It’s been less than an ideal year for DEI: From household brands like John Deere, Harley Davidson and Ford announcing rollbacks to their DEI programs to Black student admissions dropping at several Ivy League schools following the Supreme Court ruling that effectively ended affirmative action, it can seem like DEI is on its way out.
Yet, a majority of employers don’t believe that DEI is dead. According to The Conference Board, a non-profit business research organization, only 9% of executives plan on scaling back external DEI communications, and just 3% plan to scale back internally. In other words, most employers are either keeping their programs intact, or even expanding them. However, 53% of executives have already changed their DEI terminology, shying from the acronym for broader concepts like “belonging.” And 20% of respondents are considering doing the same thing in the future.
