Most Diversity Training Ineffective - Washington Post

As an aspiring diversity trainer (diversity and ICC are closely related terms that can often be used interchangeably) this article really caught my eye. It also really made me think of The Office's Michael Scott, whose "diversity trainings" rapidly degenerate into a slur-fest extolling the virtues of embracing stereotypes and negative traits that Michael associates with different groups. Remember the "Post-It" game where you had to guess what "minority" you were based on how others treated you? Priceless. Especially since Michael's definition of "minority" seems to be "anyone not a WASP male."

The reason this makes us laugh even as it makes us cringe is that we've all witnessed something similar, or could very easily imagine happening. Ask me about explaining to my mother why you can't go around referring to Asian-Americans as "Orientals," or to my dad why puns about Africans marrying to get legal status in France are kind of offensive (in French, a fake marriage to get papers is called "un marriage blanc"). My parents aren't bad people (and neither is Michael Scott, deep down), they just don't know any better.

This companion piece to the WP article lists some ways to determine the potential effectiveness of diversity training. RAP doesn't exactly fit within that framework, but this is worth thinking about.

Diversity training and similar initiatives have positive effects when:

• Training is voluntary
• The focus is on structural change, such as increased mentoring and rotations that give people a shot at high-profile assignments.
• The motivation is to advance business goals and to open up new markets.
• Companies set targets and hold executives responsible for meeting those targets.

Diversity training and other initiatives have negative effects when:

• Training is mandatory and emphasizes the risk of discrimination lawsuits and threats; for example, downloading government regulations to educate managers on how not to discriminate.
• Programs involve a few brief training workshops or online sessions that often focus on "sensitivity training" and interpersonal attitude change.
• The training emphasizes social justice goals and the need to redress historical wrongs.