Pride and Prejudice: Diversity is about understanding, not composition
As I headed to my classes this week, I became concerned we had scheduled to discuss “diversity and inclusion” from the perspective of each course. However, as class began, I heard myself uttering how meaningless it was to talk about diversity without discussing acceptance and understanding. I have heard students’ experiences and disappointments in the past and they seem genuinely concerned with the topic of diversity within their college experience. However, as I began to speak, it became clear that having a diversified and inclusive campus does not mean we were engaging diversity and inclusion in our relationships and daily interactions.
As I interacted with my students’ experiences, I remembered a study by Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam, who concluded that diversity lowers social trust. His survey of 30,000 Americans found that if you live in a more diverse community, you are less likely to trust the people in it. As my interaction progressed, it became evident that some students’ experiences with diversity and inclusion made them clinch to certain levels of mistrust and disbelief.
While these findings may have been evident in our discussion, the benefits of diversity can overshadow the drawbacks if we each do our part to increase our cultural and social awareness, understanding and sensitivity.
If it is true that Hofstra’s effort to become a diversified campus is admirable, it is also true that we should all hold ourselves accountable for the role we each play in this process. We should ask ourselves if, in our efforts to create a diversified and inclusive campus, we are doing our part to develop an environment that is also empathetic – that is, creating a culture in which all people feel valued and respected and have access to the same opportunities.
Diversity deals with identity and how people or groups define themselves; this, in turn, can play a very important role in helping students understand, appreciate and manage diversity.
Unfortunately, today many of us feel diversity and inclusion have become buzzwords rather than social catalysts. From afar, we all hope that diversity and inclusion achieve a collaborative, supportive and respectful environment that increases the participation and contribution of those represented in the population.
However, having a diverse representation only allows organizations to nurture delusions and misapprehensions. It blinds us to thinking we have diversity and inclusion, simply from having a diverse composition. The truth is that only when we achieve understanding and assume responsibility for diversity and inclusion from a deeply rooted organizational culture, can we hope to create behavioral standards that not only integrate but also leverage diversity’s effects into organizational advantages.
Diversity is defined by understanding, accepting and valuing differences between people, including those of different races, ethnicities, genders, ages, religions, disabilities and sexual orientations. Recently, we expanded the concept to include people with differences in education, personalities, skill sets, experiences and knowledge bases.
We know that when an organization is diversified and inclusive, it leverages its attributes and achieves a competitive advantage. However, first, we need to harvest diversity and inclusion practices to include understanding and appreciation, effective communication, relationship management, fair treatment and equal access to opportunity, teamwork and collaboration as well as responsiveness and resolve.
Learning about diversity and how to be sensitive of people’s differences is an important step in human growth. It also transforms you into someone that can play an important role in your cohort, school and/or community. For me, one of the most exciting aspects of becoming a new professor at Hofstra was the opportunity to meet people from different cultural backgrounds. Today, it is still the most exciting part of my daily life. However, I remind myself every day of my shared responsibility. We will achieve diversity and inclusion when we all do our part to overcome cultural barriers and promote unity.
Too many people and organizations miss the holistic objective and simply hope for acceptance, change or social evolution. Make diversity learning a key aspect of what you acquire in school and in life. The first step is to appreciate diversity and people for who they are.
