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Models of Diversity Training

BERNARDO M. FERDMAN

SARI EINY BRODY In D. Landis & R. 5. Bhagat • (Eds.) (1996). Handbook of

intercultural training, 2nd Edition (pp. 282-303)� Thousand Oaks,

CA:Sage.

1 DURING the past decade, atten!ion to di�ersii;has grown exponentially in U.S. organizations. The exigencies of an increasingly multiethnic, multicultural, and bi gender labor force have led more and more corporations, governmental and nonprofit agencies, and educational institutions to implement a variety of training programs and related initiatives focused on reaping the bene­fits and avojding the pitfalls assC>ciated with di­versity. The results of one '.recent survey (Wheeler, 1994 ), for example, showed that 79% of 406 companies were using or planning to use some type of diversity training. In another set of surveys (as reported by Caudron, 1993), the proportion of organizations indicating they had or were planning diversity-training programs increased from 4 7% to 75% between 1990 and · 1991. Finally, in a 1994 poll of 2,313 organiza- · tions with more than I 00 employees, 56% re-

Correspondence concerning this article may be directed to Bernardo M; Fei:dman, California School of

. Or�anizational Studies, Alliant International University, C .· .·• . . .

· 6160 Cornerstone Court East, San Diego, CA 92121 U.S.A. Tel. (858) 623�2777 x362; Fax (858) 642-0283;

email: bferclman@alliatit.edu

ported providing diversity training, compared with 40% in 1992 (Silverstein, 1995).

Despite the growth of diversity training, the term does not refer to any one specific activity. It can be used to describe many workplace in­terventions, ranging from 1-hour briefings to organizationwide change initiatives. Although diversity training efforts typically have some features in common-for example, a focus on domestic diversity and its implications for the workplace-such efforts can vary broadly in how they ·are conceptualized and implemented .

. The driving forces, the assumptions and goals, and the strategies and techniques employed can differ significantly between one diversity train­ing initiative and another. In this chapter, we explore the assumptions, goals, strategies, and conceptual frameworks that guide diversity training efforts-in short, the "why,. what, and

AUTHORS' NOTE: We are very g'rateful to Judith H. Katz for her extensive, thoughtful, and helpful comments on previous drafts of this chapter.

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