The Legal's most recent poll asked readers whether their law firms or organizations prioritized racial, ethnic and gender diversity and inclusion as part of their culture.

While an overwhelming majority (65 percent) of the 37 respondents said their employers did place emphasis on diversity, 59 percent also said their organizations did not consider diversity when making decisions on promotions.

In addition, 49 percent of respondents to the The Legal's poll said they viewed their employers' stated emphasis on diversity as mere ”window dressing.”

The same questions were asked of readers in Texas, Connecticut and Florida. View the graphic below to see how the overall results compared to Pennsylvania's results.

While it's important to note that the responses to Pennsylvania's poll represent a very small sample size, some of the open-ended answers left by respondents, most of whom chose to remain anonymous, do provide some insight into the troubling attitudes and approaches toward diversity that can stifle progress within an organization.

One commenter complained about their firm “retaining underperforming minority lawyers when 'non-diverse' lawyers with the same performance would almost certainly have been fired.”

While that same respondent acknowledged that a “lack of diverse lawyers in the pipeline is a real issue,” they added that “the elephant in the room is that diverse lawyers, and [their] advocates, want to be held to a different, lower, standard than everyone else. The fact that firms aren't willing to adjust their standards is not indicia of devaluing diversity.”

Other commenters said they've witnessed pushback on diversity efforts within their own organizations.

“Some senior members are very committed to actual improvements in diversity, but small pockets of resistance stymie any real progress,” said one.

Another said firm leaders currently have little financial incentive to devote more than lip service to the issue of improving diversity.

“Law firm profits are booming without meaningful diversity, especially at senior levels,” the commenter said. “Unless and until that changes, doubtful that any significant progress will be made in terms of improving racial or gender diversity.”

Even those who said they believed many law firms were committed to diversity pointed out flaws in their approach.

“I truly believe that most firms care about diversity in 2019. The problem is that all the top firms are going after the same candidates, who are of a limited number,” one commenter said, adding that firms tend to focus too much on recruitment and not enough on retention.

Another commenter said law firms and other organizations that want to make real progress on diversity need to do more to counter-resistance within their ranks.

“I do think many firms value diversity, but they fail to realize that it takes courage and making others uncomfortable to be effective,” they said. “If it didn't make the majority uncomfortable, diversity wouldn't be an issue in the first place. Also, I think some people hide behind substantial gender diversity to cover for the fact that they have made poor progress in the areas of racial and other diversity. There are few (if any) firms that do not have a lot more work to do in this area.”