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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to believe that i don't need to be sent on a sodding course...

41 replies

luminarphrases · 04/03/2008 21:33

to know what diversity is?

last week we had a course on disability, which was fairly bog-standard, but come on, are there really workplaces where dinosaurs believe women, or black people, or disabled people don't deserve equal treatment?

i mean, its a two day course!

OP posts:
moondog · 04/03/2008 21:34

I went on a course the other day where (amongst other things) we learned how to pick up a pencil off the floor.

themoon66 · 04/03/2008 21:34

Oh God... I'm meant to be going on the diversity course at work too. Its mandatory apparently, but I've managed to get out of it for 5 years now.

Original poster
luminarphrases · 04/03/2008 21:34

i should add of course, that i know there are people like that about, but they don't tend to work in places like where i work

OP posts:
Original poster
luminarphrases · 04/03/2008 21:35

moondog- why???? elf' n safety?

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NaughtyNigel · 04/03/2008 21:37

yup - i too am doing a 'diversity awareness' thing soon after avoiding it for a while. see it as a day away from the normal work turmoil and i don't expect to be told anything i don't already know.
point 1 - there are lots of different people in the world
step 2 - there are some people who treat people differently
step 3 - don't

TurkeyLurkey · 04/03/2008 21:37

It'll be so your company gets a tick in the box for sending people on Diversity Courses "Look what we've done to promote equality and Diversity!, everyone of our employees has been on a course"!
Also, a stick to beat you with if you do something undiverse-like.

NaughtyNigel · 04/03/2008 21:38

moon things above - why ( not that i'm treating you differently of course)

Aimsmum · 04/03/2008 21:39

Message withdrawn

nervousal · 04/03/2008 21:40

In my work diversity means realising people are different and that you need to treat them differently to reflect that. Treating everyone the same isn't treating them equally.

TurkeyLurkey · 04/03/2008 21:40

Err - Diversity IS about treating people differently (according to their needs)..not about treating everyone the same......

SueBaroo · 04/03/2008 21:40

oh, Dh got royally cheesed off about this a while ago. Apparently he was informed all about precisely when particular acts of homosexual sex were made legal.

Which really helps when he's inputting data to help people to read your gas meter in the day to day of his job. He has colleagues who are gay, and it's not even likely to come up in conversation with them at the water cooler, is it?

margoandjerry · 04/03/2008 21:41

Two days? I'd be spitting feathers.

I must admit I'm a little sceptical of this kind of thing - the diversity industry I mean. I try to be a fan of Ken Livingstone but he does seem to surround himself with slightly iffy "diversity advisers" and I feel slightly about it.

Original poster
luminarphrases · 04/03/2008 21:43

sorry, should have explained myself a bit better. i recognise perfectly well that people have different needs, and have done since i was about 5. i just don't need to be sent on a course which essentially says 'play nice, children'

OP posts:
NaughtyNigel · 04/03/2008 21:43

so i got it wrong
i blame the wine. and i still don't care enough for it to be any sort of an issue

margoandjerry · 04/03/2008 21:43

We mainly all know how to behave - treating people equally but if necessary, differently where required (eg where people with disabilities have different needs). No need for hair-splitting posts about precisely what diversity means

nkf · 04/03/2008 21:44

It's amazing how people can go on diversity courses and still get it wrong. I remember reading quotes by policemen involved in the Stephen Lawrence case and some of them talked about "coloured" people. I mean, they live in London and this was the end of the last century and they don't realise that the word "coloured" is no longer used and hasn't been used for years. You'd think they'd have picked it up on the job but no. I'm willing to bet they'd been on diversity courses too.

NaughtyNigel · 04/03/2008 21:44

luminar - i think that's what i meant.

nervousal · 04/03/2008 21:44

Its a big issue where I work - NHS Issue is not so much about people being openly racist etc, but about people inadvertently discriminating

fishie · 04/03/2008 21:45

a bit like immunisations, build up the herd awareness. got to start somewhere and that is more likely to be with people who have some vague clue what it is about.

two days a bit steep though.

Original poster
luminarphrases · 04/03/2008 21:45

margoandjerry put it better than i did

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Original poster
luminarphrases · 04/03/2008 21:46

yes, nige (if i may call you that) i was typing when your post happened

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TurkeyLurkey · 04/03/2008 21:48

NKF - the police get SIX WHOLE WEEKS of Diversity training when they join now!!!

The Macpherson Report had huge implications for policing and the training officers and police staff recieve. It does matter in the police whether you have a full understanding of what Diversity means.

TurkeyLurkey · 04/03/2008 22:05

That's why I'm a stickler by the way.I've had it rammed down my throat along with the full lobotomy.

nooka · 04/03/2008 22:05

It's a mandatory annual requirement where I work (inner city NHS Trust). It's only one day though, and each year it is different(this year we have a focus on Human Rights for example). I think that it is useful to be reminded of these things, and it is amazing what people normalise as perfectly acceptable behaviour if they aren't fairly regularly challenged. Fishie puts it well.

mrsruffallo · 04/03/2008 22:08

I think most of these courses are a waste of money. I haven't met anyone who found them interesting or informative.
Good for getting a couple of days out of the office tho'

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