Diversity training

Diversity training is training for the purpose of increasing participants' cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills, which is based on the assumption that the training will benefit an organization by protecting against civil rights violations, increasing the inclusion of different identity groups, and promoting better teamwork. ^[1]

Diversity training has been a controversial issue, due to moral considerations as well as questioned efficiency or even counterproductivity.

Leading diverse teams

According to Michael Bird,^[2] many project managers may feel that they are treading new territory as they lead project teams made of individuals from different cultures, heterogeneous mixes, and differing demographics. This signals a lack of understanding of the techniques required to manage diverse teams which can lead to project managers being less efficient and effective. This in turn can cause the team member motivation, satisfaction levels and productivity to drop due to the lack of knowledge and skills needed to lead diverse teams. Bird further states that the project manager will need to refine and improve management techniques and should complete a post project evaluation to measure the overall results of managing the diverse teams.

Based on Bird’s research, the following positive approaches can be adopted by the project managers leading such heterogeneous teams in order to seek positive effects of managing diversity in project teams effectively:

• Recognize that diversity will bring a greater skills base when managed properly
• Improve the overall climate on diverse project teams in order to improve satisfaction, reduce conflicts, and improve team member retention
• Encourage creativity, flexibility, and innovation among the team members which will allow the injection of new ideas and challenge the normal organizational mindsets

Bird further concludes in his article that managing diversity provides greater opportunities for project teams with better performance, and greater strategic awareness, which enables them to be more innovative and responsive.

Controversial issues

Observers characterize diversity training in very different ways. Its proponents consider it morally right, because it respects diversity, recognizing the value and contributions of every human being. They also view it as economically sound, because it enables organizations to draw on multiplicities of talents and strengths.^[3]

According to Hans Bader, its opponents consider it an oppressive ideological re-education tactic, that actually injures the ability of organizations to attain their goals. It has been suggested that diversity training reinforces differences between individuals instead of concentrating on their commonalities, thus helping to further racialize the workplace and creating situations where people "tiptoe" around issues such as how to relate to people of different cultures as opposed to people learning to communicate with and truly understand each other.^[4] It may also, according to law professor Gail Heriot, amount to a "rather blatant form of racial and sexual harassment".^[5]

These opinions have been confirmed by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals which, in Fitzgerald v. Mountain States Tel & Tel. Co. (1995), noted that "diversity training sessions generate conflict and emotion" and that "diversity training is perhaps a tyranny of virtue."

In a paper published in the American Sociological Review,^[6] the authors concluded efforts to mitigate managerial bias ultimately fail in the organization's aim to increase diversity in the management and leadership ranks. In contrast, programs which established specific responsibility for diversity, such as equal opportunity staff positions or diversity task forces, have proven most effective in general. However, the results also indicate that White females benefit significantly more from these structural changes. The benefits for African American females and males were appreciably lower than European American females. Networking and mentoring, which were considered bias mitigating approaches, served African American females the most. African American males were the least likely to benefit from any of the methods.

The news media and bloggers have used the study results to question the merits of financing the sizable diversity training industry. In January 2008, the Washington Post used quotes from “longtime diversity trainer” Dr. Billy E. Vaughn (Diversity Training University International) and others to make the point that Kalev’s research ^[7] suggests other strategies may be more effective than diversity training for mobilizing people of color and women into management roles. Dr. Vaughn responded in his blog,^[8] the Kalev and his colleague’s assumption in conducting their research diversity training is useful for breaking the glass ceiling was ill-conceived.^[vague]

See also

• Jane Elliott

References

1. ^ Vaughn, B. "The history of diversity training and its pioneers", Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Management, pp. 11-16, Spring 2007. DTUI.com Publications Division: San Francisco.
2. ^ Michael Bird: Improving Project Productivity with Diverse Membership 2007. Accessed April 15, 2009.
3. ^ Orlando Richard, "Diversity at the Top May Boost the Bottom Line," September, 2010.[1]
4. ^ Hans Bader: Diversity Training Backfires OpenMarket.org. December 26, 2007. Accessed April 15, 2009.
5. ^ Gail Heriot: White Guys Have No Rights. And They’d Better Shut Up If Think They Have (Part 1) December 23, 2007. Accessed April 15, 2009.
6. ^ Alexandra Kalev, Frank Dobbin and Erin Kelley (2006), "Best Practices or Best Guesses? Assessing the Efficacy of Corporate Affirmative Action and Diversity Policies", American Sociological Review 71: 589–617 
7. ^ Shankar Vedantam: Most Diversity Training Ineffective, Study Finds The Washington Post, p. A03, January 20, 2008
8. ^ Billy Vaughn: The Short-Sighted Washington Post Article About Diversity Training January 20, 2008.

External links

• What Diversity & Inclusion is Really about - by Joerg Schmitz
• What is the "diversity training" profession?- by Diversity Training University International
• Workplace Diversity Education and Training - by American Conference on Diversity