Why diversity training doesn’t work

Diversity training is something that a lot of larger companies have integrated into the training process to help their staff become more accepting of people from different backgrounds. It’s also supposed to make their staff more aware of themselves and how their actions and even thoughts affect others.

Sounds good in theory, but some things about the training just aren’t working and never will.

Staff are too old

It’s easier to teach kids things than to teach adults things as kids are more open to learning and new information. A lot of adults are already stuck in their ways by the time they do any diversity training so it doesn’t sink in.

A lot of adults think they know it all so they’re going to arrogantly dismiss all the information they’re provided in favour of things they “reckon” are true.

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, in fact, it’s hard to teach people in their early 20s anything new as people get stuck in their ways young.

It’s made by people that aren’t affected

A lot of the training is made by people that aren’t affected by any of the issues spoken about, so a lot of it is misguided and they push staff in the wrong direction.