Enhance Equity of Training
Employee training is often seen as gender/race/class neutral. The thinking is that if we treat everybody the same, a training is equitable and inclusive.
Typical examples of employee training programmes are:
- sales training
- marketing training
- communication training
- management training
However, extensive academic research, including my own, highlights the many ways in which for example sex/gender impacts training and training outcome.
Currently, Training and Development is a blind spot in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategies. except for standalone, DEI focussed, programmes.
Ignoring the impact of social categories such as sex/gender and race, means that training may not only maintain, but also create inequity.
To ensure training is inclusive and equitable:
- a neutral approach to training is not good enough
- the role of sex/gender and other social categories in training and learning needs to be recognised and addressed
- Learning and Development professionals need to be enabled and empowered to ensure their training is equitable and inclusive