The Mixed Effects of Online Diversity Training

Authors: Edward H. Chang, University of Pennsylvania, Katherine L. Milkman, University of Pennsylvania, Dena M. Gromet, University of Pennsylvania, Robert W. Rebele, University of Pennsylvania, Cade Massey, University of Pennsylvania, Angela L. Duckworth, University of Pennsylvania, Adam M. Grant, University of Pennsylvania

Although diversity training is commonplace in organizations, the relative scarcity of field experiments testing its effectiveness leaves ambiguity about whether diversity training improves attitudes and behaviors toward women and racial minorities. The authors present the results of a large field experiment (with 3,016 subjects) in an international organization testing whether a short online diversity training can affect attitudes and behaviors toward women in the workplace. The preregistered field experiment included an active placebo control and measured participants' attitudes and real workplace decisions up to 20 weeks post-intervention. Although they found evidence of attitude change and some limited behavior change as a result of the training, the results suggest that the one-off diversity trainings that are commonplace in organizations are not panaceas for remedying bias in the workplace.