In our increasingly diverse society, organizations are constantly challenged to create environments for every employee to feel included and valued. Unfortunately, despite companies’ best efforts, employees can end up feeling excluded – be it due to implicit bias or explicit prejudice. In response to this challenge, many organizations look to diversity training programs to help employees understand their own biases, increase employee engagement and satisfaction, and create an environment that fosters diversity and inclusion. But, these efforts haven’t always been successful and sometimes have resulted in backlash within organizations.
So, what does the evidence say about the effectiveness of diversity training? Should companies invest in diversity training or not?
This explainer is based on an Oxford-style debate on the effectiveness of diversity training hosted by the Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE) in 2017.
View the full research brief here.