Despite recent efforts to curb them, diversity training programs have change into ubiquitous in American offices as a water cooler. They are in all places.
But our last update re state of research on diversity training confirms that these programs have various levels of effectiveness and widely various results.
IN our previous workpublished in 2016, we found that diversity training programs are designed to foster understanding and appreciation of differences between people. Yet this message has often been misunderstood or missed in American workplaces.
Concerned in regards to the growing polarization and unequal treatment that has change into a serious public and social problem in America and abroad, we updated our previous findings to see what has modified.
We did this because these divisions contribute to toxic relationships, dysfunctional organizations, and fragmented societies – the very problems that diversity training is designed to deal with.
Some of the studies we examined found that diversity training had limited positive effects on workplace demographics. In some cases, these programs have also sparked resistance and backlash.
Often, underperforming programs focus solely on a selected marginalized group—for instance, African Americans or the LGBTQ+ community—moderately than teaching people in regards to the value of our differences.
In this sense, effective programs are measured by participants’ cognitive and affective learning, that’s, how they perceive others. Behavioral learning – how well participants interact with different people – is one other standard for fulfillment.
In our study, other programs that produced poor results had difficulty getting participants to alter the way in which they evaluated individuals who were different. Most of those programs were online or conducted for a brief time frame.
On the opposite hand, diversity training programs that produced higher results often included skills training and role-playing. These include role-playing business negotiation simulations. They also included conflict management courses during which participants interacted with different counterparts.
Some of those programs also emphasize training as early as primary school, before people enter the workforce. These programs include, for instance, activities equivalent to playing soccer with children from different ethnic groups.
Successful programs were also simpler once they were a part of an organization’s broader, ongoing efforts against intolerance. Positive examples include retention and recruitment efforts, affinity clubs, and mentoring programs.
Research on a few of these successful programs has shown that diversity training led to greater productivity and organizational commitment. They also resulted in less harassment.