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Last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down race-based decisions in college admissions provoked speculation and concern that companies would backtrack from their DEI programs en masse.
But despite that ruling and mounting pressure from anti-DEI legal groups, as well as billionaires like Elon Musk and Bill Ackman, most executives report that their companies are standing strong on their corporate diversity programs, according to feedback from more than 330 C-suite executives surveyed by employment law firm Littler in November 2023 and published earlier this week.
Still, companies shouldn’t rush to pat themselves on the back just yet. The survey also uncovered some pain points for companies when it comes to DEI, including misalignment between different C-suite roles, particularly chief diversity officers, when it comes to their beliefs about their company’s commitment to corporate diversity programs.
At surface level, C-suite leaders on the whole say their company has stood strong on DEI programs over the past year. Around 57% of executives surveyed by Littler say their organizations have expanded their DEI—referred to as inclusion, equity, and diversity (IE&D) in the report—support and activity over the past year. Another 36% say their companies have maintained their DEI efforts, and only 1% reported significantly decreasing their DEI efforts.
However chief diversity officers have a far more pessimistic perspective on their company’s DEI commitments than executives in other roles. Only 41% of CDOs polled say their organizations had not changed their DEI approach in any way as a result of the court’s decision, compared to 69% of all executives. This misalignment was even more pronounced in specific actions taken to support DEI programs. For example, 61% of chief legal officers say their organization is increasing efforts around social justice initiatives, whereas only 11% of CDOs said the same.
“A lot of the difference in the views of individuals in the C-suite may come from where they sit,” says Jeanine Conley Daves, a member of the firm’s inclusion, equity, and diversity consulting practice. Given the increased scrutiny of corporate diversity programs, chief diversity officers are likely seeing and experiencing more than their peers.
“Chief legal officers, the chief executives, may not feel that there's any change in their commitment to IE&D, no change in the approach,” says Daves. “But the chief diversity officers are probably the ones feeling more of that pressure from these programs being looked into, particularly from the legal groups.”
Despite executives’ broad beliefs that organizations are maintaining or increasing their DEI commitments, 35% of executives do not feel that their organizations have clear plans and goals in place regarding DEI.
That level of confusion, according to Daves, demands clearer communication and guidance from CEOs. “[It’s important] that they be involved in those conversations, to ensure that everybody in the company is aligned,” she says.
Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion
