ONE GOOD READ: Starbucks closes for diversity training; it likely won’t change much
Starbucks will close down this afternoon for a half-day of diversity training as a response to a high-profile incident this past April. Unfortunately, despite the company’s (and many other companies’) well-intentioned efforts, as this piece from FiveThirtyEight.com suggests, these types of diversity training often aren’t effective. From the piece: “Diversity training is a hugely profitable industry. A one-day class for 50 people is estimated to cost as much as $6,000, and large corporations budget hundreds of millions of dollars for diversity initiatives annually. If only they were worth it. Recent reviews of research literature suggest that these trainings are often implemented without much follow-up on whether they actually work and that most companies are implementing the least effective forms of training. What’s more, said Frank Dobbin, professor of sociology at Harvard University, these types of trainings probably aren’t the best way to reduce discrimination in the workplace, even when they’re done well.” While one-day training sessions might not move the needle, the article does briefly talk about things that do work better, such as having diverse management, mentorship programs and diversity task force teams.
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