Although still weak in response, diversity survey shows strong growth among credit unions

Although only about 2.3% of federally insured credit unions responded to its voluntary diversity self-assessment survey in 2019, the federal credit union regulator heralded Friday the fact that participation in the survey has grown 46% in participation from the year before.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), in the executive summary of its 2019 Credit Union Diversity Self-Assessment, which is submitted voluntarily by credit unions to assess and monitor their diversity-related efforts, earned responses from just 118 credit unions in 2019 – but that’s up considerably from the 81 self-assessments submitted in 2018, the agency said.

The agency said the responses for 2019 showed 56% of credit unions reported a leadership and organizational commitment to diversity, while 48% noted they were taking steps to implement employment practices to demonstrate that commitment.

Meanwhile, the agency said, 29% of the reporting credit unions have been monitoring and assessing their diversity policies and practices. “As in previous years, supplier diversity and transparency of diversity and inclusion practices remain areas where few of the reporting credit unions have established solid business practices,” the agency said in its release.

2019 Voluntary Credit Union Diversity Self-Assessment Results