A new survey conducted by HR Brew and Harris Poll found that US workers are split on their opinions around religion, DEI, and sharing their faith at work.
Survey respondents are also divided on whether religion belongs in diversity, equity, and inclusion training initiatives in the workplace.
Survey Data
The HR Brew/Harris Poll survey asked more than 2,000 US adults questions related to DEI and workplace spirituality and religion.
67% of respondents said they wanted to have a formal DEI program, while only 49% reported that their company actually had one.
What is DEI?
DEI stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI initiatives have become popular in American workplaces in recent years as advocates hope the training can help workers navigate diversity between each other on things like structural inequality, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and race.
Critics of DEI accuse these initiatives of being divisive for the way they teach that certain groups are more responsible for historical and societal harm than other groups.
What Does DEI Focus On?
In the survey data, respondents reported that DEI programs at their workplaces mostly focused on race and ethnicity. When asked which topics DEI programs specifically target, 64% of respondents said race/ethnicity.
The next closest answers were sexual orientation/gender identity at 57%, gender at 55%, and disability at 53%. Only 43% of respondents said that they had programming targeted at religion and faith.
People Split on Religion in DEI
The survey found that its respondents were split when asked if religion should be included in DEI programs.
54% said religion should be integrated into these programs while 41% said that it shouldn’t. This disapproval was significantly higher than the other categories like disability, race, and gender.
Sharing Faith in the Workplace
Despite many US workers surveyed saying that they don’t think religion should be part of DEI, a large majority think employees should be sharing these beliefs with others.
65% of respondents said they believe employees should be able to share their personal religious or spiritual beliefs while at work and 72% said they feel comfortable doing so.
Religion Causes Tension
This study is interesting because it highlights some of the contrasting beliefs people have about sharing religion. Despite most people thinking faith should be shared at work, 41% also thought that conflicts from religion cause tension in the workplace.
These workers think there is a gap in acceptance and understanding that causes conflict between religious believers.
Protecting Religion in the Workplace
Religious belief has long been a protected class in the United States. For example, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 specifically carved out considerations for religious beliefs, and made it against the law to discriminate based on any such beliefs.
Employers are forbidden to make decisions with an employee’s religion in mind for hiring, firing, work assignment, training, and payment.
Religion is Sometimes Ignored
Despite a push among DEI advocates for the adoption of programs and initiatives into many facets of society, much of the time religion is left out of the conversation.
The World Economic Forum reported in 2020 that companies overwhelmingly leave religion out of training programs.
Importance of Religion
Despite many believers holding their religion central to their core identity, it often goes unaddressed as a topic in the workplace.
“The US has always had issues dealing with faith in any setting, whether we’re talking about education or workplaces,” said Stephanie Creary, assistant professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Anti-Religious Context
Some of the worker concerns around sharing religious views in the workplace may be attributed to a documented rise in some types of anti-religious sentiments and attacks.
ABC reported in November that there had been an “unprecedented spike” in bias incidents against followers of Islam and Judaism.
Negative Sentiment Against Churches
In February, Fox News reported that attacks against churches in the US doubled in 2023, suggesting a rising tide of negative feelings towards members of the Christian religion as well.
Trends among Americans have seen the country become less religious over time. According to PPRI in March, the importance of religion for Americans has dropped dramatically in all age groups in the past decade. The importance of religion has dropped the most among senior Americans, falling from 33% to 16%.
