Dive Brief:

• The share of U.S. workers and leaders who reported a positive personal impact from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives fell from 57% in 2024 to 50% in 2025, according to research from The Conference Board released Feb. 6.
• Nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents said “they would not, or would only reluctantly,” work for a company that didn’t take DEI seriously, down from 68% in 2024. Fewer than half said common DEI activities such as training, formal discussions or tracking metrics positively affected their daily work.
• Executives are more positive about the effects of DEI initiatives than employees, with 62% of executives saying those initiatives positively affect their work experience, compared to 50% of managers and 48% of employees.

Dive Insight:

The findings were based on two reports — a U.S.-centric one and a globally focused one — and indicated that despite the intense political scrutiny DEI initiatives are facing, many programs fall short of their intended goals. 

“The research suggests that organizations may be doing more diversity, equity, and inclusion work while employees feel less benefit,” Matthew Maloof, a researcher in human capital at The Conference Board, said in a statement. “This is not a communication problem that can be solved by explaining it louder. Employees want to see fairness in how pay is set, how opportunities are assigned, and how leaders behave when it matters.”

On average, 77% of U.S. respondents said it was important to work at a company with “a broad mix of people across dimensions such as race, gender, age, and thinking styles,” per the research. However, the share of U.S. respondents who said their organization’s DEI effort is “about right” dropped from 58% to 47% year over year, and the percentage of people who said their company is doing “too much” rose to 31%, up from 21% in 2024.

There was some disparity between executives and employees when it came to the perceived effectiveness of DEI initiatives, per the research. Seventy-one percent of U.S. executives said their organization dedicated more DEI resources in 2025 than in 2024, compared with 57% of managers and 41% of employees. Another 66% of executives reported that these DEI efforts, on average, had a positive effect on business outcomes, including improved collaboration, innovation, and engagement, versus 57% of managers and workers.

“When leaders measure progress by what they launch and employees measure it by what they experience, a credibility gap opens,” Allan Schweyer, principal researcher in human capital at The Conference Board, said in a statement. “The future of diversity, equity, and inclusion is not about doing more. It’s about doing what works — and proving it.”

The research concluded that employees who feel included and respected by their manager were more than twice as likely to say diversity and inclusion efforts improve factors like job satisfaction, collaboration and trust in leaders. Those employees were also three to four times more likely to say these initiatives positively shaped their work experience.

“Across regions and roles, one factor stands out in the data: manager behavior,” Diana Scott, U.S. Human Capital Center leader at The Conference Board, said in a statement. “This signals that leaders should prioritize equipping and holding managers accountable for inclusion.”