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The meaning of diversity
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The essay, “Diversity: The Value of Discomfort” is an argument written by Ronald L Leibowitz in which he addresses a group of graduates about the value of diversity in college. To me, diversity means the unique backgrounds which influence people’s thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Each of the factors in an individual’s background makes them unique, and creates an important facet of our communities. However, we need to recognize and understand diversity, and simply “celebrating” it is not enough—we must embrace it in our colleges, workplaces, neighborhoods, and larger societies. Every individual in society and in a community is unique in their own ways, and their diversity shows up in many ways. Some of these ways include: religion, race, socioeconomic status, lifestyle, and so on. Everyone’s backgrounds are different, and this is what creates diversity in people. Even though everyone might not be the same, only by uniting everyone can we create the big picture. It’s like a puzzle—even though people are different, we can come together to create a big picture that couldn’t be created by puzzle pieces of the same shape. To me, diversity symbolizes the unique backgrounds that we come from. Every individual in their communities and in their society are influenced by their background—and this can come from various reasons. If someone comes from a different socioeconomic background, or lifestyle, their thought processes and their view of life might be much more different than mine. Their reaction to a certain situation can be much more different than mine, and it is important for me to see all these viewpoints in order to be a more informed member of my community. Everyone is diverse in their expression, style, and …show more content…
By embracing, and not just celebrating diversity in our colleges, we can create a more broad, educated, and interesting view of the
“College campuses are not dominated by widespread racial/ethnic segregation and the racial/ethnic clustering that does occur isn’t impeding intergroup contact.” (578, Hoeffner and Hoeffner). Throughout the essay, the writer continues to provide facts and sources on the information that diversity is not a problem on college campuses. She quotes evidence that states that college students are getting a “variety of positive educational outcomes that result from being educated in a diverse environment.” (578, Hoeffner and Hoeffner).
Sims, Serbrenia J. Diversifying Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A New Higher Education Paradigm. Westport: Greenwood P, 1994.
Alger, Jonathan. "The Educational Value of Diversity." The American Association of University Professors. Academe, January/February 1997.
First, I will discuss the influences of different definitions of diversity in cultural unification. The major problem concerning this issue is that many people differ in the real meaning of the concept and how they view their personal involvement. Brook argues that “we do not really care about diversity all that much in America, even though we talk about it a great deal” (306). However, they are the general, erroneous interpretations of diversity that are really creating this wrong image of indifference. According to Kira Hudson Banks in her research entitled “A Qualitative Investigation of Students’ Perceptions of Diversity,” many people defined diversity as race and do not include other types of diversity (153).
Diversity, a word often heard growing up. In high school diversity was an issue that was pushed repeatedly. I attended a school that had a student body of over 2000 students, in which diversity was not really an issue. As time passed I found that diversity affected my life more and more. As college neared filling out applications became more of a ritual, and I found that by being born into a white middle class family would hinder my financial status rather than help it. Recently an article appeared in the Iowa State Daily, which addressed the issue of a white-only scholarship. In addition to the scholarships offered to members of the minority races, a scholarship should be offered to the members of the decreasing majority.
Diversity is a singularity. People are different. Diversity isn’t something we have, it’s something we are. But we can’t judge others because they’re different from us. We can’t judge until we know what’s inside them. We’re different and that’s what makes us special and unique. We need to judge people by their personality and not by their looks. Even know the look might say a lot about the personality, still we can’t say that they are bad or nice just because of the way they look. We can’t all be rich, well-dressed or perfect all the time, because we are imperfect and that’s what makes who we are. We can’t win a fight with imperfection, but the best way to deal with it is to accept that we will never be perfect. And that isn’t a bad thing.
Beginning their research, Levine and Dean targeted undergraduate students from a range of higher education institutions. 26 colleges and universities, nationwide, were examined; where an inclusivity of data was collected from community, private, and public environments (Levine & Dean, 2012, p.207). Further, it was designed to represent “the diversity of higher education” in terms of “size, control, location, degree level, demographics, and religious orientation” (Levine & Dean, 2012, p.206). This variety aided to present breadth and uniqueness to the cultures that are present throughout the United States. The data collected from each environment also prevented the bias that might exist if one region is overrepresented.
Racial diversity is not always accepted and in some cases has resulted in violence. “The most highly publicized racial incidents, ranging from verbal harassment to beatings, occurred at some of the most elite institutions in the country.”(Hurtado, Sylvia) Violence toward racial diversity has made it hard to promote diversity but despite the violence and rejection toward diversity there are still those who support and defend diversity. “In many cases student organize protest as a direct response to these problems, or to express solidarity with students suffering similar problems at other institutions.”(Hurtado, Sylvia) Because there are still those who believe in and support diversity proves that people can and will eventually come around to accepting it.
Before watching the video, the sentence “Diversity is upside down” gave me a feeling that there was something wrong with diversity. Now, after watching it, I agree with Andres Tapia when he states that the world overall is upside down. In addition, I also agree with the three practices that Andres Tapia shares to us about how to thrive in upside down next generation diversity. These practices are, first, diversity and inclusion are different. Second, think about diversity in a multidimensional way. Third, inclusion is a skill, not an attitude. Before going further into these practices, I want to state my own definition of diversity. Diversity is variety, acceptance, knowledge, and respect. It is to be different, but similar to others. It is to enjoy different things, such as new languages and new customs. Finally, it is to understand how to adapt and evolve.
A diverse union is one that values the differences in all people; Diversity can be defined as people coming together from different race, ethnicity, political beliefs, religion beliefs, and social status. Living in America, gives one the opportunity to live in a diverse neighborhood, moreover, with all the diverse opportunities we have; Do we take full advantage and live in diversity in our communities? David Brook’s say’s in People like us, “Maybe it’s time to admit the obvious. We don’t really care about diversity all that much in America…” (357) Brook’s statement is bold, however, it does state a fact American’s cannot deny; talking about diversity and actually practicing in one’s life are very different from one another. Walter Benn Michael’s
One of the best definitions for diversity I have come across says, “Diversity is the mosaic of people who bring a variety of backgrounds, styles, perspectives, values, and beliefs as assets to the groups and organizations with which they interact ” (Rasmussen, 1996, p. 274). This definition has three noteworthy points. First, it describes diversity as a mosaic, which is different form the traditional label of a melting pot. A mosaic enables people to retain their individuality while contributing collectively to the bigger picture. Second, this definition of diversity applies to and includes everyone; it does not rule out anyone. According to this definition, we are all diverse. Finally, this definition describes diversity as an asset, as something desirable and beneficial! When viewed from this perspective valuing diversity is openness, fun, and can even be a cause for celebrating in discovering how we can join together to create more as a united team than any one of us can on our own. It is vital to business survival that the workplaces strive to attain this ideal collaboration.
Diversity is a notion, when applied to the majority of circumstances, can create a positive conclusion. The trick to producing a positive outcome is often how the different aspects are brought together. Consider a classic dinner combination peas and carrots, the two colors look appealing and the two flavors comes together as one making a superb side dish. Now consider oil and water, these two substance are not often considered a good combination. Although, this is not always the case; olive oil and vinegar (which is water based) when mixed, come together into a delectable salad dressing. Diversity and inclusion should also apply to humans by bringing people together who are different it can creates a whole that is enhanced by the uniqueness of each individual.
Anderson, M, L, Taylor, H, F. (2008). Sociology. Understanding a Diversity Society. Thomson Higher Education. Belmont. (USA). Fourth Edition.
In the world, today diversity has evolved from the early days and is defined by our diverse world in many ways. In the early days and in some areas in the United States today, many define diversity as racial and gender differences. Racial and gender differences only describe a fraction of diversity and is much more than that. Diversity are the ways how people act, think, eat, and express religion. The differences in everyone makes the term diversity exist and everyone can learn something from other people to help expand their understanding and hopefully shed light on their own differences or diversity that they provide to the world. Bucher (2015) states that, “Our ability to recognize, understand, and adapt
When most people think “Diversity” they think of the most communal characteristics: such as: Age, race, gender, sexual orientation, body type, ethnicity, and a person’s