Diversity. A word that can be seen on almost every college poster, in the motto of any big company, in schools, clubs, workplaces, and much more. Diversity has almost because like a buzzword; a word used to lure in peoples attraction and attention. If we value diversity so much that we use it anywhere and everywhere, why are we so ironically opposite in our execution of it?
Myself included, we tend to gravitate towards people that are like us. After coming to college and joining an Indian classical dance team, I find myself almost always surrounded by Indian people, either from my dance team or from another Indian cultural organization. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love it; the conversations I can have with my fellow Indians are some of the most relatable and meaningful conversations I’ve ever had. It is a great feeling to know that others are going through the same thing, have had similar experiences, or have the same values you do, especially if you are part of a minority group.
Taking a step back however, I have noticed that this isn’t just an Indian dance teams thing. Terms like “all the Asians” or the “white girls” are commonly used in society. While we claim to be diverse with such a great variety of types of people in environments, many of us are not really experiencing the benefits of being in a diverse environment because we cling to people like us. From the outside, we are diverse; in the inside, we are many diverse groups of similar individuals.
Unfortunately, many of us are missing out on the benefits of diversity even with diversity within our reach. According to Global-LT.com, a very basic advantage of diversity is that it brings a variety of perspectives. People with diverse backgrounds and bound to have different “schools of thought” and experiences to bring to the table. Just image how different a conversation could be if you could hear stories about things you haven’t even come close to experiencing.
To put this into perspective, the is factual and numerical evidence to show these benefits that many of us are missing out on. ClearComany states that racially diverse teams outperform non-racially diverse teams by 35%. Additionally, teams with an equal amount of men and women “earn 41% more revenue.” A cognitive study conducted by MIT also notes that diverse teams tend to give each member equal opportunities to speak and contribute and were more sensitive towards each other.
An article in Harvard Business Law talked about how diverse groups produce more effective and impressive results because their deliberations consist of more fact-based knowledge. It turns out that diverse teams analyze factual evidence more deeply and find any errors through unique perspectives in their discussions. In order to analyze information, we are constantly taught to be critical thinkers. We are told to look at multiple perspectives and look at things through multiples lenses. Being in a diverse groups results in that critical thinking atmosphere by simply just having that many different people there. Each person, given their differences, is ale to look at the same thing through a different lens. Now imagine if each diverse person had a critical thinking mindset as well… this would result in critical thinking in critical thinking… so much critical thinking that it is bound to produce exceptional results.
This case of diversity does not just merely apply to race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, or sexulatity. It can also apply to groups such as political groups. An article published in Scientific American talked about how “Democrats who were told that a fellow Democrat disagreed with them prepared less well for the discussion than Democrats who were told that a Republican disagreed with them. Republicans showed the same pattern.”
It is human nature to be defensive: defensive about the things we believe in, defensive about the things we stand for, and defensive about the things we have experienced. Going into a discussion knowing that the other individual has the same basic core values or beliefs puts a damper on our natural human defensive human instinct. We are bound to think harder, and come up with the best argument possible to explain our point if we are told from the start that the other individual does not agree with us.
We tend to flock towards those like us because it is easy; it requires less effort and there is no risk of conflict or awkward moments. However, while it may not seem so at first, it is those awkward moments and minor conflicts that make us think deeper about who we are to the core. Diversity is an easy thing to claim to believe in or have in your life, but many of us cannot speak to what diversity feels like because we are merely surrounded by it, not immersed in it. I think it is vital to take a step back, and realize that there are so many unique experiences and perspectives that are within an arm’s length to many of us; all we have to do is make the effort to reach out.
It’s so interesting how much of a difference it makes when you’re on a more diverse team. I grew up in a suburban town where almost everyone was white and I have definitely seen a difference in discussions and the discourse of a team, like my thon committee, that is more diverse. I’ve gotten to have a lo more of those awkward moments that you talked about and I feel like they have opened my mind in a way I ad not experienced before. Nice work.
Akanksha, this was awesome. It was really well-written and well-reasoned and eloquently put. I think everyone has noticed that this happens but less people talk about it as an issue. Penn State makes many efforts to build an inclusive environment with things such as the “All-In” campaign, but that is all they can do, and I agree it’s on us. This was a great piece and very important.
You make such an important point here about practicing what we all preach. It’s human nature to seek comfort, and we tend to find comfort in people who are similar in both ideology and background to us. It just goes to show that diversity isn’t an easy thing that happens right away – a person should actively seek it out in their professional and personal life. Loved the statistics in this post!
I’ve definitely noticed this behavior in everyday life. I’ve heard that we are more attracted to others who look like us, which is why many couples have similar traits. This is a really important topic because it will be very difficult to change its course for the better. This isn’t something where a policy can be put into place – its a mindset that needs to be changed. And that’s the hardest part – changing the way people have learned to think for their entire lives.