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Organizational diversity training is designed to enhance employees' skills and competencies regarding diversity and its management. The question of its effectiveness, and the conditions under which it thrives, remains a matter of debate. Unlike previous studies that have predominantly focused on the perspective of training participants, this study shifts the lens to the viewpoints of diversity training providers in Germany – a country where the formal requirement for diversity management was implemented relatively recently. The primary objective is to ascertain the critical factors influencing training effectiveness from the providers' perspective.

This research draws upon case studies based on document analysis and qualitative interviews with diversity training providers across Germany.

The investigation reveals that the effectiveness of diversity training, as perceived by providers, hinges on several key factors: the organizational environment (including the widespread recognition of diversity issues and the presence of an organizational diversity framework), the attributes of diversity trainers (notably their personal familiarity with diversity) and the setting and design of the training (such as venue, duration and a blend of instructional approaches). A notable barrier to achieving effective training outcomes is the lack of supportive conditions within client companies, exemplified by limited training budgets, which impedes the accurate assessment of training effectiveness.

This study marks a novel contribution to the field by explicitly focusing on the perspective of diversity training providers in Germany. It provides new insights into the importance of the organizational context surrounding diversity education within the private sector.

Transformation and involvement from every organizational function are essential in creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. The paper explores the role of training and development (T&D) interventions in building a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Through the review of existing research studies, the authors report and discuss how T&D function supports fostering a diversity and inclusion (D&I) mindset in the workplace and propose an organizational schema that facilitates the systematic design and implementation of T&D interventions for D&I.

Based on the literature an organizational schema was developed which indicated that to foster a D&I mindset in the workplace, it is important that diversity training is designed after considering established diversity theories. Further diversity training can be conducted in two phases, where phase 1 would focus on awareness training and phase 2 on skill training. This would lead to an increase in employee competency development including knowledge, skills, behavior, and a positive attitude toward a D&I mindset.

HR and training managers can benefit from the paper indicating that for achieving effective results from diversity training, it must draw insights from established diversity theories. Through the organizational schema discussed in the paper, organizations can minimize the negative attitude and behavior that emerge from social categorization with the help of systematic T&D where employees are made self-aware of their prejudice and discrimination and further equipped with relevant skills to manage diversity.

A positive mindset incorporated by employees at a workplace with reference to Diversity & Inclusion through structured D& I training can percolate beneficially to the society as a whole.

The study is a rare one that explores the impact of T&D on D&I. The novelty of the research lies in the organizational schema presented in the study exploring how HR practitioners must systematically design T&D for D&I combining both theory and practice to achieve long-term organizational diversity management objectives.

Neurodiversity refers to a spectrum of neurological differences. Little is known about the benefits and challenges of employing neurodivergent individuals in the retail industry and how knowing neurodivergent individuals/neurodiversity practices are linked to benefits/challenges. This study provides these insights using the lenses of the value-in-diversity perspective, stigma theory and intergroup contact theory.

Data were collected from an online survey of retail supervisors and co-workers from Australia, resulting in 502 responses from various retail organizations.

The findings indicate that supervisors have higher awareness of neurodiversity and perceived benefits of neurodivergent employees. Knowing neurodivergents was positively associated with perceived benefits and disclosure challenges and negatively associated with equity and inclusion challenges. Neurodiversity practices were positively associated with benefits of neurodivergent employees, negatively associated with disclosure challenges and equity and inclusion challenges in small stores, and positively associated with equity and inclusion challenges in large stores.

Current empirical research on workplace neurodiversity is scarce. This study provides pioneering evidence for awareness of workplace neurodiversity in the retail industry and the impact of knowing neurodivergent employees/neurodiversity practices on benefits and challenges. It differentiates between supervisors' and co-workers’ perceptions, highlighting the importance of exposure to information in reducing stigma.

Research related to workplace accommodation requests for employees with mental illness is scarce, though evidence suggests that these individuals often fail to request accommodations even when needed. The authors' research study aimed to address these shortcomings by (1) assessing employees' knowledge of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) laws and how this knowledge influences employees' perceived need for and requests of accommodations; (2) examining the relationship between employees' perceived need for accommodations and employees' workplace outcomes and (3) examining the relationship between perceived need for accommodations and employees' actual accommodation requests, as well as how stigma influences this relationship.

The authors used two survey studies to investigate their research questions. Study 1 participants were recruited through Amazon's MTurk, and Study 2 participants were recruited through support groups for individuals diagnosed with mood disorders (i.e. depression and bipolar disorder).

The authors found significant gaps in both subjective and objective ADA-related knowledge among participants in their sample. The authors' Study 1 results also revealed an interaction between the perceived need for accommodations and accommodation requests in predicting job satisfaction and turnover intentions. When employees needed accommodations but did not request them, it resulted in worsened workplace outcomes. In Study 2, the authors aimed to identify barriers to requesting accommodations. The authors found that the relationship between perceived need for accommodations and actual accommodation requests was moderated by both public and self-stigma, thereby showing that stigma can impede individuals from requesting needed accommodations at work.

The authors' study sheds light on a population that has been relatively understudied in the workplace accommodations literature, namely those with mental illness. The authors first identify the perceived need for accommodations as an important factor in making accommodations requests at work, as prior work has failed to differentiate how the need for accommodations can vary across individuals. Next, the authors show how workplace outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction and turnover intentions) are negatively affected when employees need accommodations but do not request them. Finally, the authors demonstrate how both public stigma and self-stigma can reduce the likelihood that individuals request accommodations at work, even when needed.

The purpose of this study is to explore how intercultural competencies impact the employment of young people, and to showcase virtuous examples of practices by the University of Turin and the company Global Mindset Development.

Drawing upon a comprehensive review of relevant literature, this paper highlights the theoretical foundations of intercultural competencies and their relevance to labor market integration. It examines their multidimensional nature, encompassing knowledge, skills, attitudes and awareness necessary for individuals to effectively navigate and engage with diverse cultural contexts. The paper then presents several good and promising practices realized by the University of Turin and the training and consultancy company Global Mindset Development. Furthermore, it addresses potential challenges associated with developing and implementing intercultural competencies in practice.

The study enriches the body of literature on the importance of intercultural competencies for young workers acquired through experiences such as international mobility for labor market integration.

The study presents some innovative approaches to training through experiential and mobility training programs. These new examples of practices can inspire further research and implementation.

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of the implementation of safety-oriented knowledge management (KM) processes and student diversity acceptance in schools and the interaction effect of safety-oriented KM processes and student diversity acceptance over school performance and student academic orientation.

Responses of 977 American schools available in the database of the National Center for Education Statistics were analyzed using hierarchical regression analyses.

Results show that implementation of safety-oriented KM processes and diversity acceptance in schools have varying effects on school performance and student academic orientation. The impact of knowledge acquisition from parents on the academic achievement of students is positive and stronger in schools that are low in student diversity acceptance than schools that are high in student diversity acceptance.

This study adds value to the KM literature by exploring how KM processes are executed in American schools to improve their performance and students’ academic orientation and how diversity among students alters the strength of the relationships.

Diversity management is of great importance in the hospitality industry, resulting in a host of constructive consequences if managed effectively. However, there is a deficiency of investigation surrounding the outcomes of diversity management on the employees' attitudes and behavior in the hospitality industry. This research sought to investigate the influence of diversity management on workers' performance and conduct in the hospitality industry.

This quantitative study used survey data from 565 hospitality industry employees. Structural equation modeling was used to test the relationships from the research model.

This study identified a relationship between diversity management and positive workforce-related outcomes, including job performance, service innovation behavior and employee engagement in the hospitality industry.

The findings of this study will push the confines of diversity management scholarship and initiate new paths of academic inquiry. Hospitality industry managers can also identify the benefits of effective diversity management as a consequence of this study.

This research contributes to the growing literature on diversity management as an essential aspect of human resources management in promoting positive employee attitudes and behaviors.

The objective of this proposal was to propose an educational innovation resource for the delivery of workshops with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA) themes aimed at students in high school and middle school to promote complex thinking as a necessary competency for understanding their continuously changing environment.

Training for sexual and gender diversity challenges higher education institutions, some of which have bet on developing complex thinking to meet this need. Although not all universities have sufficient resources to create activities that foster relevant and diversity-sensitive competencies, some have implemented strategies ranging from modifying their curricula to designing specific classroom tasks that support student inclusion. In response to the challenges faced by higher education institutions (HEIs) to promote the acquisition of thinking skills for complexity, this paper proposes deploying a humanoid robot as an educational innovation tool in training initiatives that promote issues of sexual and gender diversity. The deployment model is described, considering design, delivery and evaluation. The value of this proposal lies in using humanoid robotics as a classroom resource within the framework of social robotics, considering its implications in the educational context to develop complex thinking competency and training for diversity in higher education students.

The data presented here highlight the importance of educational institutions integrating content into their plans, programs and activities (both curricular and extracurricular) that promote inclusion and sexual and gender diversity and attractive teaching strategies to reinforce this perspective. So, this proposal offers a support tool for implementing this content in everyday educational contexts where the objectives focus on triggering complex reasoning competencies.

The varied responses and perceptions of students towards robotics and sexual diversity, as well as the lack of clear methods to assess educational outcomes, may compromise the effectiveness of the intervention.

The workshop proposed in this paper is configured as a series of iterations and repetitions in different educational fields, whether disciplinary (e.g. design or engineering) or transversal (e.g. entrepreneurship). The goal is to achieve educational strategies that generate a more significant impact at the institutional level. In this sense, the present proposal joins the actions implemented by other higher education institutions to make sexual and gender diversity visible to university students.

The overall aim is to bring awareness, understanding and education to students with an inclusive, respectful and equitable perspective.

Social robotics is an innovative and attractive tool for young people at the higher education level. We consider our study a pioneer in the area.

The most common reaction to an acute physical illness is anxiety, which may be followed by depression. In patients with chronic diseases, the prevalence of anxiety disorders and depression is almost twice as high as in other diseases. This study aims to extract prominent components in the design of treatment spaces on reducing hospitalized patients’ depression from both experts and patients/users’ point of views. A final model is also presented based on the findings.

This research used an exploratory mixed method. The effective components were extracted through the administration of two Likert-scale researcher-made questionnaires in two phases. Q factor analysis was conducted to reach the components. A total of 205 patients were admitted to Namazi Hospital in Shiraz, and 20 architecture and psychology experts participated in the survey. Final modeling of the data was done through path analysis.

Six factors were found to be effective by experts in reducing depression in therapeutic spaces: nature-oriented space, targeted social space, diverse space, visual comfort, logical process and safe space. On the part of patients, seven components were deemed to be effective: visual perception, naturalism, functionalism, physical security, logical process, psychological safety and diversity. Also, four main cycles were extracted from the final model with the direct effect of diversity and the other five cycles were mediated by naturalism.

A total of 15 interviews with architects and psychologists, who were available at the time of the study, were conducted in January 2018. The only general question during interviews was “In your opinion, what factors are effective in reducing the level of depression of patients in the design of treatment spaces?” This may have limited the range of factors that could be surveyed in the study. After collecting the effective factors from the aforementioned expert’s points of view, the questionnaire of experts was designed (Appendix). The expert questionnaires were distributed and edited in two stages in January 2019 among 20 architect experts who were available at the time of the study. The one-year interval between designing and administering the questionnaires occurred because of the limitations posed by the COVID-19 pandemic situation. However, the interval did not pose methodological obstacles for the study.

Evidence-based investigation of the effectiveness of proper design components of therapeutic spaces in reducing the symptoms of patients with chronic secondary depression has received little attention in the literature. Using a “conceptual model,” the present study brought the issue into its focus so as to find effective components in the design of treatment spaces that can alleviate depression symptoms in chronically hospitalized patients.