Canada’s increasingly diverse population almost guarantees nationality-diversity at your firm, and you might be wondering—is it time for diversity training? A 2015 psychology study by Homan, Buengeler, Eckhoff, Ginkel, and Voelpel shows the positive effects of diversity training in workplaces where the team is nationality-diverse and when workers have negative prior diversity beliefs in the workplace. Diversity training programs are meant to enhance cultural awareness and sensitivity of workers amidst growing nationality, racial, and ethnic diversity in the workplace. And the study by Homan et al. offers a useful checklist for determining if diversity training at your firm is necessary.
However, according to Homan et al., a key to diversity training success is negative prior diversity beliefs in the work team. To better predict when this is the case, could a roadmap be created for firms based on source nations of immigrants? This is because there could be a link to explore between cultural homogeneity in the country of origin and negative workplace diversity beliefs, which might provide insight for when Canadian firms will benefit from diversity training. Before delving into the data, it’s important to understand the contextual variables Homan et al. bring to light.
Homan et al. Findings
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For example, there is a widespread notion that China is culturally homogenous. 91.6% of the Chinese population is composed of the Han ethnic group. If a Chinese employee has previously worked only with the ethnic majority in a culture of identical values, norms, and expected behaviors, then there might be a likelihood he or she views diversity negatively at work. For determining when training sessions are necessary, cultural homogeneity in source nation might suggest negative workplace diversity