Marist Poll: Majority Favor U.S. Diversity, Less Enthusiastic About DEI

According to a Marist National Poll released on Tuesday, while an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that diversity makes the United States stronger, the support for mandatory diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training in the workplace is considerably less.

More than 80% of respondents said that diversity of race, ethnicity and religion makes the nation stronger, with 42% saying it makes the U.S. “much stronger,” and 40% that it makes the country “somewhat stronger.” Only 16% said that diversity makes the U.S. weaker.

Despite the significant appreciation for diversity, support for mandatory DEI training in workplaces is not as popular. Only 28% “strongly support” employees taking part in mandatory DEI training, while 38% “support” it.

Other results from the survey include:

• Among Democrats, 92% said diversity makes the country stronger, with 84% of independents and 69% of Republicans saying the same.
• Blacks were the most supportive of diversity, with 85% saying it made the country stronger, while 83% of Latinos and 80% of whites said the same.
• Only 39% of Republicans said that they back mandatory DEI training in workplaces, compared with 61% of independents and 90% of Democrats who support it.
• This year, 37% of adults said race relations in the U.S. have gotten worse, down from 42% in 2021.
• Republicans were more likely to say race relations have gotten worse, with 45% of GOP supporters saying that race relations have declined in the nation, compared with 30% of Democrats and 34% of independents who say the same.

The survey was carried out from January 29 to February 1 among 1,582 adults. It has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.