The purpose of this research was to study the effect on beliefs and attitudes of exposure to information presented in an employment equity training program. The research specifically tested the expectancy-valence model (Fishbein Ajzen, 1975, 1981; Ajzen Fishbein, 1980) and theories of information processing (Greenwald, 1968; McGuire; 1969; Petty, Ostrom Brock, 1981). The research used a one-group pretest-posttest design. The treatment consisted of a training program designed to: (a) provide employees with opportunities to examine their own beliefs, values and feelings toward equity issues and (b) provide employees with some introductory knowledge about the implementation of employment equity initiatives.Fifty-three volunteers were recruited from a youth employment centre in the Region of Peel to participate in this study. Prior to the training program, participants completed newly-designed measures of beliefs and attitudes about employment equity. A 10-item true-false scale was used to measure beliefs and a 10-item semantic differential was used to measure attitudes. Participants completed the same measures immediately after the training program and again at a two-week follow-up. As well, focus groups were held to gather qualitative data regarding any perceived changes in beliefs and attitudes as a result of participation in the training program.Results were interpreted as indicating cautious support for the four hypotheses. The results showed a significant positive relationship between scores for beliefs and attitudes. There was a significant increase in scores for beliefs and attitudes after participants completed the training program, and these increases were maintained for some participants over a two-week follow-up period. The results were inconclusive about whether participants paid more attention to program content rather than peripheral cues.Practical suggestions were made for designing and implementing training programs related to employment equity given its future potential. Limitations of this study were discussed in relationship to the small sample size and the use of newly-designed measures of beliefs and attitudes. Recommendations were made for replication of this research and the study of longitudinal effects of exposure to employment equity training programs.