The issue of diversity, equity and inclusion programs is among the most tightly divided and polarizing questions in the United States at this time, with wide gaps emerging along partisan and racial lines, according to the latest national NBC News poll.
President Donald Trump has made dismantling DEI programs an early focus of his administration, and voters are split over the future of the programs in the workplace, with deep differences depending on their political party.
Half of registered voters (49%) in the NBC News poll say DEI programs should be eliminated “because they create divisions and inefficiencies in the workplace by putting too much emphasis on race and other social factors over merit, skills and experience.”
And 48% say DEI programs in the workplace should continue “because diverse perspectives reflect our country, create innovative ideas and solutions, encourage unity and make our workplaces fair and inclusive.”
Asked to share whether they have positive or negative feelings about DEI programs, a slightly higher share of voters (43%) say they have negative feelings, while 39% have positive views and 14% are neutral. (The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.)
The divides over DEI are part of a broader cultural split. In another question in the poll asking them to pick between two different statements, 51% of voters say there is “too much political correctness 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 there is “too much prejudice in our society today and people need to 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 at federal agencies, which prompted some private companies to also roll back programs focused on increasing diversity in the workplace. The Education Department has launched investigations of more than 50 colleges and universities as part of a broader push against DEI programs. The Federal Communications Commission also moved to open an inquiry into DEI practices at Comcast. (Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.)
“When we see these heated conversations at a partisan level about DEI, it really comes down to: How are they looking at American society today? Where do they see the problems? And that’s going to lead to very different solutions and very different approaches,” said Democratic pollster Aileen Cardona-Arroyo of Hart Research Associates, which conducted the poll with Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican polling firm.
Beneath the surface of the overall division in the electorate are wide gaps depending on voters’ party affiliation and race. Fully 80% of Republicans believe there is too much political correctness, while 77% of Democrats say there is too much prejudice. Independents are split, with 46% saying there is too much political correctness and 43% saying there is too much prejudice.
An overwhelming share of Republicans (85%) believe DEI programs should be eliminated, while the same share of Democrats believe they should continue. More independents side with Democrats on that question, with 59% saying DEI programs should continue and 39% saying they should be eliminated.
And while younger people were more likely to support DEI programs than older respondents, the issue highlights another example of a wide gender gap among younger voters on politics in the Trump era.
Among women ages 18 to 49, 67% say DEI programs should continue, while 31% want to eliminate them. But among men ages 18 to 49, 40% want to continue DEI programs, while 57% say they should be eliminated. More older women support DEI programs than older men, but the gap between them is not as large.
“The survey also points to there being more political intensity and salience for Republicans around these issues than there is for Democrats,” Cardona-Arroyo said, noting the overwhelmingly negative views of DEI programs from voters who make up Trump’s base, including white men without a college education, self-described MAGA Republicans and self-described conservatives.
Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies said that Trump’s actions on DEI and other issues such as immigration underscore the president’s near-unified support from Republicans, which has bolstered Trump’s early approval numbers.
“You can see how his efforts, including on DEI, are just really echoing with his core political base,” McInturff said.
The survey also finds divisions along racial lines, with a majority of white voters saying DEI programs should end and that there is too much political correctness in society. White women with college degrees were the exception among white voters, with 59% saying there is too much prejudice and two-thirds saying DEI programs should continue.
An overwhelming share of Black voters (80%) say DEI programs should persist, and 71% say there is too much prejudice in society today. The share of Latino voters in the survey was too small to analyze the group’s overall views on the issue.
The NBC News poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters from March 7-11 via a mix of telephone interviews and an online survey sent via text message. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
