Diversity

Hello everybody, this is my second blog post this week and I want to talk about Diversity.  It is all around us, everyday.  First, let's take a look at the definition of diversity.  Diversity means a feature of a mixed workforce that provides a wide range of abilities, experience, knowledge, and strengths due to its heterogeneity in age, background, ethnicity, physical abilities, political and religious beliefs, sex and other attributes.  Second, let's take a look at the origin of the word diversity. The specific root of "diverse" is the Latin verb "divertere" (the prefix "di" or "dis," meaning "aside") meaning to "turn aside." That Latin word combined our pal "vertere" to turn with "uni" one to give a basic sense of "turned into one" or "all taken together."  I would like to give you some quotes on diversity by Maya Angelou now.

"We all should know that Diversity makes for a rich tapestry and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color." 
    - Maya Angelou

"It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength."
    - Maya Angelou

Diversity isn't just about Black or White, it's also about race, sexual orientation, language, age, socioeconomic status, nationality, religion, education, national origin, political, occupation, ethnicity, immigration status, disability and life experiences.

DIVERSITY = Everyone is individual and different.
EQUALITY = Equal access to opportunities.
INCLUSION = Inclusion is a sense of belonging; feeling respected, valued for who you are; feeling a level of supportive energy and commitment from others so that you can do your best at work.

Different
Individuals
Valuing
Each other
Regardless of
Skin
Intellect
Talents or
Years.

The Cultural Iceberg:

Surface Culture

• Food
• Flags
• Festivals
• Fashion
• Holidays
• Music
• Performances
• Dances
• Games
• Arts & Crafts
• Literature
• Language

Deep Culture

Communication Styles and Rules:

• Facial expressions
• Gestures
• Eye contact
• Personal space
• Touching
• Body language
• Tone of voice
• Handling and displaying of emotion
• Conversational patterns in different social situations

Notions of:

• Courtesy and manners
• Friendship
• Leadership
• Cleanliness
• Modesty
• Beauty

Concepts of:

• Self
• Time
• Past and future
• Fairness and justice
• Roles related to age, sex, class, family, etc.

Approaches to:

• Religion
• Courtship
• Marriage
• Raising children
• Decision making
• Problem solving

Attitudes toward:

• Elders
• Adolescents
• Dependents
• Rule
• Expectations
• Work
• Authority
• Cooperation Vs. Competition
• Relationships with animals
• Age
• Sin
• Death

Thank you again for reading. I will post again next week. Until next time my friends.