Diversity

April Williams

SOC 315

Monday, June 6, 2011

Emily Frydrych

Thinking About Diversity and Inclusion

According to Wikipedia, cultural diversity is the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole.(para 1) Cultural diversity is tricky to quantify, but a good indication is thought to be a count of the number of languages spoken in region or in the world as a whole.(para 7) The dimensions of cultural diversity consist of race, ethnicity, religion, age, and gender.

Race is a classification of humans based on physical characteristics. One physical characteristics is skin color. Ethnicity is a group set apart from others because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. Religion is a belief or faith.(Schaefer, p. 9) Age is used to subordinate groups of people. The elderly experience unequal treatment in employment.(Schaefer, p. 403) Gender is a range of characteristics distinguishing between masculinity and femininity, particularly in the cases of men and women. Males are the social majority and women are the social minority.(Schaefer, p. 9)

The ethnic group that I identify with is African American. My social circle is basically my family and my church family. The things that we have in common are our race, age, and religion. We are all African Americans. Everyone is Baptist-Christian. We all range from the ages of 30-35.

Diversity means understanding that people are unique and recognizing a person’s differences. Inclusion means the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure. Workplace diversity training is important because it is an investment in the employees. It is an essential part of building awareness and a cohesive work environment. It builds healthy business relationships, produces a happier staff, and increase productivity.(Holt, para 3) My experience with workplace culture was years ago but responsibility was a huge factor in it. The company...