When thinking about DEI initiatives in the workplace, diversity training may be one of the first things you think of. However, studies have shown that diversity programs are not actually increasing diversity. In fact, many firms that implement diversity programs have seen adverse effects (Dobbin & Kalev 2016). There has been research conducted throughout the years that explain why diversity training does not work and what alternatives can be used instead.

"But it doesn’t work. For decades, diversity management programs
flourished with no evidence whatsoever about their
effects and their success."
Alexandra Kalev

Why Diversity Training Fails

1. Training alone does not bring change

It has been shown that diversity training, by itself, does not do much. While people are taught the answers on questionnaires, they will likely forget them soon after (Dobbin & Kalev 2016). Employees will enter the workplace with biases and attitudes they likely have developed over an entire lifetime, which will not be easily broken by training alone.

“Alone, it [training] does little to change attitudes or behaviors”
Frank Dobbin & Alexandra Kalev

“Simply having a D&I program does not guarantee it will be effective.
D&I programs should be aimed at changing behaviors”
Janice Gassam Asare

2. Resistance

The way diversity training is framed and carried out can negatively impact employee responses. Research has shown that people react negatively and resist whenever efforts are in place to control them. For example, self-determination studies have shown that “when organizations frame motivation for pursuing a goal as originating internally, commitment rises, but when they frame motivation as originating externally, rebellion increases” (Dobbin & Kalev 2018). When diversity programs are introduced with external rationales, such as avoiding a lawsuit, this can create resistance within the employees.

"If someone is supposed to sit there, psychologically they will be grumpy.
They will not want to engage. This is what we do as human beings -- we resist control."
Alexandra Kalev

As Janice Gassam Asare states in her article that “when individuals feel like they don’t have a choice, this can lead to resistance and opposition to D&I programs”. She suggests allowing employees to decide whether they want to participate in training, or at least what specific trainings they would like to be involved in. This takes off the feeling of being forced into doing something and have them become part of the solution.

3. Feeling left out

A study by Plaut and colleagues shows that the message of multiculturalism “makes whites feel excluded and reduces their support for diversity… Whites generally feel they will not be treated fairly in workplaces with prodiversity messages” (Dobbin & Kalev 2018). As Joanne Lipman points out in her article “How Diversity Training Infuriates Men and Fails Women”, telling people about biases may actually increase their own. There was a study conducted where a group of managers were told that stereotypes were rate, while the other group was told that stereotypes were common, Whenever the groups were asked to evaluate job candidates, the managers who were told that stereotypes were common actually had more bias against women (Lipman 2018).

“Many interpreted the key learning point as having to walk on eggshells around women and minorities–choosing words carefully so as not to offend. Some surmised that it meant white men were villains, still others assumed that they would lose their jobs to minorities and women, while others concluded that women and minorities were simply too sensitive,”
Rohini Anand and Mary-Frances Winters (Lipman 2018)

What to Do About It

Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev outline three basic principles to organizations who want to promote diversity, which can be summed up by the three E’s – Engage, Expose, and Encourage.

The first E, engage, relates to engaging managers and employees to help solve the problem. An example of this could be through creating a diversity task force where higher-ups from different departments identify problems, brainstorm solutions, and implement it back in their apartments. Having managers help boost diversity through their own thinking and solutions can help them think of themselves as diversity champions (Dobbin & Kalev 2016).

The second E, expose, focuses on exposing employees to people that are different from them. Cross-training is a tactic to use that allows people to “try their hand at various jobs and deepen their understanding of the whole organization” (Dobbin & Kalev 2016). Not only that, but this also gives the opportunity for employees to interact with a variety of people.

The last E, encourage, emphasizes the importance of encouraging social accountability. This can be done through diversity task forces as mentioned previously, but also through diversity managers. As Dobbin and Kalev put it, “When people know they might have to explain their decisions, they are less likely to act on bias”. Having a diversity manager present encourages managers to take a step back from their decisions and be accountable for their actions.

“The key to improving the effects of training is to make it
part of a wider program of change.”
Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev

Credit: Harvard Business Review

Overall, it is important to realize that simply having a diversity training program will likely not be an effective way to promote diversity in the workforce. Instead, employers need to “compl-ement training with the right programs – those that engage rather than alienate managers”. To do this, employers can use tactics that engage employees, expose employees to people from different groups, and encourage social accountability.