Diversity is without evidence

This is an example of regulation without knowledge or consideration. You see, my ideal workforce is Hutterites or Amish. A tight Mennonite cult. Work hard. Clear rules. Males only. One culture. Admittedly, this would not work that well in my profession… but it once did: the York Asylum was owned, managed and staffed exclusively by Quakers.

My workforce from hell is diverse because the drama is a tax.

  1. Notwithstanding the enormous literature on prejudice, psychologists are a long way from demonstrating the most effective ways to reduce prejudice. Due to weaknesses n the internal and external validity of existing research, the literature does not reveal
    whether, when, and why interventions reduce prejudice in the world.
  2. Entire genres of prejudice-reduction interventions, including diversity training, educational programs, and sensitivity training in health and law enforcement professions, have never been evaluated with experimental methods
  3. Nonexperimental research in the field has yielded information about prejudice-reduction program implementation, but it cannot answer the question of what works to reduce prejudice in these real-world settings.

Screenshot from 2016-08-29 16-03-13

Tripling down on diversity (or in the local context, Treaty of Waitangi training) can have the opposite result.

Also, the more it becomes common knowledge that pretty much everyone who is not one of these pampered, indulged, useless minority groups feels the same way about “diversity training,” the less effective it will become and the more openly it will be ignored or mocked. I can easily imagine that, at some point, senior executive managers will begin saying to themselves “ok, so I have two choices: 1) hire more oxygen thieves and be driven out of business by being overwhelmed with internal incompetence and not being any longer able to produce anything, or 2) refuse to hire anymore of such (and fire the few that I’m now stuck with) and have the State fine me out of existence. Since I’m screwed either way, I might as well opt for the latter, fight the good fight, and be productive with what little life is left in the company.”

Imagine also if productivity rose astronomically if option 2 were chosen.

Far better to work within the tribes we have. As a medic, I have to work across tribes; you mentally visit the patients tribe when you work with them. For diversity is not the goal: recovery or productivity is.

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