May 12, 2026, 12:01 a.m. ET
President Donald Trump has taken credit for the large-scale corporate retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. A new study suggests he may be right.
Catalyst and NYU School of Law’s Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging found that the administration’s efforts – not growing legal scrutiny – are driving the rollback so far.
Facing growing political and regulatory pressure, 51% of federal contractors pulled back on their DEI commitments over the last three years, according to the survey of 2,000 employees and managers.
The 2023 Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions put employers on notice that their DEI programs would likely be next in the bull’s eye. Yet, despite the rise in lawsuits challenging the legality of some diversity programs, 52% of organizations without federal contracts have increased their commitments.
“I expected a difference in results between federal contractors and organizations that are not federal contractors but I didn’t expect this much of a divergence,” said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at NYU Law.
Corporations have become more cautious since Trump swept into office on campaign promises to restore fairness in the workplace by bulldozing “woke” DEI policies he claims harm men and White Americans.
One of his first executive orders required federal contractors to certify that they do not operate “any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.”
Fearing investigations and the loss of government contracts, dozens of the nation’s largest companies, from McDonald’s to Facebook owner Meta, rolled back diversity programs.
Pressure to align with the president’s agenda has only increased in recent months. In March, Trump signed another executive order requiring federal agencies to prohibit discriminatory DEI practices. Under that directive, the DOJ has been tasked with expediting review of these cases.
The results of the recent study “suggest that the pullback is heavily driven by the actions of the current administration and their relentless crackdowns on federal contractors, meaning that the political environment is more of a driver than the legal environment,” Glasgow said.
The anti-DEI push has not fared as well in court. A federal court in February dismissed the Missouri attorney general’s case alleging that Starbucks’ diversity practices illegally discriminated. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals this week ruled against a White correctional officer who alleged DEI training from the Colorado Department of Corrections created a racially hostile work environment.
The Trump administration has been more effective, ensuring that “DEI-related activity will remain heavily suppressed for at least the next two and a half years,” Glasgow said.
Inclusion work is still happening behind the scenes, the survey found. More than half of employees say their employers signaled a retreat but little more than a third dialed back efforts.
DEI advocates say corporations are maintaining programs by adapting to the changing legal and political climate. They are opening up mentorship and coaching programs, job training activities and fellowships and internships to everyone rather than limiting them to specific groups, for example.
Half of employees and leaders surveyed want inclusion efforts that benefit all employees, while a third want to prioritize the needs of employees who are marginalized in the workplace.
Catalyst and the NYU School of Law’s Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging recommend “earned universalism” – a legal and effective approach that involves treating everyone equally while devising “identity-neutral” solutions to remove systemic barriers and biases.
