In addition to benchmarking specific initiatives organizations are taking to support their DE&I goals, Littler’s survey of 322 US-based C-suite executives across company sizes and industries revealed that most companies are not changing their prioritization or fundamental approach to DE&I notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s recent college admissions affirmative action decisions and corresponding legal concerns and challenges and other external pressures.
Among the noteworthy takeaways:
Commitment & activity level—A majority (57%) of organizations represented by respondents have increased their DE&I commitment and level of activity at least slightly over the past year; 36% indicated their commitment and activity level were unchanged; and just 6% reported a decrease.
Decreases were attributed to concerns about legal liability and litigation (50%), followed by budget reductions (44%); lack of senior leadership support (28%); the aftermath of the US Supreme Court decision (28%); and DE&I policy implementation challenges (11%).
Supreme Court decision impact—Three-quarters of respondents reported the US Supreme Court decision having no impact on their DE&I approach; of those, however, 6% anticipate changes over the near term. Another 16% noted that although the decision had impacted their approach, the organization’s prioritization of DE&I remained unchanged. Just 9% noted a change in approach and reduced prioritization.
A majority of respondents believe that backlash toward corporate DE&I programs and/or initiatives has increased since the Supreme Court decisions in June 2023.
Current initiatives—A majority of organizations represented by respondents are currently providing training/professional development opportunities to diverse employees; elevating diverse employees into leadership positions; and providing DE&I or “implicit bias” training/educational resources to all employees to support their DE&I goals, while a meaningful percentage of companies are planning or considering these and various other initiatives if not already doing them.