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Diversity Training and Intergroup Contact: A Call to Action Research
Author(s) -
Paluck Elizabeth Levy
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2006.00474.x
Subject(s) - diversity (politics) , diversity training , prejudice (legal term) , inclusion (mineral) , promotion (chess) , psychology , psychological intervention , action (physics) , training (meteorology) , social psychology , grounded theory , intervention (counseling) , cultural diversity , affirmative action , applied psychology , public relations , sociology , qualitative research , political science , social science , physics , quantum mechanics , psychiatry , politics , meteorology , anthropology , law
Diversity training is a type of prejudice reduction and social inclusion intervention in need of “action research”—an integration of research and theory with practice ( Lewin, 1946 ). Hundreds of workplaces and schools use some form of diversity training, but most interventions are not grounded in theory and there is little evidence of program impact. A recent study of a school diversity training program illustrates how action research can address theoretical issues using experimental methods and unobtrusive outcome measures. For future research, the literature on intergroup contact ( Pettigrew, 1998 ) can provide theoretical guidance while testing and refining its principles in the application and investigation of diversity training. Action research will benefit diversity training and the broader theoretical and applied project of prejudice reduction and the promotion of social inclusion.