As increasing globalization bring together people from different background and races who are required to work together towards attainment of common objectives, diversity training as applied by organizations seek to address the racial prejudice problem by promoting acceptance of different races and groups within workforces and the nation rather than focusing on changing people’s traits and behaviors as well as cultures that are inherent to them by mere affiliation to certain races and groups,. (Kelly & Dobbin, 1998) In that respect, diversity training programs seek to achieve a number of objectives including:
- Challenging racist attitudes.
- Training immigrants.
- Combating discrimination.
- Provision of equal opportunities as well as providing cultural allowances to different racial and cultural groups. (Wrench & Ouali, 1999)
Further, the programs usually have two stages including valuing diversity and managing it to accommodate diverse groups’ cultures and traits hence creating an acceptance of a heterogeneous culture and workforce for organizations and the nation at large. (Williams & O’Reilly, 1998)
In addition, diversity management is a broader management view in combating racism through broadening the policies of equal opportunities and discrimination from a few racial and minorities to include other groups. Through training, the programs also seek to promote acceptance of different groups’ different traits hence promoting change of attitude towards others despite their differences. This enhances racial differences’ acceptance without necessarily changing peoples’ traits and behaviors that they posses as a result of their affiliation to a certain races or groups. (Thomas & Roosevelt, 1990)
Works cited
Kelly, E. and Dobbin, F. “How Affirmative Action became Diversity Management”.
American Behavioral Scientist 47. 7 (1998).
Thomas, R. and Roosevelt, J. "From Affirmative Action to Affirming Diversity". Harvard
Business Review March/April (1990).
Williams, K. and O’Reilly, C. “Demography and Diversity in Organisations: A review of 40
years of research”. Research in Organizational Behavior, Jai Pres, Connecticut, 20.1 (1998).
Wrench, J., Rea A. and Ouali, N. Migrants, Ethnic Minorities and the Labor Market:
Integration and Exclusion in Europe. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1999. Print.
