Issue Of Cultural Diversity example essay topic

Cultural diversity across the country is definitely going to be a major issue as we step into the millennium. Before we get any further, what exactly is diversity? Diversity is a term covering all significant differences between people not just the obvious ones. Cultural differences include race, ethnicity, language and literacy skills.

The dictionary defines diversity as a situation that includes representation of multiple groups within a prescribed environment, such as a university or workplace. This refers to difference between cultural groups, although it is used to describe differences within cultural groups. I am going to discuss several issues such as cultural diversity - pros and cons, incidents of diversity in the workplace and universities and our view on this issue. I have decided to place greater on diversity in universities. Many institutions of higher education across the nation are currently struggling with a more diverse population of students, faculty and internal debates about the meaning of multiculturalism on their campuses. Many colleges have attempted to address the issue of cultural diversity through revisiting its mission statement and building linkages with the surrounding community.

Over the years the United States has been called a nation of immigrants. The fact that it is a melting pot for so many different cultures, races, and religions makes the nation quite unique in the world. Asian Americans, Cuban-Americans, European-Americans, African-Americans, and Mexican-Americans all of different backgrounds, and different cultures, but still all united by the fact that when the hyphen is eliminated they are all considered Americans. America is probably the most diverse country, with a majority of the population living in diverse neighborhoods. The rate of immigration is increasing tremendously. Further subsets of the population believe that in about 20 years from now, they would be living in neighborhoods twice as diverse as now.

Universities across the country consider diversity to be their major assets such as University of Miami, Florida, which is the capital of Latin-Americans. The professional world and universities are stressing on the importance of diversity and undertaking programs to implement diversity successfully. Well before we undertake any discussion on diversity, it is imperative to understand why this term has become so sensational and taken the professional world and universities by storm. Our country has always consisted of people from diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, the other major happenings around the world today are collaboration, technology advances and globalization.

This increasing globalization has resulted in people working in foreign locations. This calls for people from different cultures to work towards a common goal, for which, one needs to learn and accept the cultural differences. The diversity in the United States and the value given to it helped all the Americans in the process of assimilation. Actually, the advantages of diversity far exceed its disadvantages. With the current emphasis on teams and with the increasing globalization, diversity is imperative to achieve success. In the past, educational systems, like most other institutions assumed that there was a common culture to which all aspired.

Whether it was the teaching methods or just general expectations about the role of faculty, students, or higher education in general, there was comparatively little disagreement about the basic values. This was in part, because the people who populated the higher educational systems of the United States were all socialized into the common values and beliefs of their rather narrow gender, class, and racial backgrounds. Personally, I believe that the disadvantages of diversity are few and can be managed. Their benefits on the other hand, are immeasurable. Each responsible member of any diverse community has a duty to teach members from other cultures have to offer about their practices and beliefs. It is a process of learning to work with others productively, achieve a common goal, take their input, combine with ours and produce the best results.

Interesting fact is that many students support cultural diversity that exists in their colleges and universities, because it helps them to find more about other cultures, which will be very useful in obtaining good relationships at workplace, which is also diverse. It is evident that diversity is becoming increasing popular among students, college boards and faculty. An enormous amount of money is being invested to improve education on this issue. Education in this respect has truly extended beyond national frontiers. We are living in a heterogeneous society and tributes have to be paid to all universities addressing diversity to resolve conflicts and instead improve education. It is significant for all to realize the importance of diversity and work towards achieving a coherent diverse setting.

Diversity helps us to appreciate people from all backgrounds. It teaches us to accept the drawbacks of others and learn from their strengths. A diverse organism will definitely possess the very best and with cooperation can overcome their cumulative drawbacks. It is possible to create a community in which individual and group differences form a mosaic, not a melting pot that tries to mask them in a heterogeneous mix.

People must learn to appreciate similarities and differences and become responsible members in the community.