Diversity comes with many ways to educate, raise children, run governments, prepare foods, decorate homes, worship, communicate with people, etc....
I personally believe diversity strengthens society and gives us room to expand our thoughts, beliefs, traditions and customs.
Diversity is healthy and it breaks down barriers among people. Often, a culturally diverse youth/family coalition is viewed in the negative sense, rather than the positive. It is easy to identify the inherent obstacles and barriers associated with differences in religion, class, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, region of origination, educational level or even paid employees versus volunteer staff.
The first phase of making the most of diversity is to make a concerted effort to become aware of what dimensions of cultural diversity exist within an organization. Acknowledging there are differences between individuals and groups of people is an important initial phase.
When conflicts, ill feelings or stressful situations arise due to the sub-cultures involved, it is because of "differences." The second phase of making the most of diversity is for people to talk about their cultural differences. Two things must be remembered concerning cultural diversity: People should remember it is difficult to address cultural differences without resorting to stereotypes. In the purest form, there is no such thing as a stereotype. No person is exactly like another person and no individual is a clone of another member of a group.
As diversity in an organization grows, so does the complexity of communication and the necessity to spend greater effort developing improved communication skills. Awareness and discussion can cause a clearer picture of cultural diversity. Appreciation and understanding of cultural diversity means not just tolerating differences among individuals or groups, but supporting and nurturing them. A variety of ideas, talents, skills and...