Diversity training rarely changes intergroup attitudes, especially among dominant groups.
Evidence
Diversity training programs were first created for use in the US military (Landis et al., 1976; Tansik & Driskell, 1977), but later diversity training and diversity initiatives became popular in business organizations. Diversity training typically attempts to increase the participants’ awareness of dissimilarities among racial, ethnic, and cultural groups, and encourages them to value these differences. These programs use both didactic (e.g., lectures and readings) and interactive techniques (e.g., role-playing, simulation games). The focus of diversity training programs is often on changing the attitudes and behaviors of members of the majority group. In some organizations, diversity training is accompanied by changes in the organizational structure and climate that reflect an emphasis on greater diversity. Diversity programs tend to be rather brief in duration, often only two or three days. Although many assessments of diversity programs have been conducted, only a small number of studies have been published on the effects of diversity training on intergroup relations. Although three of these programs reported considerable success in changing attitudes, three others obtained a mixture of positive and negative effects and one was unsuccessful in improving intergroup relations (for details, see Stephan & Stephan, 2001, 2004). Based on these studies, it appears that diversity training programs are less successful with members of the dominant group than with members of targeted minority groups (see Major & Vick, ch. 9, and Jones, ch. 10, this volume). In addition, short programs appear to be less successful than longer programs. Because these studies suggest that the results grow stronger over time, evaluations with only immediate outcome measures may not capture the full effects of the program. Surprisingly, a survey of human resource managers in organizations that examined the perceived success of programs and the factors related to perceived success found that programs requiring mandatory attendance by managers were thought to be more successful than voluntary programs (Rynes & Rosen, 1995). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2646
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- XREF: Connects to the well-known finding that forced/awareness-style diversity training often backfires — related to the meta-analyses by Paluck & Green and to corporate DEI backlash debates.
- QUESTION: Why would mandatory training be perceived as more successful? Plausibly because attendance compulsion signals organizational commitment, or because only already-supportive firms mandate it — worth tracing the Rynes & Rosen mechanism.