Rotman Inclusion by Design

Rotman brings a new approach to designing inclusive workplaces.

Creating an inclusive environment is a top priority for most organizations today. However, despite system wide attempts to improve inclusion, there has been little tangible progress and poorly designed interventions have even resulted in unintended consequences. For example, some organizations that implemented mandatory diversity training had 6% fewer black women in management positions after five years. At the individual level, backlash effects can occur if trainees resent being selected for diversity training and view training as punishment for prior insensitive behaviour. 

"As hard as we've worked to change stereotypes, they remain the same. What we need now is a hard look at the design of our systems. And there's no one-size-fits-all. We need to identify specific entrenched processes and structures that bake bias into our organizations– and remove them,"
Sonia Kang, Canada Research Chair in Identity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and GATE Research Fellow »

To be successful, inclusion interventions need to be user-centric, easy to adopt and evidence-based. By understanding barriers to inclusion from a user-centric lens, we can better design policies and process that actually work. 

Apply NowMAY 2-11, 2023 | $5,250 CAD + HST

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The First of Its Kind

There are breakthroughs available at the intersection of behavioural insights, data analytics and design thinking. 

Grounded in breakthrough research from Rotman’s Institute for Gender and the Economy, Inclusion By Design combines the latest in inclusion research, behavioural insights, design, and data analysis to help you design strategies that can improve diversity and inclusion in your organization. 

• Why current initiatives fail 
• Real data on which practices work and which don't 
• Workshops on live challenges 
• Hands-on exercises designing new initiatives

Inclusion by Design is for leaders looking for disruptive ways to design, implement, and evaluate inclusion practices that actually work for your organization and context. Whether it's hiring, retention, or compensation, a new approach can help you move past acceptance to true inclusion so you can better engage, energize, inspire, and benefit from diversity with greater success.  

Flexible Learning Design during COVID-19

Don't feel alone while you learn online. We've designed this program to respect both the current challenges of working from home while maintaining and building connections with a class of your peers across different industries and organizations. You'll still enjoy the networking and learning benefits of our in-class programs while learning from the comfort of your own home with a schedule adapted to your current needs. In this virtual real-time experience, you'll develop trust, rapport, and inspired action with your colleagues.

What You Can Expect

Rotman’s Inclusion by Design reframes inclusion as an innovation challenge using the latest insights from the behavioural sciences and business design to innovate for inclusion at the individual, team, and organizational levels.

Our expert faculty will guide you through a winning business design process for improving diversity and inclusion in your organization that you can apply quickly and effectively.

"We've seen that some of the more popular training programs are the least effective. So, you need to have a healthy skepticism when evaluating inclusion products."

András Tilcsik, GATE Research Fellow »

By the end of the three days you will

• Examine and understand data around why diversity initiatives are failing
• Harness behavioural insights to nudge for inclusion
• Use business design to re-imagine a truly inclusive organization
• Leave with frameworks that are easy to adopt and translate in your organization

Apply NowMAY 2-11, 2023 | $5,250 CAD + HST

"There is substantial research to show that diversity is linked with increased profitability, creativity and stronger governance. However, to achieve these results, D&I can't be a one-time campaign or a one-off initiative."
Avni Shah »