April Bunch
Case Study

What does diversity training teach? Today’s workforce is very different than it was in the past. It is not at all uncommon to see women not only making up a large percentage of the workforce, but also in top management positions. Diversity training was designed to focus not only on legal compliance but also improving the relationships among workers. Research shows, however, that diversity training programs may not be delivering the expected outcomes.
1. I think diversity training programs are effective in improving representation in management, because they include strategies to measure the representation of women and minorities in management positions, and they hold managers accountable for achieving more demographically diverse management teams.
2. One-shot diversity training does not have any strategies to encourage effective diversity management back on the job. Organizations that provided one-shot diversity training sessions were not consistently more likely to have women and minorities in upper management positions than organizations that did provide diversity training, which makes the training ineffective.
3. One of the most important obstacles to overcome in the effectiveness of diversity training programs is strong representation in top management. Ineffective communication of company policies and practices also leads to ineffective diversity training programs.
4. If I designed a diversity program, it would involve strong representation in management as well as employees, and it would encourage personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities of all workers, acknowledging how differences in perspective can be a valuable way to improve the ability to serve a diverse market of customers and