A push for increased diversity, but why?
As we all know, colleges around the nation use diversity as a selling point on their campuses. For a little perspective, I am a white male that grew up in a predominately white neighborhood. There was a time where I saw a college promoting diversity as a bad thing for me. I looked at it and thought, are my acceptance chances going to go down because college B wants a more diverse student population? I believed that all colleges should focus on for acceptance is academic achievement and extra-curricular activities because that was what I was told I needed to get into college. I thought campus diversity is important because it may give underprivileged people more opportunities. I thought diversity may also be an immoral façade to make the colleges seem socially acceptable. At the time this seamed logical because no one ever told me the benefits diversity brings.
Thankfully in my first class at Penn State, a professor (Dr. Richards) described to me the importance of diversity. Diversity is important because it brings perspective that wouldn’t otherwise be there. A diverse environment allows for new ideas and new experiences to be brought in. It allows for analyzation of a product from a different perspective. For example, a student may have a stance on the recent Black Lives Matter protests where they did not agree with it. This student may be like me and not have much diversity in their lives growing up. If that class is diverse then a civil discussion can take place, where someone can share their experiences. Without a diverse class, that belief does not get challenged. Not only was I able to apply this to a school setting but a life setting as well. A diverse staff at an engineering business would allow designs to be analyzed by multiple perspectives, and the designs effects could be altered.
An example of a diverse team giving their perspectives.
I am grateful that I learned this, but I wish I had sooner. My high school didn’t tell me why diversity was important, it just told me that it was. I am not the kind of person that blindly believes in things, so I need some sort of reasoning to believe in things. My high school never provided me with this, and they should have.
Furthermore, I still find myself asking if academic achievement outweighs diversity? Both are evidently extremely important, and both are needed. For example, think of that engineering team again. I would want some extremely intelligent people, but I also want diversity on the team. That is, in my mind, the ideal team. But what if that team is unavailable, or you have one more spot to fill? Do you prioritize intelligence or diversity to complete your team?
Regardless, I want to stress how important it is to have everything be as diverse as it could be. I’m sure many people were in the same boat as me with diversity, and the reasoning behind diversity needs to be taught more. Feel free to comment your thoughts below and share your perspective 😉
February 18, 2021 at 10:16 am
I totally agree with you that advertising diversity is deceiving and not everyone knows why diversity is important. As for diversity v. academic achievement, I don’t think it’s a pick one situation. For the most part, there are tons of qualified people with similar academic backgrounds. The diversity part is just an extra consideration to weed out some applicants. Moreover, people tend to have their personal preferences that they take into consideration when they look for people. Adding a diversity requirement makes them reconsider their preferences so that the same type of people aren’t always chosen. However, I do think some diversity standards go too overboard and can become just as discriminatory. It’s all about finding the right balance. Interesting post to consider!
February 18, 2021 at 11:14 am
I am also a white male who grew up in a predominantly white area. I also had some of the same worries about college acceptance that you did. College has also helped me to gain perspective about diversity and the overwhelming benefits of it. I believe in a balance of academic achievement and diversity. Perhaps one who grew up in a worse area would have thrived much more in a better area. It is important to give those with all backgrounds equal opportunities.
February 18, 2021 at 11:16 am
I think you make an interesting point about weighing academics or diversity in higher regard, but I also don’t see them as mutually exclusive because there are a significant number of people who fit both of those qualifications. Additionally, it’s important to consider background as well. For example, is it fair to expect that a student from a low-income and less-supportive family/school would be able to achieve the level of academics that a middle/high-income student with a supportive family/school can achieve? While this is definitely possible, the cards are stacked up against the low-income student. In the U.S., a disproportionate number of lower-income families, especially those in poverty, are either African American or Hispanic. As a result, the journey to achieve the same level of academic success is more difficult. With that being the case, how do you compare students knowing that they weren’t given the same opportunities and support? I don’t necessarily know the right answer to this question, because some may argue that it is counter-discrimination against middle/higher-income students to offer opportunities to minority students instead, but I think it’s always important to consider different perspectives.
February 18, 2021 at 11:49 am
Jack, I can relate to being brought up in a homogenous area. My population 4,500 town was predominantly white, heterosexual, and cisgender. There were little to no spaces to discuss the significance of diversity and challenge our implicit biases instilled by the community. Diversity was an important factor for me when deciding where to attend college. Penn State offered me a position in a diversity program, which I knew would allow me to experience the beautiful breath of racial, ethnic, sexual, gender, etc. diversity; so I gladly took the opportunity. But outside of my circle of friends, Penn State is very reminiscent of my home town in the sense that most people are white, cis and het.
To address your question regarding whether to prioritize academics or diversity, I would almost always lean toward diversity. Something that I have learned through my program is that underrepresented populations have to work ten times as hard to achieve the same level as their white, heteronormative counterparts. Often, the accomplishments of minority populations are swept under the rug, particularly in the STEM disciplines. It is integral to not only consider someone’s academic career, but how hard it was for them to achieve while navigating microaggressions, implicit biases, and spaces that do not actively empower their identity.
March 29, 2021 at 9:22 am
We often don’t understand the importance of diversity until we are actually immersed in it. But how can we be if college acceptance works the way it does? I’ve had the privilege to travel around the world, exposing me to all sorts of cultures and people and I love that feeling. College campuses lack that. Of course, there is more diversity than there is in my hometown, but even then, the diverse groups are small. Despite this, I feel that our campus is still predominantly white. I think the issue lies within the cost of attending college, and oftentimes these minorities simply lack access or funding to be able to afford the high costs of school. Penn State doesn’t offer much in terms of scholarships and there are many people that would excel in college but just can’t afford it.