NCRI:

DEI programs purport to cultivate inclusive environments for people from diverse backgrounds and encourage greater empathy in interpersonal interactions. A key component of DEI offerings lies in diversity pedagogy: Lectures, trainings and educational resources ostensibly designed to educate participants about their prejudice and bias in order to eliminate discrimination 1 (Iyer, 2022). As institutions across corporate and educational sectors increasingly embed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) into their foundational strategies, it is crucial to evaluate the effectiveness of common aspects of this pedagogy.

A 2023 study by the Pew Research Center 2 found that 52% of American workers have DEI meetings or training events at work, and according to Iris Bohnet, a professor of public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, $8 billion is spent annually on such programs. 3 Despite widespread investment in and adoption of diversity pedagogy through lectures, educational resources, and training, assessments of efficacy have produced mixed results.

A meta-analysis by Paluck et al. (2021) found that too few studies in the field have investigated real-world impact on “light-touch” interventions or seminars and training programs. 4 Taken together, the limited evidence suggests that some DEI programs not only fail to achieve their goals but can actively undermine diversity efforts. Specifically, mandatory trainings that focus on particular target groups can foster discomfort and perceptions of unfairness 5 (Burnett and Aguinis, 2024). DEI initiatives seen as affirmative action rather than business strategy can provoke backlash, 6 increasing rather than reducing racial resentment 7 (Kidder et al., 2004; Legault et al. (2001). And diversity initiatives aimed at managing bias can fail, sometimes resulting in decreased representation and triggering negativity among employees 8 (Leslie, 2019; Kalev, Dobbin, & Kelly, 2006). In other words, some DEI programs appear to backfire.9