The Death of Traditional Diversity Training?
As discussed previously here on the Blawg, a study published last year found that diversity training alone does virtually nothing to improve diversity. A new study goes a step further, suggesting that mandatory diversity training may actually hurt diversity.
In findings that call into question decades of court rulings, government policies and employer practices, a study of more than 30 years of data from 830 U.S. companies found that mandatory diversity training was followed by a significant reduction of minority representation in management positions – 12% for black men, 10% for black women and 7.5% for women generally.
The problem isn’t diversity training per se. The problem is the mandatory diversity training typically offered by employers — superficial lawyers-made-us-do-it training forced on employees to avoid discrimination lawsuits.
There is hope, however. The study found that voluntary diversity training undertaken to help meet a company’s business goals resulted in increased minority representation in management. Specifically, the most successful diversity programs appear to be those that (1) are voluntary, (2) focus on specific organizational improvements such as creating mentor relationships for minority employees, (3) have a clear “owner” who is held accountable for increasing diversity and (4) are directly tied to business goals. Such programs saw minority management representation increase 30% for black women, 14% for women generally and 10% for black men, according to the study.
The study is not yet published. To read more, here’s a story from the Washington Post.
