Article summary of Effective Diversity Training by Roberson et al. - 2013 - Chapter

 Diversity training is a key component of organizational diversity management initiatives. In a recent survey, seventy-one percent of human resource professionals reported that diversity training was part of their diversity management strategy.

There’s several objectives organizations want from diversity training. More directly it could increase diversity awareness among individuals, promote positive intergroup attitudes and motivate positive behaviors among organizational members. These outcomes are further linked to an organization’s competitive advantages: its flexibility and reputation, ability to attract talent, and access to more diverse markets.

The past 15 years have seen a growth in scholarly interest on diversity training. The purpose of this chapter is to summarize this literature and offer conclusions about the effectiveness of diversity training.

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p>h2>How do you implement effective diversity training?

The current standard for developing training and improving the effectiveness of training is The Instructional Design Model. This model outlines a systemic approach, the stages of which will be reviewed in the following sections.

Needs assessment

The critical first step of the model is needs assessment. In this step the following things are determined:

• What kind of training is needed.
• Who should be trained.
• Whether organizational conditions will support training so that learning transfers to the job.

The first desired outcome of this step are a set of training goals that will guide the program design and the training’s measures of success. The second is to evaluate trainees’ readiness.

Needs assessment consists of the following three related facets:

1. Organization analysis: The organization analysis is done to identify aspects of the organizational context that influence training delivery and results. This phase is used to identify the nature of diversity-related problems and gathering baseline data.
2. Operations or task analysis: In this phase the behaviors, knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for performance are specified. When designing job skill training the importance of operations analysis is obvious, but in the diversity training literature operations analysis has not always been viewed as relevant as similar training content is usually provided for all employees regardless of their role. However operations analysis can identiy the diversity competencies that will form the basis of training objectives. Such as the ability to work in a team, or deliver constructive feedback to diverse employees.
3. Person analysis: In this phase individual trainees are assessed on skill level and readiness so training can be tailored to their needs. Attitudes towards diversity influence the receptiveness towards training, and its suggested to analyze trainees’ attitudes towards diversity, their previous experience with diversity, inconsistencies between attitude and behavior and trust between trainers and trainees.

How can diversity training be designed?

The design refers to the organization and coordination of the diversity training program. The two most common models for diversity training design are awareness first and the social learning theory.

Awareness first

The awareness first model proposes that diversity competency develops in stages, starting with the development of diversity awareness first. Various versions of this model exist, that all have in common that they implicate that the training should start with increasing awareness, before other learning. Diversity awareness typically refers to a combination of cognitive and affective outcomes. Cognitive outcomes concern knowledge of facts, in diversity training this may refer to facts about different social identity groups, diversity in society, knowledge about social cognition theory, etc.

Knowledge about the diversity stance of the organization is hoped to increase motivation, perceived importance of diversity and commitment to diversity goals. Knowledge of cognitive processes can lead to attention to one’s perceptions and less stereotyping. Factual knowledge about minorities and discrimination, can replace stereotypes and reduce discriminatory behavior.

Another target of diversity awareness training is the organization of knowledge, particularly social categorization. The categorization of people to in-groups and out-groups is viewed as a major cause of prejudice. Interventions are designed to reorganize trainees’ categorization of their own and other groups. Four strategies for changing attitudes and improving group relations are:

• Decategorization: individual identities are emphasized
• Recategorization: where all people are one large common group
• Crossed categorization: two groups are made aware they form a third group
• Integration methods: a common group identity is highlighted, while sub-identities are still recognized and affirmed

A third aspect of diversity awareness is self-knowledge, knowledge about one’s own attitudes and biases and how they may influence the perception and treatment of others. Developing awareness and “owning” your biases is a critical step towards controlling them. Self-knowledge is believed to lead to more “mindful” interactions, more questioning of one’s first impressions, a heightened sense of responsibility for inequalities, and increased motivation to change.

Training methods for self-knowledge all involve an amount of confrontation. These exercises to increase self-knowledge are stressful for participants, as they are intended to influence attitudes and behavior through negative emotions, such as anger and guilt. While anger may lead to positive change, it could also lead to more aggression toward the out-group.

Awareness training is the most common type of diversity training, however the model that awareness leads to attitude and behavior change has rarely been empirically tested and the available evidence is not encouraging. Studies might not have been fair to the ‘awareness first’ model as in this model awareness training should only be the first step in the process, yet in research and practice the recommendation for later learning is rarely followed.

Social learning theory

After awareness first, Social Learning Theory is also frequently invoked as a theoretical basis for the design of diversity training. According to SLT, people learn when their behavior results in positive outcomes, and when they observe others’ actions and consequences of their behavior, through a process called vicarious reinforcement: behaviors that are directly or vicariously rewarded are more likely to be recalled and reproduced. SLT also emphasizes self-efficacy: trainees are more likely to attempt behaviors when they feel they can be successful. This theory is used as the basis for behavior modeling training, which is widely and successfully used in organizational and educational settings. First, key behaviors to be taught are identified, these are then presented to trainees by a model. During training opportunities for mastery through feedback and practice are provided. Transfer to the job setting is then facilitated through goal setting and identifying situations where new skills can be used.

Evidence supporting the SLT as a diversity training model, while limited, is stronger than for the ‘awareness first’ model. The two models aren’t contradictory and it has been recommended that they be integrated and used together, with awareness training presented first, followed by behavior modeling training. Another consideration is that the trainees’ characteristics affect the effectiveness of the training operations. Trainees’ characteristics should inform the choices made in training design, as they can lead to widely different outcomes.

What training delivery decisions are of influence?

There’s several characteristics of diversity training programs beyond the content that can influence effectiveness. It is difficult to draw clear conclusions however, as there’s been limited research on these delivery decisions.

Trainer demographics

Trainers that are female or people of color are often preferred under the assumption that they have greater experience with diversity issues. An alternative view on choice of trainer is that the trainer’s demographics should match those of the trainees to enhance the trainer’s credibility and promote trainees’ identification with the trainer. A third view argues that the trainer’s demographics may interact with the training’s content to influence its effectiveness. Participants might respond more favorably to female and minority trainer when the course content focused on differences among people.

Demographic composition of the training group

The demographic composition of the training group is somewhat of a controversy in literature. Some recommend training groups with a mix of social identity groups for their educational benefits, and to reduce the possibility some trainees will be viewed as tokens. Others argue for homogenous groups, as they will facilitate discussion of within-group dynamics, as well as allow trainees to express themselves more freely. Only one study examined this issue. It reported that the effects of group composition depended on the experience of trainees. Trainees with prior diversity training gained greater knowledge and skill when they were assigned to homogenous training groups, as this enhanced the feeling of safety needed to try new skills and behaviors.

Framing of training

The framing of training refers to how the training program is defined and communicated to trainees. The frame influences pretraining attitudes, which in turn affect training outcomes. The first issue concerns how diversity is defined. This could be narrow - with one or two demographic variables, or broad - concerning not just differences in demographic, but also values, work styles, and personality. The broad frame includes all employees, reduces backlash, and is associated with greater perceived success of diversity training. But some argue it could divert attention from historically excluded groups and key issues resulting from group inequalities.

The second issue pertains the communicated reason for diversity training. Participants’ perception on why diversity training is implemented can influence the outcome of training. For example, in one study a training program resulted in more supervisory discriminatory behavior towards employees from different backgrounds, as supervisors’ believed they had been selected for training due to complaints from these employees.

Mandatory versus voluntary training

Mandatory training has been perceived as having a greater success rate. Requiring training sends a message about the importance of training and the organization’s commitment to diversity. Other characteristics for mandatory training that support training success are that it is associated with top management support and the use of post-training evaluations, as well as greater organizational support for the training and additional HR structures that maximize the effectiveness of training.

Another perspective is that being forced to attend training may lower motivation to learn and generate backlash. Mandatory training for those with strong negative attitudes towards diversity can make their attitude more extreme. Voluntary training is then associated with more positive outcomes, but relying on voluntary training may be insufficient for organization change.

How is training evaluated and transferred?

Researchers are interested in the different impacts that diversity training is likely to have, such as:

• To what extent it can influence trainee changes, learning, motivation or skill
• How immediate changes resulting from the training affect the way trainees behave when they return to work.
• Whether the changes in trainees have a downstream effect on the organization’s effectiveness.

Trainee changes

At the individual level the learning outcomes comprise three major categories: Cognitive, skill-based, and affective. Diversity training is highly effective in increasing participants’ knowledge. Studies have found positive effects on diversity knowledge in the short-term as well as the long term. The evidence regarding diversity training’s effectiveness in changing attitudes about diversity is less clear cut. Some studies found short and long-term positive effects on attitudes, others found this effect was negligible, and occasionally even negative effects on attitude were reported.

Diversity skill training provides trainees to develop interpersonal competencies. Evaluation of diversity skill training has received the least attention in research literature, and within these studies mixed findings are found. Some studies have found gains related to trainees’ cross-culture skills, others documented a lack of impact on behavioral change, and some even found a negative association between diversity training and diversity skill development. The negative results on self-reported skills may be due to trainees’ rating their skills more negatively after being made aware of their lack of skills due to diversity training.

Transfer of training

For most organizational training the primary goal is the positive transfer of training - the extent to which the learning outcomes transfer to the job and lead to meaningful changes in work performance. The examination of transfer is not common in literature, but results from the few existing studies report some positive news. Some studies reported that trainees successfully transferred learned cultural sensitivity to their interactions with clients. However more negative behavior from trainees towards individuals from other ethnic backgrounds has also been an observed outcome.

Successful transfer in part depends on the content of diversity training. For example if the dominant focus of the program is on attitudes and awareness, the program is unlikely to foster trainee skills that will change on-the-job behavior. Successful transfer is also dependent on the characteristics of the work environment, and how it motivates trainees to learn and use their acquired skills.

Two particularly important environmental characteristics in training transfer are

1. Situational cues: social and task stimuli in the work setting that remind trainees of the training context and provide opportunities to use new skills. 
2. Consequences: the negative and positive reactions of supervisors and peers when trainees use new skills on the job. 

One of the most important situational cues is the demographic composition of people in powerful positions. The demographic of the upper layers in the company sends a message about the value of diversity in the organization, and creates more opportunities for trainees to exercise their new diversity skills. Empirical evidence of the role of consequences in diversity training is mixed. One challenge in facilitating diversity training might be ensuring managers have the skills to recognize and properly respond to diversity behaviors.

Organizational impact

The final objective of most organizational training programs is to influence organizational outcomes - lower costs, improve efficiency, or enhance morale. For diversity training these objective might be that trainees’ enhanced diversity skills:

1. Will help make the organization an employer of choice.
2. Will help diverse employees work together
3. Will better serve diverse customers and clients

These ‘first-level’ effects might then generate ‘second-level’ effects on organization productivity or financial performance.

It is unfortunately difficult to identify which effects can be attributed directly to a training program, as a result few training programs have been assessed with regard to organization level outcomes. The small number of studies on organizational outcomes of diversity training make it difficult to draw firm conclusions. Diversity training appears to affect discrimination charges. When managers participate in diversity training discrimination charges were reduced, suggesting training reduces managers’ discriminatory behavior. While employee participation caused discrimination charges to increase, suggesting training raises employees’ awareness of their rights.

What should the future of diversity training research look like?

While diversity training is widely endorsed and used in organizations, it is frequently criticized for failing to deliver expected benefits. A recent study found only 51 percent of U.S employees viewed diversity training favorably. Respondents especially found diversity training ineffective in enabling them to transfer skills back to their work environments.

Research has an important role to play given the controversy over training effectiveness, as it can provide evidence-based conclusions about effects and outcome. While research has addressed concerns and criticisms, there is still a long way to go before empirical research can provide definitive answers on how to make training most effective. Especially behavioral skills and transfer are still relatively neglected by research even though they are among the most desired outcomes of diversity training.

Critical directions for future research are:

• The important trainee characteristics that influence training effectiveness or interact with training methods to influence outcomes.
• How to evaluate diversity skill.
• The long-term impact of diversity training, including retention of knowledge, attitude gains, and transfer of skills to on-the-job behavior

The controversy over diversity training also concerns effectiveness at the organizational level. Critics argue diversity training has failed to accomplish change outside of the individual outcomes, or even has a negative effect on organizational outcomes. Some critical directions for future research on higher-level outcomes are:

1. Researchers must make theoretical definitions of what higher-level outcomes might be influenced by diversity training, as well as the processes that describe how those outcomes would be affected. Researchers need to develop theories that link individual-level outcomes of diversity training with organizational-level outcomes to help align expectations and specify the timeframe in which effects are likely to be seen.
2. The role of teams and team diversity training needs to be considered. Team training strategies have been neglected in the diversity training literature. 
3. It needs to be recognized that diversity training may have different effects in different contexts, and then identified which contextual factors are most likely to influence the effectiveness of diversity training. Diversity training my heighten employees’ awareness about challenges in the organization and motivate them to engage in voice or exit. An organization that implements diversity training may experience short-term costs before it experiences longer-term benefits.

To speed up progress in the diversity training research agenda, greater collaboration is necessary between diversity training scholars and diversity training practitioners, as field research is necessary for gathering the most useful knowledge. One reason for this divide might be that organizations rarely evaluate their training efforts. Another reason is that organizations might keep the details of their successes to gain a competitive advantage in their efforts to become an employer of choice.