Question from my Human Resources Management Course: Unlike many training programs designed to develop skills,
diversity training focuses on attitude. Briefly describe one experience you
have had with diversity training (1) assessing how effective the training was
and (2) one recommendation for improvement. Be specific and support your
response with an example.
“Diversity training doesn’t extinguish prejudice. It
promotes it” (Bregman, 2012, para 15). I
have attended many diversity trainings.
They were all a waste of time, except they helped me identify which of
my coworkers might be bigots. The best
lesson I ever learned on diversity was at a UC Santa Cruz graduation. The
president delivered the commencement address.
He said something to the effect of focusing on differences is counterproductive. We should focus on similarities: we put our
pants on one leg at a time, we eat breakfast and brush our teeth, and we want a
better life for our children. Diversity
highlights division, divisiveness, and creates a hypersensitivity and burden of
political correctness.
