Instead of reducing racial bias and increasing inclusion, DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) training actually tends to do the opposite – and results in unwarranted accusations of bias – a study by Rutgers University and the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) finds.
The study, “Instructing Animosity: How DEI Pedagogy Produces the Hostile Attribution Bias,” was conducted by NCRI in collaboration with Rutgers University Social Lab and released on November 13, 2024. It focused on diversity training that emphasizes awareness of, and opposition to, “systemic oppression.”
By examining lectures, trainings and educational resources purported to educate participants about their prejudice and bias in order to eliminate discrimination, the study found that “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 (Burnett and Aguinis, 2024). DEI initiatives seen as affirmative action rather than business strategy can provoke backlash, increasing rather than reducing racial resentment7 (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 employees8 (Leslie, 2019; Kalev, Dobbin, & Kelly, 2006).”
“In other words, some DEI programs appear to backfire,” the study found.
DEI training also tends to stereotype all members of so-called “dominant groups” as oppressive, racist or fascist, the study concluded:
“The prominent ‘anti-oppressive pedagogy’ in DEI programming can carry perceived rhetorical threats for those whose politics or other beliefs run counter to the fundamental premises of the critical paradigm from which the pedagogy derives. Programming may reflexively cast members of so-called ‘dominant’ groups or those who disagree with ‘anti-oppressive,’ ‘anti-racist,’ or modern-day ‘anti-fascist’ framings as oppressive, racist, or fascist.”
This stereotyping and heightened sensitivity promoted by the DEI training leads to unwarranted accusations and punishments of “imaginary prejudice,” according to the study:
“Across all groupings, instead of reducing bias, they engendered a hostile attribution bias (Epps & Kendall, 1995), amplifying perceptions of prejudicial hostility where none was present, and punitive responses to the imaginary prejudice.”
“These results highlight the complex and often counterproductive impacts of pedagogical elements and themes prevalent in mainstream DEI training,” the study found.
Read “Instructing Animosity: How DEI Pedagogy Produces the Hostile Attribution Bias” here.