U.S. Business Leaders Say Cutting DEI Programs Is Risky

The vast majority of top executives across corporate America believe that companies should maintain—or even expand—initiatives to promote DEI, despite the government’s executive orders designed to compel them to do the opposite, a new survey shows.

The national survey—conducted by Catalyst, a consultancy focused on creating inclusive workspaces, in conjunction with the NYU School of Law’s Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging—found that 83% of C-suite leaders and 88% of legal leaders said that they believe maintaining or expanding DEI is essential to mitigating legal risk.

Some 77% of the executives surveyed said that they believe DEI initiatives are positively correlated with improved financial performance, and 81% said that a focus on DEI was likely to bolster customer loyalty.

“Inclusion has never been a liability — it’s a competitive advantage and a business imperative,” said Jennifer McCollum, president and CEO of Catalyst. “The data proves that organizations committed to the principles of opportunity and fairness behind DEI will be the ones that outperform their peers, retain talent, and build lasting trust.”

The latest research—based on surveys conducted in January and February—was based on 2,500 employees, executives, and legal leaders across U.S. companies with active workplace inclusion programs. According to Catalyst, it represents the largest and most comprehensive workplace inclusion survey since the Trump administration in January issued executive orders designed to dismantle corporate DEI initiatives.

The survey also found that support for DEI efforts extend beyond the C-suite. More than eight in 10 employees questioned said that they support practices like inclusive hiring, employee resource groups, and bias training (88%). And almost all employees questioned agreed with the statement that “all workers should feel respected and welcomed at work, regardless of background or identity.”

“Opting out of DEI is not a neutral act — it’s a choice with consequences,” Christina Joseph, project director of the Advancing DEI Initiative at the Meltzer Center, commented. “That’s because these programs help root out harmful policies that especially affect marginalized groups. This report reminds us that without those safeguards, organizations face more, not less, legal exposure.”

In January, almost immediately after taking office, President Donald Trump issued a slew of executive orders targeting DEI programs both in the public and private sector. In response, many companies across the U.S. and beyond, announced that they were rolling back such initiatives or pausing programs.

Meanwhile, references to diversity, equity and inclusion in Fortune 100 company reports dropped 72% between 2024 and 2025, according to an analysis by Gravity Research.

This latest research, however, indicates that there could be some reversal of the initial reactions to the executive orders.

“Successful leaders understand that even in times of pressure and polarization, it is important to resist knee-jerk reactions and quick fixes and instead lean on decades of research-based solutions and practices that drive results,” added McCollum. “Organizations that stay true to their values will emerge stronger as we evolve through these uncertain times.”

Research from both an array of academic institutions and the private sector over the last decade has provided evidence of a positive correlation between diversity in an organization’s workforce and that organization’s financial performance. A 2020 McKinsey & Company report, for example, found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than those in the fourth quartile.