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.
A majority of those who say it’s headed in the wrong direction say a major reason is that schools are not spending enough time on core academic subjects.
Republican and Democratic parents differ widely over what their children should learn at school about gender identity, slavery and other topics, but they are equally satisfied with the quality of education their children are receiving.
Around a third of U.S. school districts mention the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in their mission statements. But these references are far more common in parts of the country won by Joe Biden in 2020 than in areas won by Donald Trump.
Six-in-ten U.S. adults say being a man helps a lot or a little when it comes to a person’s ability to get ahead in the U.S., compared with 14% who say it hurts
Most Americans say Martin Luther King Jr. has had a positive impact on the country, with 47% saying he has had a very positive impact. 52% say the country has made a great deal or a fair amount of progress on racial equality in the past six decades.
Here’s a closer look at what recent surveys have found about Americans’ views of affirmative action.
53% of U.S. adults say people overlooking racial discrimination is a bigger problem than people seeing it where it really didn’t exist.
Black workers account for about 13% of all U.S. workers, including those who work full time, part time and are self-employed.
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.
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