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65 Diversity and Inclusion Survey Questions

65 Diversity and Inclusion Survey Questions - December 2024 Update

Tue Dec 17 2024 by Mark Holt

This page contains a full list of the latest questions from the Divrsity platform.

As the UK's leading Diversity and Inclusion Survey platform, Divrsity is committed to promoting transparency and best practices in the industry.

Consequently, we've decided to make all our questions public: to provoke debate and help the wider Diversity and Inclusion community.

These questions have been through many, many iterations and are constantly evolving to ensure that they reflect the latest terminology and best-practice. We believe that Divrsity is the best way to run your workplace EDI Survey - the combination of powerful results analysis, AI-powered insights, and obsession with participant anonymity make it super-easy to generate mentingful insights.

Why Transparency Matters

At Divrsity, we believe that transparency is essential for building trust and promoting best practices in diversity and inclusion surveys. By making our demographic questions publicly available, we aim to:

Set a new standard: We hope to inspire other organizations to follow suit, fostering an environment of openness and collaboration.
Provide guidance and resources: Our publicly available demographic questions serve as a valuable resource for organizations seeking to create their own diversity and inclusion surveys. We clearly think that using Divrsity is the best approach to running your EDI Survey, but there are plenty of other tools that might be more appropriate for your use-case.
Demonstrate our commitment to EDI: By being transparent about our methods, we demonstrate our dedication to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.
Hold ourselves to Account: Divrsity are DEI Survey experts but there are thousands of people out there who understand the DEI space better than we do. If you have any comments about these questions then we'd love to hear from you at support@divrsity.team

Best Practices for Asking Demographic Questions:

When designing EDI questions, we have some important principles:

Keep It Simple: Avoid using jargon or complicated language. Ensure our questions are clear and easy to understand.
Avoid Bias: Be mindful of potential biases and stereotypes when drafting questions. We strive to use neutral language and avoid assumptions.
UK-Specific: Our questions are tailored to the UK context, ensuring relevance and compliance with local laws and regulations.
Generate Insight: Many organisations struggle with Quality over Quantity. Our questions are designed to be comprehensive and address a wide-range of demographics, while the response options are wide enough to provide understanding, but not too wide so as to hide meaningful insights. For example, we've seen organisations break down the ethnicity question into 20 different categories. That's only going to interesting if every category has at least 10 respondents...
Completely Customisable: These templates questions are exactly that: template questions. The Divrsity platform allows questions to be added/edited/removed to support client needs.
Constant Evolution: As mentioned above, our questions are constantly evolving to reflect best-practice, and the evolution of language. This page will be updated as our questions evolve.

Demographic Questions and Lenses

At Divrsity, we ask two types of question:

Demographic Questions: questions about individuals, their characteristics, background, beliefs, values etc. These include the UK's 9 Protected Charactersitics and are listed below.
Lenses: questions that relate to your workplace: your culture, processes, practices and actions. These are further broken down into objective questions (have you received a promotion, do you perform interviews) and subjective questions (do you believe that your organisation tolerates racial slurs etc)

By cross referencing these two types of question, the Divrsity platform enables organistaions to develop insights into the experience of the different demographic groups (e.g. the white community believes that racial slurs are not tolerated, but the non-white community believes they are tolerated).

Our Demographic Questions

Without further ado, here is our (hopefully) comprehensive list of demographic questions:

How old are you? More Info
<20 | 20-24 | 25-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60+
Which Age Group are you ? More Info
Gen Z (born 1997 onwards) | Millenial (1981-1996) | Gen X (1965-1980) | Baby Boomer (1946-1964)
How do you describe your racial identity?
White | Mixed | Black / African / Caribbean | Indian / Pakistani / Bangladeshi | Asian / Chinese / Japanese / Thai / Vietnamese | Middle Eastern / Arabic | Latino | Other
How do you describe your gender identity?
Man/Masculine | Woman/Feminine | Non-binary (including unlabelled/gender fluid)
Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?
Yes | No
How do you describe your sexual orientation? 🏳️‍🌈
Bisexual / Pansexual | Gay / Lesbian | Heterosexual (Straight) | Asexual / Ace | Other
What best describes your personality type? More Info
Introvert | Extrovert | Ambivert (balance of Introvert and Extrovert)
Do you have any long-term physical conditions or illnesses that impact your ability to carry out day-to-day activities?
Yes | No
Do you experience a long-term (>12mo) mental health issue? (e.g. Anxiety, Depression, Panic Attacks, Eating Disorders, Drug Addiction etc)? More Info
Yes | No
Do you identify as neurodivergent, e.g. ADHD, Autism spectrum disorder, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, or another form of neurodivergence? More Info
Yes | No
Have you experienced, or are you currently experiencing menopause symptoms at work? More Info
Yes | No
How would the NHS categorise your physical characteristics? More Info
Underweight | A Healthy Weight | Overweight
What is the highest academic level you have completed? More Info
No Formal Qualifications | GCSE/O-levels | A-levels | Technical or occupational certificate (BTEC etc.) | Bachelor's degree | Master's degree | Doctorate
If you attended university, which university / universities did you attend? More Info
Oxford / Cambridge / Russell Group | Any other UK University | A University outside the UK | Did not attend University
What class do you consider your parents to be? More Info
Working class | Lower-middle class | Middle-class | Upper middle-class | Upper-class | Not Applicable (e.g. non-UK)
How would you classify your socio-economic background? More Info
Professional background | Intermediate Background | Lower Socio-Economic Background
Which type of school did you attend for the most time between the ages of 11 and 16? More Info
A state-run or state-funded school | Independent or fee-paying school | Independent or fee-paying school, where I received a means tested bursary covering 90% or more of the total cost of attending throughout my time there | Attended school outside the UK
Were you eligible for free school meals at any point during your school years? More Info
Yes | No | Not applicable (finished school before 1980 or went to school overseas) | I don't know
Did either or both of your parents attend university and gain a degree (e.g. BA/BSc or equivalent) by the time you were 18? More Info
Yes | No | Do not know / Not sure
How would you describe your household's financial situation during your childhood? More Info
Struggled to meet basic needs (e.g. food, housing, healthcare) | Had to be very careful with money, but basic needs were met | Comfortable, with enough to meet needs and some extras | Very comfortable, with more than enough for needs and luxuries
Is the primary language at work the same as the language at home? More Info
Yes | No
Do you live in the country where you were raised/went to school? More Info
Yes | Yes, but lived abroad for >2 years | No
Before joining COMPANY_NAME, I have worked in sectors other than INDUSTRY More Info
Always | Mostly(>50%) | Sometimes(>25%)|Never|This is my first job
Before joining COMPANY_NAME, I have mostly worked in companies that are More Info
Bigger | The same size | Smaller | Much smaller (0-20 employees) | This is my first job
Do you currently, or have you previously, served in the UK Armed Forces (regular and/or reserve)? More Info
No | Yes
What is your current relationship status? More Info
Single | Married or civil partnership | Cohabiting | Widowed | Divorced / Separated
Do you have parental responsibilities for a child or children under the age of 18? More Info
Yes | No
Do you look after, or give help and support to anyone because they have long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses, or problems related to old age (not in a paid capacity)? More Info
Yes | No
Have you taken a period of family leave (maternity/paternity etc) in the last year?
Yes | No
Do you have a religious belief?
Atheist or Agnostic | Christian | Muslim | Hindu | Buddhist | Sikh | Jewish | No religion or belief | Other
Do you drink alcohol? 🍷 More Info
I drink alcohol | I do not drink alcohol but am comfortable with others consuming it | I do not drink alcohol and am not comfortable when others drink it around me
What best describes your dietary parameters? 🌮 More Info
No Restrictions | Vegetarian/vegan | Faith-based Dietary Restriction (e.g. Kosher/Halal) | Allergy/intolerance-based Dietary Restriction (e.g. Gluten-free)

Our Lenses

How long have you worked for COMPANY_NAME? More Info
0-1 years | 1-2 years | 2-5 years | 5+ years
Which office do you primarily work from?
CHANGE_ME | London | Paris | Milan | NewYork | Remote
How many days per week do you typically work from the office? 🏢 / 🏠
0 | 1-3 | 4+
Which department do you work in?
CHANGE_ME | Finance | Sales&Marketing | Product&Technology | Operations | Other
How many people do you directly line manage?
[Custom, based on organisation size]
What is your annual salary (excluding bonuses)?
£0-£49k | £50-69k | £70-89k | £90-109k | £110k+
What is your relationship with COMPANY_NAME?
Permanent employee | Fixed Term Contract | Temporary | Consultant | Other
How many candidates do you interview each month? More Info
zero | 1-3 | 4+
In the past year, how many times have you been quoted in the press, or presented at a conference? More Info
0 | 1-2 | 3+
In the past year, how many times have you presented to more than [Custom, based on org size] colleagues?
0 | Once | 2+
In the past year, how many times have you been involved in onboarding new colleagues? More Info
0 | 1-4 | 5+
When I am working remotely, I feel that I am able to contribute as much as people in the office More Info
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
I worry that my strengths and contributions are unknown by people more senior than my manager.
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
My job role or work environment makes my physical or mental diversity characteristics more difficult to manage
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
In the past year, have you been promoted to a more senior role? More Info
Yes | No
In the past year, have you received any form of salary increase?
Yes | No
In the past year, have you received any formal training?
Yes | No
In the past year, have you received any form of individual award (employee of the month etc)? 🏆
Yes | No
Do you have one or more business mentors/coaches that you meet on a regular basis? More Info
Both Internal and External Mentors | An internal mentor | An external mentor | I do not have a mentor
Do you explicitly mentor internal colleagues that you meet on a regular basis? More Info
More than one Mentee | One Mentee | I do not mentor anybody
Whether or not you have a mentor, do you have a professional sponsor (someone who actively promotes/advocates for you when you're not in the room)?
Yes, I have a professional sponsor(s) | No, I don't have any professional sponsorship
Racial, ethnic, sexual and gender-based jokes or slurs are not tolerated at COMPANY_NAME
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
COMPANY_NAME has done a good job providing educational programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion in our workplace
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
I believe that COMPANY_NAME will take appropriate action in response to incidents of discrimination and/or bias.
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
COMPANY_NAME invests time and energy into building diverse teams
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
I feel my unique background and identity (i.e. my differences) are valued & respected at COMPANY_NAME
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
People from all backgrounds and with a range of identities have equitable opportunities to advance their careers at COMPANY_NAME
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
COMPANY_NAME has supported my development and/or progression
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
Perspectives like mine are included in the decision making at COMPANY_NAME
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
If a colleague accidentally or deliberately says something inappropriate then I will challenge it
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
An Ally (a supporter from a different demographic group) will challenge a colleague who accidentally or deliberately says something inappropriate More Info
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
I feel that I can bring my whole authentic self to work
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree
I feel like I belong at COMPANY_NAME
Strongly Agree | Agree | Neither Agree or Disagree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree

Conclusion

Effective diversity and inclusion surveys start with asking the right demographic questions. At Divrsity, we've made our carefully crafted questions publicly available to empower UK organizations to begin their EDI journey with confidence. By using these questions as a foundation, businesses can gather valuable insights, drive meaningful change, and create truly inclusive workplaces.

Remember, diversity and inclusion are an ongoing journey, and asking the right questions is just the first step. With Divrsity's platform, you can gain data-driven insights, benefit from AI-powered analysis, measure your progress, and create a culture where everyone feels valued and respected.