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Joanne Lipman, author of "That's What She Said," says diversity training infuriates white men instead of educating them.
Diversity Fatigue and the failures of diversity training
There is a lot to take in from this article, but the key message is the hard truth that 'for men as well as women, it doesn’t matter how sincere companies are in embracing diversity if their own policies work against it–and in particular if they make it impossible to balance work with family'.
It is also important to recognise that traditional diversity training is not effective and often has the opposite effect, especially when it is mandatory; when it so much as mentions the law; or when it is specific to managers, as opposed to being offered to all employees.
Many companies are shifting towards a focus on unconscious bias. The key idea is not casting blame and that 'if we believe that everyone around us is trying hard to fight against stereotypes and prejudices, we’ll do the same. Call it peer pressure, or call it a pack mentality. Whatever it is, it works. Our own biases disappear'.
No surprise though; how much companies talk about equality and inclusiveness matters little compared with how they act. Incentives speak louder than any speeches by the CEO, or bias-training workshops, or posters on a wall.