5 Things We Learned About Creating a

DIVERSITY

Successful Workplace Diversity Program

by Allison-Scott Pruitt , Carolyn Brinkworth , Joshua Young and Kristen Luna Aponte
March 30, 2018

Nick Purser/Getty Images

Companies today spend millions of dollars on workplace diversity programs and outreach,
often with little to show for it. Research has found that most workplace diversity programs
fail to produce meaningful diversity and inclusion, and some have actually increased bias
among individual employees. In STEM fields, both the private and public sectors continue

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to struggle with recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. As of 2017, nearly 75% of
those in computing and mathematical fields were men and fewer than 15% were black or
Hispanic.

We kept this in mind when creating our own workplace diversity program. Three of us
(Brinkworth, Aponte, and Young) work at the University Corporation for Atmospheric
Research (UCAR), a large, federally funded institute that focuses on producing research
and supporting scholars in the atmospheric and earth sciences. Like many technical
workplaces, UCAR, which has approximately 1400 employees, has struggled to recruit and
retain women and people of color. But UCAR very strongly believes that diversity, equity,
and inclusion are fundamental to producing our best science.

In 2015, UCAR appointed Brinkworth as the Director for Diversity, Education, and
Outreach (DEO), (later called the Chief Diversity Officer), and was tasked with making
UCAR more diverse and inclusive. Shortly after that, a small group of employee
researchers led by Young asked about the lack of spaces within the organization to discuss
diversity-related topics — a critical issue for employee development and retention.
Brinkworth worked with these employees to co-create a diversity training program called
UNEION, which stands for UCAR|NCAR Equity and Inclusion.

UNEION is now a routinely offered, four-part course that covers topics related to power
and privilege, gender, and race, and includes a three-hour bystander intervention training.
The goal of the program is twofold: first, to train participants on how to build inclusive
teams, facilitate diversity-related conversations within their divisions, and identify other
practices that can promote a positive workplace culture; second, the program serves as a
community for those interested in fostering equity and offers a venue for action. More
than 80 employees have completed UNEION, and 10 have participated as organizers or
“lead learners.” We’ve found that UNEION has increased collaboration among
participants, helped research labs create more inclusive environments, and made
employees more actively engaged in diversity-related issues throughout the organization.

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More About UNEION
Participation in the program is voluntary
and any employee can join. Whereas
many similar diversity programs target
only managers and HR, we have
managers, administrative, and scientific
staff participate together in mixed groups
to capture multiple perspectives. Cohorts
range from 10 to 25 participants, and the
sessions incorporate a mix of discussion
and hands-on activities. The course
meets once a month for four months,
although many participants choose to
informally communicate, both online and
in person, between sessions.
The sessions are developed by organizers
or “lead learners” who act as
participants, rather than as instructors or
trainers, in order to maintain a flat
hierarchy. They create the reading list,
activities, and discussion topics for
UNEION. Most have formal training or
personal experience with diversity-
related issues, although this is not
required to participate. Materials from
both academic literature and popular
media, such as TED talks, are
incorporated into the sessions, and
participants are encouraged to share
having high levels of awareness before training can lead to more engagement in diversity-
related programs, UNEION focuses on 1) equipping participants to intervene when they
While we still meet resistance from
employees who do not understand how
diversity and inclusion are related to their
job in a scientific organization, this
resistance is becoming less common as we
continue to engage in change management
and make the case for inclusivity across
UCAR. After three years of iterating,
evaluating, and improving UNEION, we’ve
learned five key practices for how to
implement a successful workplace diversity
program:
Focus on intervention, not just bias
reduction
Many workplace diversity programs have
focused only on bias reduction. Studies have
shown that when employers require bias
reduction training, hostilities can actually
increase. In voluntary programs such as
UNEION, research suggests that those who
elect to participate already see themselves as
“pro-diversity.” That’s why we move beyond
attempting to reduce bias and toward
putting inclusion into action.
We learned that the majority of UNEION
participants were already aware of societal
biases and workplace barriers that women,
people of color, and other marginalized
groups face. Because research suggests
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see bias or harassment unfolding, and 2) training people on how to talk to others about
organizational diversity.

UNEION leaders dedicate one session to in-depth bystander intervention training, so

people know how to step in when they observe instances of bias and discrimination. The
training begins with a demonstration of different intervention techniques, with lead
learners role-playing a scenario (based on real instances that had been reported at UCAR),
asking the participants for interventions, then acting those suggestions out. For example,
in one prompt, the group is asked to respond to a situation where a white researcher tells
an Asian colleague that they “work well together because… well, you’re white in my book!”
Participants then separate into small groups to review the scenarios, devise a strategy to
intervene, and act it out in front of others.

Participants consistently report this session as the most impactful, having boosted their
confidence to intervene appropriately with peers, supervisors, and upper management.
Follow-up surveys have found that 80% of past participants reported they did intervene in
inappropriate workplace situations after receiving this training.

While UNEION does include readings and activities designed to challenge participants’
views of workplace inclusion, the goal is to put those ideas into action. At each session,
lead learners introduce community resources for improving diversity and inclusion. For
example, participants not only discussed why systemic racial inequalities and sexism can
lead to fewer women and people of color in STEM, but also how to improve UCAR’s
student outreach programs and local organizations that could support those efforts.

Alongside these pieces, UCAR has made significant structural efforts to be a more
inclusive organization, including undertaking a comprehensive workplace culture study,
developing a diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic plan, expanding an outreach and
mentoring program for underrepresented students, revamping hiring procedures, and
reviewing policies to ensure they are equitable for all. These efforts have significantly
shifted the conversation about diversity and inclusion at UCAR. An optional full-day

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retreat in November 2017 attracted more than 10% of UCAR’s staff and approximately 85%
of our senior leadership to discuss future diversity and inclusion efforts and strategic
planning.

Invite non-managers to foster communication across the organization

Many workplace diversity trainings tend to target only managers. Because previous
research shows there are benefits to recruiting diverse groups in terms of race and gender
for trainings, UNEION lead learners also emphasize recruiting from all levels of the
organization, including non-technical and clerical staff. Research has also shown that
inviting non-managers to diversity and inclusion workshops can help organizations better
identify points of conflict and possible resolutions. Approximately one-third of past
participants have been research staff, and two-thirds have been administrative employees
(many of whom have scientific training but are working in program or education-related
roles). Over 40% of UNEION participants are in management roles. And over half of past
participants we surveyed said they formed collaborations with people in different research
areas or departments from their cohort.

At a recent Diversity Action Summit at UCAR, over 140 employees convened to

collectively identify UCAR’s unique challenges and opportunities for diversity and
inclusion, as well as develop responsive strategies and short-term action steps to create a
more inclusive environment in each laboratory and workgroup. We followed up on these
plans with customized workshops for each lab, program, and department to help them
identify priority areas in order to see positive cultural change.

Keep the focus on workplace issues, not personal ones

Personal issues and career paths are inevitably intertwined. The lack of diversity and
inclusion in workplaces can also be due to personal decisions or other non-workplace
factors. For example, research from the Center for Talent Innovation shows that more
women than men have to pause their careers to take care of children or aging parents.
People of color and LGBT individuals also face additional challenges, both in and out of the
workplace, to advancing their technical careers.

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So initially, UNEION embraced the overlap between work and home and included
readings and discussions related to topics such as childhood socialization and parenting.
However, feedback from those sessions indicated that participants wanted the focus to be
on workplace issues and inclusion at all levels of the organization. We also saw research
suggesting that diversity training be solely focused on business issues.

The session was reworked to acknowledge external challenges that can impact work
performance, advancement, and career choice, while keeping the conversation away from
the explicitly personal, such as parenting choices. This kept the issues grounded in the
context of work, an important feature of successful diversity programs, while maintaining
a forum for people to discuss the ways in which personal identity can affect one’s
experience in the organization.

Keep the conversation going to stay accountable

Research shows that the most successful workplace diversity programs are those with
higher levels of continued engagement and accountability, such as task forces, diversity
managers, and mentoring programs. So, during and after the course, lead learners began
holding one-on-one meetings, workshops, and town halls, and encouraging participation
in diversity-related outreach programs. Lead learners also promote a cohort mentality
among participants by encouraging collaboration and informal information sharing.

Many past participants have ongoing relationships with UNEION leaders and the Office of
Diversity and Inclusion at UCAR. Nearly 90% of those surveyed who completed UNEION
have incorporated diversity and inclusion into their team building activities, outreach
efforts, and recruitment and retention plans. And we’ve found that many people get
introduced to UNEION and other diversity-related programs at UCAR through UNEION
alumni.

Be flexible, in both content and delivery

There is no one-size fits all curriculum for workplace diversity programs. Each
organization and even each group of participants will have different needs, so facilitators
should be flexible in their content, delivery, and structure.
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UNEION is now designed so only the introduction has set content. The remaining sessions
are developed by the lead learners based on pre-workshop surveys that provide
information about the interests, challenges, and biases of participants. This means
readings and activities vary greatly by cohort based on the needs of the group. For
example, in one cohort, many people raised questions about so-called “reverse racism” in
the pre-course survey, a concept not previously addressed in the course. The flexible
structure allowed lead learners to change the content to specifically address “reverse
racism,” which resulted in a 23% decrease in the number of people in that cohort who felt
“reverse racism” was an issue at UCAR.

Each cohort brings new challenges and learning opportunities. Although we strive to both
expand our course offerings and keep previous cohorts engaged, as a small office with
resource constraints, we have to make compromises. We want to respect the time of our
lead learners, who participate in UNEION in addition to their normal workplace
responsibilities. Besides being the “right thing to do,” we know that building a more
diverse and inclusive community of researchers, educators, and support staff will help
UCAR produce more creative and innovative scientific outcomes.

Allison-Scott Pruitt is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Colorado-
Boulder.  She has contributed to research and evaluation at the National Center for Women and Information
Technology (NCWIT) since 2015.

Carolyn Brinkworth, PhD is the chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at UCAR.
Joshua Young is the community services manager for the Unidata Program Center at UCAR.
Kristen Luna Aponte is the diversity, equity and inclusion specialist at UCAR.
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