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| Wentling, R. M., & Palma-Rivas, N. (1997). Current status and future trends of diversity initiatives in the workplace: Diversity experts' perspective (Diversity in the Workforce Series, Report No. 2; MDS-1082). Berkeley: National Center for Research in Vocational Education, University of California. |
The results of this study indicate that the demographic developments will continue to make the American society, the marketplace, and the workforce more diverse in the future. This implies that college departments offering HRD programs will have to provide their students with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in a very diverse society and workforce. To accomplish this, at least one course on diversity should be required for students specializing in HRD.
In addition, to be fully prepared to deal with the increasing demographic changes reflected in the diverse workforce, students specializing in HRD should be offered courses with various components of diversity. This means that educational institutions offering HRD programs need to modify their curricula and add diversity components to the courses they offer. For instance, the courses on instructional design should add a unit on diverse learning styles. HRD students have to be educated on the variety of learning styles and how people from different lifestyles and ethnic backgrounds learn better. Another example could be a course on team development, which could include at least one unit on diverse work team issues such as different styles in decision making and problem solving.
Human Resource Development college programs that have been largely white male dominated need to make efforts to recruit not only diverse students but also diverse faculty. In order to reflect what is currently happening in American society, HRD department leaders will have to make efforts to bring different perspectives to their departments. Having a diverse faculty and student body will help students better deal with the diversity that is in the workplace. This will also help in recruiting more diverse HRD students, which will assist in bringing a multicultural perspective to the HRD field. Having a diverse faculty and student body is a way of practicing diversity as a reality.
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| Wentling, R. M., & Palma-Rivas, N. (1997). Current status and future trends of diversity initiatives in the workplace: Diversity experts' perspective (Diversity in the Workforce Series, Report No. 2; MDS-1082). Berkeley: National Center for Research in Vocational Education, University of California. |
