Best questions for employee survey about diversity and inclusion

Here are some of the best questions for an employee survey about diversity and inclusion, plus practical tips for designing your own. With Specific, you can generate engaging, conversational surveys in seconds and start collecting authentic feedback right away.

Best open-ended questions for employee survey about diversity and inclusion

Open-ended questions go beyond quantifying opinions—they let employees express their true experiences, surface blind spots, and highlight nuanced perspectives. These questions shine when you want to explore how people feel, why something works (or doesn't), and solicit ideas for improvement. The added context often uncovers insights missed by rigid multiple-choice formats. For diversity and inclusion, they're essential: people’s lived experiences can’t always be summed up in a checkbox.

Open-ended questions are powerful, but keep in mind that responses can skew negative, as less satisfied employees are often more vocal. Still, combining qualitative insights with data leads to a richer understanding. Regularly using these surveys also correlates with higher employee retention—organizations that do this see up to 19% better retention than those that don't [2].

1. How would you describe the culture of diversity and inclusion in our company?

2. Can you share a time when you felt included or excluded at work? What happened?

3. What does an ideal inclusive workplace look like to you?

4. Have you witnessed or experienced any behaviors—positive or negative—that impact inclusion? Please elaborate.

5. What should the company do more of to promote equity among all employees?

6. How comfortable do you feel sharing your unique background, ideas, or perspectives here?

7. Are there any company policies or practices that, in your view, hinder diversity?

8. What resources or initiatives could help foster inclusion for everyone?

9. How can leadership support diversity and inclusion more effectively?

10. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your experience with diversity and inclusion in the workplace?

Companies that rank high in racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to financially outperform their peers—a testament to the impact of asking the right questions and listening deeply [1].

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for employee survey about diversity and inclusion

Single-select multiple-choice questions work best when you need easily analyzable, quantifiable data—or when you want to encourage participation by keeping things quick and simple. These questions are great for measuring baseline sentiment and surfacing early signals, especially when paired with follow-ups to dive deeper. Sometimes, it's easier for an employee to select an option first before elaborating, enabling you to quickly spot patterns for further exploration [3].

Sample multiple-choice questions:

Question: How valued do you feel as a member of our company?

• Very valued

• Somewhat valued

• Neutral

• Somewhat undervalued

• Very undervalued

Question: Do you believe our workplace supports different backgrounds and perspectives?

• Strongly agree

• Somewhat agree

• Somewhat disagree

• Strongly disagree

Question: How effective are our current diversity and inclusion initiatives?

• Very effective

• Somewhat effective

• Not effective

• Not sure

• Other

When to follow up with "why?" Many times, a simple choice or rating only hints at the real story. Whenever an answer feels incomplete or surprising ("Neutral" or "Not sure," for example), a follow-up that asks “Why?” can bring out context. For instance, if someone selects "Somewhat undervalued," a good AI follow-up would be, "Can you share an example of when you felt undervalued at work?" This unlocks actionable feedback you wouldn't get otherwise.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Including an "Other" option ensures you don't unintentionally exclude unique perspectives. It’s like a pressure valve—you allow employees to signal something you may have overlooked, and a follow-up enables richer, unexpected insights. Sometimes those "other" answers are where the gold is.

NPS-style question in diversity and inclusion surveys

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is traditionally used for customer loyalty, but it translates well to employee sentiment—especially on topics as central as diversity and inclusion. By asking how likely someone is to recommend the workplace as inclusive, you get a simple, compelling benchmark—plus, the score can be tracked over time. It gives you both a pulse and a springboard for conversation. Try building a tailored NPS survey for employees with this NPS survey link.

The power of follow-up questions

Automated, context-aware follow-up questions take conversational surveys to the next level. We built Specific to handle this effortlessly, using AI-powered follow-up logic that probes deeper based on each answer—like a seasoned interviewer. This real-time adaptability means richer insights without the endless email back-and-forth you’d usually need. Respondents feel heard, and you gain clarity.

• Employee: I sometimes feel left out during team meetings.

• AI follow-up: Can you share what happened in a specific meeting that made you feel this way?

How many follow-ups to ask? Usually, 2-3 targeted follow-ups per question are enough for actionable insight. It’s smart to let people opt out or move on—Specific’s settings allow you to customize follow-up depth, so you get depth without fatigue or repetition.

This makes it a conversational survey: Each follow-up feels like a natural chat, transforming your survey into a true two-way conversation—increasing both participation rates and the quality of feedback.

AI analysis of open-ended responses: Even if you collect thousands of nuanced replies, AI makes it easy to analyze everything. See the process in detail in our response analysis guide—the platform summarizes themes, spotlights trends, and helps you drill into specific segments with ease.

Automated follow-ups are new—experiment with the experience by generating your own survey now.

How to compose prompts for ChatGPT or GPT-based AI to generate great employee survey questions about diversity and inclusion

The secret sauce for using AI to craft great questions is giving specific instructions. Start simple, then add details about your context and goals for even better results. Here's how:

To get a broad list of ideas, try:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for employee survey about diversity and inclusion.

Want to tailor your survey even more? Specify your role, your company size, and your goal:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for an employee survey about diversity and inclusion. I work at a remote-first SaaS company, and we want to understand the unique experiences of our distributed team members and gather ideas for more inclusive policies.

To get organized, ask the AI to categorize its suggestions:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Focus on a specific area by asking:

Generate 10 questions for the category "leadership support for diversity and inclusion".

What is a conversational survey?

Conversational surveys work like a chat, not a static form. Instead of blasting people with impersonal questions, the AI reads between the lines, asks relevant follow-ups, and adapts to the flow—so employees feel engaged, not interrogated. This approach not only boosts completion rates (since it feels familiar), but it also uncovers more context behind each answer.

Let’s compare the traditional manual approach with an AI-driven, conversational method:

Why use AI for employee surveys? With AI survey examples, everything from question generation to response analysis is streamlined. You get higher quality input, richer context, and save hours of manual effort. Specific is built around the best-in-class experience for conversational surveys, ensuring both creators and respondents enjoy a frictionless, insightful process. If you want to dig deeper, check our article on how to create a great employee survey on diversity and inclusion.

See this diversity and inclusion survey example now

See how a conversational, AI-powered survey lets you uncover deeper insights, boost retention, and create a more inclusive workplace—faster. Start your survey today and experience the difference.