Americans are more pessimistic than optimistic about many aspects of the country’s future
63% of Americans are pessimistic about the country’s moral and ethical standards, and 59% are pessimistic about its education system.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
63% of Americans are pessimistic about the country’s moral and ethical standards, and 59% are pessimistic about its education system.
Workplace diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, or DEI, are increasingly becoming part of national political debates. For a majority of employed U.S. adults (56%), focusing on increasing DEI at work is a good thing. But relatively small shares of workers place a lot of importance on diversity at their workplace.
Half of U.S. adults say they disapprove of selective colleges and universities taking prospective students’ racial and ethnic backgrounds into account when making admissions decisions. 33% approve of colleges considering race and ethnicity to increase diversity at the schools, while 16% are not sure.
Here’s a closer look at what recent surveys have found about Americans’ views of affirmative action.
Hispanic enrollment at postsecondary institutions in the U.S. has risen from 1.5 million in 2000 to a new high of 3.8 million in 2019.
About half of Asian adults who have heard of affirmative action (53%) say it is a good thing, 19% say it is a bad thing, and 27% say they don’t know whether it is good or bad. However, about three-quarters of all Asian adults (76%) say race or ethnicity should not factor into college admissions decisions.
More than nine-in-ten Americans (93%) say high school grades should be at least a minor factor in admissions decisions.
In 2018-19, 79% of White elementary and secondary public school students went to schools where at least half of their peers were also White.
Here’s a look back at 2023 through some of our most striking research findings.
While declining shares give police forces positive marks for their use of force, treatment of racial groups and officer accountability, there is little support for cuts in spending on local policing.
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