Joan C. Williams’ TED Talk: Why corporate diversity programs fail & what to do instead

"If your company had a problem with sales, you would not hold deep, sincere conversations about how much everone values sales, put on programming for Celebrate Sales Month, and expect sales to improve."

Companies in the US spend billions of dollars each year on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, but subtle (and not so subtle) workplace biases often cost these initiatives -- and the people they're meant to help -- big time by undermining their goals. DEI expert Joan C. Williams identifies five common patterns of bias that cause these programs to fail -- and offers a data-driven approach to pinpoint where things go wrong and how to make progress instead.

Over the past 25 years, Joan C. Williams has played a central role in reshaping the conversation about work, gender, and class. She is a Distinguished Professor of Law, Hastings Foundation Chair, and Founding Director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings Law. She is one of the 10 most cited scholars in her field and is the author or co-author of 11 books including “What Works for Women at Work” and “White Working Class.” She developed “bias interrupters,” an evidence-based metrics-driven approach to eradicating implicit bias.

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