9 Top Diversity and Inclusion Training Programs in 2024
Are you looking for the best diversity and inclusion training programs?
Diversity and inclusion are rising in importance in the workplace, both for employers and employees. Besides teaching the basics, employers must also bake diversity and inclusion into the organization’s organizational culture to bolster a positive work environment.
With appropriate diversity and inclusion training, you can help your employees learn how DEI works, the company’s viewpoint, and how to generate an inclusive work environment. By supporting diversity training programs, you create a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Top 9 Diversity and Inclusion Training Programs
In the modern work environment, diversity impact businesses more than before. As a result, there are many diversity training programs that you can opt-in for.
In this article, we’ll review the best diversity training programs. We’ll rank them by price, duration, and how they help you to educate employees about diversity and inclusion. Let’s begin.
1. Diversity and Inclusion Certification Course – HR University
Duration: Online Self-Paced
Price: $299
At the top of our lists sits the Diversity and Inclusion Certification Course by HR University. HR University is a professional HR platform offering many different courses, and the DEI course is one of the best. Not only does it provide a comprehensive course that will teach you everything about professional diversity and inclusion, but the platform also provides other possibilities to help out HR professionals, such as networking possibilities.
The diversity and inclusion training program is excellent for beginner and experienced HR professionals looking to implement diversity and inclusion in their company culture. Or, if you’re a novice HR professional who needs additional knowledge to become competitive in the market, this course has your back.
As such, this course is best for managers, team leaders, and business owners who want to provide helpful educational material to their HR professionals.
This diversity and inclusion program covers the following elements:
- Core and advanced diversity concepts
- Deep dive personality
- Introduction to bias training, unconscious bias, and microbial
- Microaggression management
- Employee satisfaction management
- Types of effective DEI leaderships
- Data collection and analysis
- Succession planning
The diversity and inclusion training program includes quizzes, tutorials, and case studies to provide practical on top of theoretical knowledge. You can also check interviews with HR professionals talking about experiences. Moreover, the certification you can get upon completing the course will come in handy when looking for a new job opportunity.
If you want to become a diversity and inclusion expert, the HR University’s course is a fantastic choice since you don’t need prior experience to master different inclusive environment concepts. As such, it’s our definite number one choice.
2. eCornell – Cornell University Diversity & Inclusion Certificate Program
Duration: 2 months
Price: $3,600 one-time fee/ $650 six-monthly fee
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certification Program by Cornell University is another fantastic choice for any HR professional since the university has a record of creating top-quality online training programs.
The university’s diversity training program is an excellent choice for business owners who want to master the concepts of DEI and then bake them into their organizational culture through employee training. Cornell’s DEI program delivers many outstanding elements.
The program discusses employee engagement and delves into unconscious bias and inclusion strategies. You’ll gain valuable insights into fostering inclusivity by understanding psychological processes that impact human interactions.
A major standout is the inclusion of Symposiums, which provide a unique learning experience and a year full of valuable DEI content for ongoing learning and engagement.
One downside compared to the HR University’s diversity and inclusion training course is the price. While the price won’t matter much to company owners, it might be too expensive for individuals looking to learn more.
Nevertheless, this course also equips you with everything you need to drive inclusion initiatives in your organization.
3. Udemy Courses
Duration: Self-paced
Price: Free/ Between $12 and $35
For people who lack the time to go over robust diversity and inclusion training programs, courses on Udemy are the way to go. For example, the Diversity And Inclusion In The Workplace will teach you all the basics that you need in an hour.
You’ll learn about the social benefits and enhanced profitability associated with diverse and inclusive environments and get a holistic understanding of its value. It also works for professionals who need to refresh their knowledge and are short on time with implementing diversity and inclusion strategies.
Another key focus of the program is identifying and addressing barriers to inclusion. You’ll learn strategies to overcome such barriers and also basic concepts of microaggressions and unconscious bias.
Staying informed of diversity and inclusion is crucial, and this and similar Udemy courses are an effective way to stay in the loop. The downside is that it won’t be enough for people in need of a greater diversity and inclusion training. But if you’re only looking to scratch the diversity and inclusion surface, this is a great place to start.
You can also learn the importance of measuring diversity and inclusion efforts. Many courses teach you the concepts and strategies, without telling how to know when the strategy works. Although an hour isn’t enough to learn everything you need about DEI measurements, it opens the door to grasping the idea and keeping it in the back of your mind.
Overall, if you combine multiple Udemy courses, you’ll get a comprehensive overview of how to include diversity and inclusion initiatives in your organization. But in that case, it’s better to go for one of the aforementioned inclusion training programs.
4. ProProfs
There are many things to like about ProProfs’s workplace diversity training software. First, it’s fantastic if you have a large workforce.
The premium course library provides access to over 100 ready-to-use online courses and templates you can use as a team manager. With the extensive library, your organization won’t run out of inclusion training material.
The virtual classroom is what makes this diversity training program for teaching a large and diverse workforce. There are quizzes, options to assign different courses and many tools that make management easy. Some tools are real-time tracking tools for employee training progress and creating reports.
Another reason why the program works is if you’re running a dispersed workforce. You and your employees gain the flexibility to access training resources at any time and from any location. Instead of losing time gathering everyone in a single (virtual) place, participants can access the material now, and you can review it later.
As aforementioned diversity training programs, the ProProfs also comes with an array of quizzes. There’s also a Q&A forum for participants to engage with one another and create a community.
But again, it doesn’t work if you’re an individual looking for diversity training to improve your skills and boost your competitiveness. ProProfs software is for organizations looking to provide diversity training to a large and diverse workforce effectively.
Overall, it is a powerful tool that meets the diverse training needs of large companies.
5. HRDQ Inclusion Training Program
Duration: 3 hours
Price: $500
HRDQ is a veteran company in providing unique and effective training tools. Its diversity training program ‘Diversity Works‘ is another excellent option for companies looking to create an inclusive organizational culture by engaging with the workforce. But instead of doing it online, Diversity Works allows you to do it in a fun and direct way with up to 25 participants.
Participants can choose which learning activities to engage in by setting up activity stations around a room. Instead of following a dead-set plan, you and other participants have the freedom of choice without sacrificing efficiency.
The gamified toolkit has a professional design incorporating individual, partner, and group activities. This way, participants collaborate and engage in self-reflection to foster a better understanding of diversity and inclusion concepts.
Finally, after the team masters everything, the diversity and inclusion board game is the final shared experience, adding a gamified and fun layer. The board game creates an immersive environment where participants apply the gained knowledge and skills.
The ready-to-train kit gives you everything you need to deliver a brain-friendly and interactive learning experience. Unfortunately, a single toolkit won’t work for larger teams and individuals. But if you’re running a small company and looking for a better comprehensive diversity program, Diversity Works sits at the top.
6. Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Workplace
Duration: 2 weeks
Price: $500
edX is another popular online educational platform. You’ll find one of the better diversity programs is Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Workplace by GetSmarter.
The online training micro course has a simple yet effective curriculum. In Module 1, participants explore the DEI dynamics and how to address workplace inequalities. You also learn about the origins of societal hierarchies, their impact on organizational dynamics, and the role of leadership in creating an inclusive culture and improving employee engagement.
Next is the second Module. Module 2 branches out to mastering DEI promotion and leading transformational change. Here the emphasis is on the business case for DEI; in other words, the benefits of an inclusive and diverse environment.
Furthermore, you can assess your leadership strengths and weaknesses and learn how much you need to improve.
While the course offers valuable content on diversity and inclusion, there are limitations since it’s a micro-course. Unlike some of the other options in this list, the training doesn’t provide extensive hands-on practice or interactive discussions. Furthermore, the curriculum doesn’t address intersectionality, an essential aspect of DEI.
But it’s still a choice worth checking out if you need a to-the-point course that will teach you the basics quickly.
7. Compliance Training Group
Duration: 60 – 90 minutes
Price: $30 per employee
On the seventh place we have another group course – it’s the Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace Training by the Compliance Training Group.
The CTG diversity and inclusion training course does a great job of teaching employees about sensitivity and respectfulness in order to foster inclusive behaviors. It also guides participants in addressing disrespectful behavior towards different groups and cultures.
There’s an emphasis on self-reflection and reducing unconscious bias in a proactive manner. Participants learn about the costs of a disrespectful workplace and gain strategies for confronting stereotypes and discriminatory behavior through conversations.
Adopting a functional vocabulary is a significant step in creating an inclusive environment and teaching employees about diversity and inclusion.
While conversations provide a valuable learning experience, translating these skills to real-world situations may require further guidance. The course focuses on individual-level behaviors, lacking discussions on systemic and structural issues that also contribute to inequality. If you need more of that, you’ll need to find another course.
However, if you need a meaningful one hour diversity and inclusion training program, this one is another viable option.
8. Media Partners – Diversity 101 – The Complete Series Program
Duration: 36 minutes per mini course
Price: Contact for price
Media Partners didn’t start as a training service company; it evolved into a full-time organization offering everything you need for diversity and inclusion training.
The diversity and inclusion training bundle provides insights and practical guidance on fostering a respectful workplace. Their “How Was Your Day?” is an award-winning course that takes a non-threatening approach to raising awareness about unconscious bias, diversity, and inclusion.
The second excellent mini-course is “Unintentional Still Hurts: Overcoming Unconscious Bias.” This one focuses on helping employees recognize biases and provides strategies to combat discrimination. It empowers participants to be mindful of their actions.
What makes the bundle unique are movie-like videos. The lessons and instruction are practical and engaging, thanks to relatable scenarios that depict day-to-day work.
There’s a strong emphasis on a non-threatening approach. DEI topics have the potential to evoke defensiveness and rejection. But thanks to the design, Media Partners create a safe space for individuals to examine their biases and self-reflect through diversity training.
Overall, the diversity and inclusion training bundle, with its collection of mini-courses, offers practical and relatable content that helps organizations foster an inclusive workplace culture.
9. Coursera – Diversity Training Programs
Price: Free
Finally, let’s cover another great platform for discovering different workplace diversity programs – Coursera.
Coursera is an online learning platform with free online courses. Amongst the DEI courses available, one that stands out is Culture-Driven Team Building Specialization by University of Pennsylvania.
Their five-course specialization on team effectiveness enhances your skills in forming, joining, and leading teams. Throughout the program, you gain insights and tools to navigate the dynamics of team culture, harness the collective wisdom of diverse groups, and handling conflicts.
You’ll also get practical advice on establishing common ground rules, maximizing team performance, and fostering continuous DEI learning.
A unique aspect of this specialization is the capstone project, where you and your team apply the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the program. Through a real-world case provided by N2Growth, you will observe, diagnose, and make recommendations to solve a team culture problem.
Keep in mind this is just one out of many courses that you can find on Coursera. You can find a DEI course with a different approach if you’re looking for it on the platform. This makes it a bit cumbersome, so if you want to start learning without organizing first, go for one of the earlier mentions.
Conclusion
There you have it. These are the best diversity and inclusion certificate programs that you can enroll in depending on your needs.
Out of all these, we rate HR University’s Diversity and Inclusion Certification Course as the number one, especially, if you’re an individual looking to improve your knowledge of DEI and human resource management.
If you want to integrate diversity into your company and improve employee morale, go for another from our list.
We wish you all the best in your DEI training.
FAQs
Here are some of the most common questions about diversity and inclusion training programs.
What is Diversity and Inclusion Training?
Diversity and inclusion training is a program designed to educate individuals and organizations on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. It aims to increase diversity awareness and understanding of different perspectives, cultures, and identities, and foster an inclusive workplace.
What Does Diversity Training Include and Exclude?
Diversity training includes topics such as unconscious bias, cultural competence, inclusive communication, and diversity and inclusion definitions. It focuses on building empathy, promoting understanding, and developing skills to work effectively with diverse teams.
Diversity training doesn’t include any content or practices that perpetuate stereotypes, discrimination, or exclusion based on race, gender, ethnicity, or other protected characteristics.
The goal of diversity training is to promote inclusivity, address biases, and foster a culture of respect and acceptance. As such, DEI courses must exclude any content that reinforces stereotypes, promotes discrimination, or fails to consider the intersectionality of different identities.
