(NewsNation) — Despite growing criticism of businesses’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the programs are still widely supported at the executive level.
According to a survey from the employment law firm Littler, 57% of 322 surveyed U.S. executives said their organizations expanded their DEI programs in 2023, while 36% have maintained them.
However, 59% of executives, including chief legal officers, chief diversity officers, chief people officers and other C-level leaders, believe backlash towards these efforts has increased since the U.S. Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling stating race couldn’t be used as a factor in university admissions.
Though SCOTUS’s decision doesn’t regard employers, in its wake, companies grew anxious that any programs taking race into account would be vulnerable to litigation.
Since then, several so-called reverse discrimination lawsuits have been filed against law firms for their minority fellowship programs, the survey found.
Meanwhile, 6% of survey respondents said they’ve decreased their DEI efforts since 2022.
Half cited concerns about legal liability and litigation, including reverse discrimination as reasons for cutting back — 44% pointed to reduced DEI budgets and 28% cited the Supreme Court decision.
Additionally, some CEOs are rethinking how or if their companies should weigh in on sensitive political or social matters, with trans and other LGBTQ issues particularly in the spotlight, The Wall Street Journal reports.
It has become challenging for companies as aligning with social causes has made some companies targets for culture wars on social media.
For example, a Bud Light promotion with a transgender social-media influencer sparked a boycott of the beer, resulting in a drop in sales. It also rankled employees and supporters of the LGBTQ community, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Many executives have said they felt pushed by employees or customers to express an opinion on issues impacting society, including immigration, voting access, aborting, gay rights and racial equity.
