WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans are more likely to associate diverse workforces with greater profitability and innovation than they have been in the past two years.
Seventy-one percent of Americans say it is somewhat or completely true that businesses with diverse workforces are more profitable, up from 61% in 2025, according to the latest Bentley University-Gallup Business in Society survey. Another 75% say businesses with diverse workforces make more innovative products, up from 64%.
Perceptions of the business benefits of workforce diversity grew more positive across all three partisan groups between 2025 and 2026, with Democrats, independents and Republicans all becoming more positive in 2026 despite continued wide differences in their overall views.
Among Democrats, 92% say businesses with diverse workforces are more profitable, up from 85% in 2025. The percentage rose 11 points among both independents (70%) and Republicans (41%).
In addition, nearly all Democrats (94%) say businesses with diverse workforces make more innovative products, compared with 75% of independents and 46% of Republicans. Those figures are up six, 12 and 11 points, respectively, from 2025.
Even after becoming more positive, Republicans remain more skeptical than other partisans. Over half say it is somewhat or completely untrue that businesses with diverse workforces are more profitable (59%) or make more innovative products (54%).
Majority in U.S. Considers DEI an Important Business Priority
Seventy-two percent of Americans say promoting diversity, equity and inclusion is a somewhat or extremely important priority for businesses, while 34% say businesses are doing a good or excellent job in this area.
This gap is not unique to DEI. Differences between perceived importance and performance appear across all of the business priorities measured in the Bentley-Gallup survey. For example, 90% of Americans say it is extremely or somewhat important for businesses to make the world a better place, while 26% say they are doing a good or excellent job of doing so.
As with perceptions of diversity’s impact on business performance, views differ sharply by party. Nearly all Democrats (95%) consider promoting DEI important, compared with 71% of independents and 37% of Republicans. But Democrats are the least likely to rate businesses positively on their performance: 24% say businesses are doing a good or excellent job promoting DEI, compared with 34% of independents and 49% of Republicans.
Bottom Line
Americans are increasingly likely to associate workforce diversity with profitability and innovation, with these perceptions becoming more positive among Democrats, independents and Republicans in 2026. But wide partisan differences remain, both in perceptions of the business benefits of diverse workforces and in views of DEI as a business priority.
For businesses, the findings suggest that perceptions of workforce diversity are becoming more positive across the political spectrum, even as diversity and DEI remain politically divisive. Understanding both the growing perception of business benefits and the persistent partisan differences is important as companies make decisions about their DEI priorities and how they communicate them.
Learn more about how the Bentley University-Gallup Business in Society research works.
Stay up to date with the latest insights by following @Gallup on X and on Instagram.
