The Importance Of Diversity In Education

Growing up, I had a basic understanding of diversity and the importance of inclusivity. Before attending the University of Maryland, I only considered race and gender when thinking of diversity since those are two of my own identities. Living in residence halls and getting involved in extra curricular activities, my self-awareness and understanding of other identities increased.

Malcolm Forbes describes diversity as “the art of thinking independently together.” In today’s society, thinking independently together is how we create solutions to imminent problems, especially in STEM fields. However, diversity of opinion requires a diversity of race, culture, and personal experience- characteristics that cannot be achieved if STEM workers are not representative of the demographics of our country. While great strides have been made to diversify the STEM field in the past 50 years, they have not been enough. More governmental programs must be implemented to give minority children in marginalized communities a fair chance at being successful in STEM fields, resulting in a more skilled workforce that is able to create diverse

Poverty is a serious issue which our society and children faces every day. It is a constant struggle that shouldn’t be ignored. UNICEF states “The study of OECD countries in 2007, over fourteen percent of Australian children under the age of eighteen are currently living in households who are defined as poor or with incomes less than half of the median national income”. The increase in the number and percentage of children living in poverty within our society has contributed to making today's classrooms more diverse than ever it has been. This highlights and makes both teaching and learning more challenging. Diversity exists in the students who are living in poverty and the education assistant and teachers must provide the concept of diversity

INTRO: Prompt: What should “diversity on campus” mean and why? Hook: Does diversity help liberate narrow-mindedness? What exactly is diversity? To say that diversity is approached on school campuses is an understatement to the level of understanding in this increasingly globalized world. By its definition, “diversity” requires inclusion. Are school’s really working toward the inclusion of everyone? This means including color, national origin, socio-economic status, and sexual orientation. Looking at court cases and polls shown in the short articles, “Introduction from Place, Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America” and “The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality,” their approach to strengthening

Companies and educational institutions greatly benefit from the guidelines of affirmative action because they profit from the different ideas, work styles, and contributions unique to each diverse individual. As quoted in Paul Connors’s compilation, Affirmative Action, President of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, addresses the importance of a diverse educational system by stating, “The experience of arriving on a campus to live and study with classmates from a diverse range of backgrounds is essential to students' training for this new world, nurturing in them an instinct to reach out instead of clinging to the comforts of what seems natural or familiar” (12-13). A statement by Southeastern Oklahoma State University further supports the idea that success in modern day society stems from diversity saying, “Our country is strong because of the rich diversity of our culture, not in spite of it” (Affirmative Action).

Students have their own best way in effectively learning the lesson. With the diversity of students, the problem is each student has a preferred learning style. It becomes undeniably one of the reasons that make it difficult to achieve the best expected outcome out of teachers’ effort. However, teachers try to incorporate various teaching techniques to make every learning opportunity become productive, meaningful, and relevant for the learners.

Putnam argues that his book does indeed support “broad diversity,” which he claims “can produce improved problem-solving” and that such diversity is critical in higher education. He notes that “large percentages of immigrants who have won Nobel Prizes, become members of the National Academy of Sciences, and won artistic honors such as Academy Awards and Kennedy Center awards” and that therefore such diversity is a net positive for a community - and also a university. He further notes that “Other research has shown that diversity contributes to greater collective creativity in work groups” and that is another reason for being in favor of efforts to increase diversity in institutions of higher education.

Community and diversity are two of the most prominent factors colleges and universities use to attract students. At Temple University, it is easy to see that the school tries hard to implement these words into our heads whether it be succeeding or failing in reality. Temple makes it known in their mission statement, policies, and standing proof that they surely uphold the title as being one of the most diverse schools in the nation. However, after reading the chapter about Rebekah Nathan’s experience in My Freshman Year, I recognized her assessment among freshman is similar to that of my own granted it had not been completely

In some workplaces in the United States, there appears to be a lack of diversity amongst employees. Although it might not be intentional, an example of this can be seen in college campuses. “While the numbers of undergraduate and graduate students of color on college campuses have risen over the years, the growth in the numbers of faculty of color has lagged far behind” (Antonio, 2003; Villalpando & Delgado Bernal, as cited in Jayakumar, Howard, Allen, and Han, 2009). Having a more diverse faculty and staff would increase the sense of connection among others, as well as decrease the amount of privilege certain groups have over others. Employees would be able to see things from different types of perspectives, rather than one point of view. According to Nancy Cantor, a former college administrative officer in Michigan, "Diversity really is intellectual and social diversity, and that is what interdisciplinarity does.

Diversity and Adversity: Resilience in American Higher Education, 1860-1890’ and Today; Gender and Education Diversity in Higher Education

This article discusses the different forms of racial diversity contribution to students’ educational and learning experiences and the autonomous positive effects on students who adopt these diversity opportunities. The author demonstrates how the quality of higher education is substantially heightened by diversity-connected efforts. Those efforts improve students learning and experiences by cultivating key behaviors and knowledge and by providing a unique educational context.

A continuation of civil rights movement is no longer important to campus –diversity, simply because of moral obligation or rights. Diversity efforts are important in towards 31st century because they are fundamental to the building blocks to excellence and quality. Diversity is not only black and white it is, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, nationality, religion and many more combinations that make up a nation. (Williams & Wade-Golden, 2008, p. B44). Higher education are attempting to meet the needs of a diverse student population with a variety of services, support groups, educational programs, and co-curricular experiences, institutions. The demographics of this country have changed because of racial/ethnic minorities. Institutions of higher education have also witnessed increasingly diverse student populations which will continue to trend upward. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2007). The purpose of this paper look at diversity as it relates to higher education.

Have you ever really stopped to think about diversity? The typical individual usually thinks of different skin colors or the different backgrounds everyone has. By definition diversity is the condition of being different. The term ‘diversity’ encompasses a broad scope. There are many realms to diversity such as economic, cultural, and gender. However a type of diversity that has been growing in buzzword in recent years, especially among the conservative communities of college campuses, is intellectual diversity. Intellectual diversity, along with ‘academic freedom’ is what activists like David Horowitz characterize as being the equal

The world is filled different cultures, races and ethnicities, and it is crucial that our higher education institutions reflect this diversity. Representation matters. We are a country filled with diverse cultures all of which whom need to be represented. The purpose of this literature review is to explain why and how diversity in a higher education setting is important. Students learn better in such an environment and are better prepared to become active participants in our pluralistic, democratic society once they leave school Diversity is not only important among the student population but also within college curriculum. It is an important issue regardless of the setting. However, when it is applied it to a place where people come to learn,

Within the core of many educational institutions, diversity is a commercial tacit. While every institution cannot offer the same kind of diversity, the endorsement of such exists through various definitions. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges define diversity through the various classes: race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, disability, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and age (“Statement on Diversity”)