The Importance Of Diversity In Higher Education

433 Words1 Page

Diversity is a key concern for colleges as bastions of higher education, which is why allegations of racial discrimination are taken very seriously. In 2014, a federal lawsuit was brought against Harvard by a disgruntled committee of students claiming Asian Americans were held to a higher standard of admission than students of other races. According to a 2009 Princeton Study, the average Asian student must score up to one hundred forty points higher than their white counterparts on the SAT in order to be equally considered for top private colleges. The troubling truth of racial “balancing” is that it disregards individual merit in favor of maintaining a uniform, “varied” demographic. In addition, if the lawsuit is viable, Ivy League universities like Harvard and Stanford may be guilty of racial profiling …show more content…

These systemic problems are now being addressed in some workplaces, with employee training seminars aiming to reduce prejudices surrounding non-hetero workers. Tessa Wright’s study of 16 “LGB friendly” organizations found that the leading causes of LGB workers not openly coming out(around 40%) stem from fear of stereotypes and labels. Although nowadays millennials may view stereotypes the same way my little brother views cassette tapes and vinyl records, the dangers-and its effects- are still very much relevant. However, positive environments fostered by employers as well as policies directly addressing LGB “myths” were found to increase open worker demographics, leading to more representation from senior LGB members and overall facilitating a more diverse workplace. Clearly, addressing systemic issues -rather than cherry picking labelled individuals- allows the less represented to more easily find their place among their peers, resulting in an overall more diverse

Open Document