end and that there is too much political correction in society. White women with university degrees were the exception among white voters, and 59% say there is too much prejudice and two thirds who say that the programs should continue.
An overwhelming part of black voters (80%) says that the programs ofi should persist, and 71% say that today there is too much prejudice in society. The proportion of Latin voters in the survey was too small to analyze the general opinions of the group on the subject.
The NBC News survey surveyed 1,000 registered voters from March 7 through a combination of telephone interviews and an online survey sent by text message. The margin of error is more or less 3.1 percentage points.
