Beyond the Business Case: An Ethical Perspective of Diversity Training

an article by Kristen P. Jones, Eden B. King and David S. Geller (George Mason University), Johnathan Nelson (Morehead State University) and Lynn Bowes-Sperry (Western New England University) published in Human Resource Management Volume 52 Issue 1 (January/February 2013)

Abstract

Extant literature on diversity training programs continues to yield little evidence of their overall effectiveness. Whereas the most common approach to diversity training entails justifying the value of diversity on the basis of its contribution to the organization’s bottom line, we argue that approaching diversity training from an ethical perspective may bolster the effectiveness of traditional approaches.

Specifically, to the degree that traditional bottom-line justifications are enhanced with social justice arguments, training effectiveness will increase.

In the following article, we discuss traditional approaches to diversity training, provide a general overview of ethics, discuss how theory and research from behavioural ethics literature might help to address some of the challenges faced in diversity training, and draw from ethics literature to make specific, novel suggestions about the implementation and presentation of diversity training.

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