Topic Statement

I chose to investigate the effectiveness of diversity training within organizations. I

believe that this topic is relevant to today’s issues, both as information professionals and as
members of a larger society. The question of how best to stimulate cultural awareness within
employees is a newer topic compared to others, and much debate still exists on the best way to
address cultural competency within organizations.
For this topic, I chose to select articles discussing various methods used in diversity
training and the effects of those select methods on employee behavior or perceptions. Not much
has been written about the effectiveness of diversity training within libraries, therefore the
training methods described in these articles were mainly enacted in universities with participants
being undergraduate or graduate students. In addition to including articles on the effects of
different training methods, some articles also covered employee perception for the need of
diversity training and employee characteristics that may or may not hinder the effectiveness of
the method used to implement diversity training. These articles covered diversity training within
organizations located within the United States.

Annotated Bibliography

Chung, Y., Gully, S. M., & Lovelace, K. J. (2017). Predicting readiness for diversity training:

The influence of perceived ethnic discrimination and dyadic dissimilarity. Journal of

Personnel Psychology, 16(1), 25-35. doi: 10.1027/1866-5888/a000170

This study investigated how an employee’s perception of ethnic discrimination within the
workplace, and how the perception of ethnic dissimilarity between an employee and their
supervisor, affects employee readiness for diversity training. Specific factors indicating employee
readiness that were correlated to employee perceptions were an employee’s motivation to learn,
self-efficacy, intention to use, and perceived utility of the training material. Researchers
hypothesized that when workers believe there is ethnic discrimination within the workplace and
when they believe there is a cultural clash (ethnic dissimilarity) between them and their supervisor,
there is a positive relationship between these notions and the factors previously listed. Researchers
also hypothesized that a cultural clash with a supervisor will strengthen the positive relationship
between perceived ethnic discrimination and one’s readiness for diversity training. Two out of
three hypotheses were supported by results; a positive relationship between employee perception
of ethnic discrimination and their motivation to learn and consider diversity training material
useful was found, but no significant relationship between the ethnic dissimilarity of an employee
and supervisor, and an employee’s readiness for diversity training. Although ethnic dissimilarity
alone was not found to influence the readiness for diversity training, when present with a
perception of ethnic discrimination it was found to strengthen an employee’s motivation to learn
and consider training content useful.

Hode, M.G, Behm-Morawitz, E., & Hays, A. (2017). Testing the effectiveness of an online

diversity course for faculty and staff. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 1-19.

doi:10.1037/dhe0000063

This study investigated the cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning effectiveness of
an online diversity course for faculty and staff at a university campus. Researchers asked the
following questions: (a) do participants show an increase belief in the value of diversity in an
educational institution? (b) do participants show an increased understanding of social privilege?
(c) to what extent do participants report an increased openness toward learning about people
from different identity groups and cultures? Researchers hypothesized that the effectiveness of
the online course would depend upon participants’ geographic backgrounds and comfort levels
with computer-mediated discussions. A significant change in pretest to post-test answers by
participants was identified; these results indicated that participants did show an increase in the
value of diversity and an increase awareness of social privileges held. Both hypotheses were
proven to be true as participants from populated areas and comfortable with computers indicated
greater learning than those who were from rural areas or were uncomfortable with online
learning.

Lindsey, A., King, E., Hebl, M., & Levine, N. (2015). The impact of method, motivation, and

empathy on diversity training effectiveness. Journal Of Business And Psychology, 30(3),

605-617. doi: 10.1007/s10869-014-9384-3

This study investigated how the three different diversity training methods of perspective
taking, goal setting, and stereotype discrediting, effect overall training outcomes based on
motivational focus and a participant’s level of empathy. Researchers hypothesized that (a)
training methods involving perspective taking and goal setting will be associated with more
favorable diversity-related attitudes and behaviors when compared to the stereotype discrediting
method (b) internal motivation to respond without prejudice will partially mediate the
relationships between diversity training methods and diversity-related attitudes and behaviors
and (c) empathy will moderate the mediating role of internal motivation to respond without
prejudice, such that the indirect effect will exist for those who are low in empathy, but not for
those who are high in empathy. Results weakly supported the first hypothesis; participants within
the perspective taking methods group were more understanding of LGB individuals than
participants from other methods but outcomes from the goal setting methods group were not
significant. The second and third hypothesis were found to be true. Perspective-taking method
was found to have the best overall outcome.

Mestre, L. S. (2010). Librarians working with diverse populations: What impact does cultural

competency training have on their efforts? The Journal of Academic Librarianship,

36(6), 479-488. doi:10.1016/J.acalib.2010.08.003

This study investigated librarians’ readiness to work in multicultural settings based on

training received before having entered the field. Researchers in this study asked the question:
what diversity training do librarians receive prior to entering their position and is that training
sufficient for becoming culturally competent? Results indicated that diversity training received
by librarians and the skills and knowledge associated with it, is severely lacking and needs to be
better addressed. More than one third of the librarians surveyed felt they lacked the skills and
qualifications needed for their positions in working with various cultures and over half of those
surveyed had not planned on working in such a position. Results also indicated that participants
believed one way schools could integrate more multicultural aspects in librarianship studies
would be to incorporate multicultural elements into all courses.

Roberson, L., Kulik, C., & Pepper, M. (2001). Designing effective diversity training: Influence

of group composition and trainee experience. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22(8),

871-885. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.kent.edu/stable/pdf/3649576.

pdf?refreqid=excelsior:d7ea80bf760071808e40932317d38ac1

This study investigated how cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes of a diversity
training session are influenced by similar or dissimilar demographic groups, and how
participants’ prior experience with diversity training influences the effectiveness of these groups.
Researchers asked the question: How should training groups be formed (demographically
heterogeneous or homogeneous) to enhance the effectiveness of diversity training? It was
hypothesized that trainees with low levels of experience will respond more positively to
heterogeneous training groups, while trainees with high levels of experience are expected to
respond more positively to homogenous training groups. Results partially supported the
hypothesis as participants with less experience did not do better or worse based on the group they
were a member of for diversity training. Participants with more diversity training experience,
however, were noted to excel in homogeneous groups.