Thinking About Diversity And Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion

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Diversity and Inclusion

There are two different dimensions of cultural diversity, which include internal dimensions and external dimensions. Internal dimensions of cultural diversity include age, gender, race, and ethnicity. On the other hand, external dimensions of cultural diversity include the social, economic and marital status, as well as religion and workplace experience, etc. Internal dimensions of cultural diversity include the points which an individual gets at the time of birth and which cannot be changed till death. Although the age of a person keeps changing with the passage of time, however, a person cannot lessen the time period of his/her age. On the other hand, the external dimensions of cultural diversity denote the change in status or positions, which an individual achieves with the passage of time, as well as according to his/ her abilities. A distinctive feature in this regard is the religion which can be considered an internal, well as an external dimension at the same time. It is due to the fact that most of the times, the parents of a child, associates him/her with the same religion which they follow. So the children of Catholics follow the same religion and the children of Jewish parents become Jews. However, in a few cases, people change their religion in some part of their life and start following some other religion or even become atheists, which is the main reason religion is considered an external dimension. Moreover, the internal and external dimensions of cultural diversity mutually contribute to the formation of a richly diversified culture, society, and workplace (Rice, & White, 2015).

I belong to the Hispanic, Mexican ethnicity and I am a Catholic. There are a number of things, qualities which I share with my social circle. I have many people in my social circle which belong to the same ethnicity as mine. Some members of my social circle share the same religion as me. Apart from the cultural, ethnic and religious similarities, my social circle shares the quality of being punctual n our dealings and commitments. We also share the quality of hospitality, as we like to serve and help people in different circumstances. Another important thing which I share with my social circle is the ability to understand the circumstances and conditions of other people which shed light on their actions, decisions, and thinking. We try to not stereotype and develop a prejudice against other people on the basis of their race, ethnicity or religion. My workplace is a prison, and a few members of my social circle share the same workplace with me, as well. Therefore, we share some common thinking and attitude towards life as well. We get to know different prisoners, their stories and circumstances, which provide insight to us, about our understanding. This also helps us to view the scenarios from a different perspective and try to understand other people, while giving them a chance to show their abilities, potential, as well as improvement in their personality.

Diversity and inclusion are two different but related terms. Diversity means the cultural, social and economic differences of the people, in some specific setting or workplace. People belonging to different age group, gender, religion, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, etc. working at the same place, denote the diversity of that workplace. Each and every individual is different from the other workers or people in one or even multiple aspects. On the other hand, inclusion is the practice of accepting the diversity and differences of the people, accepting them and acknowledging their potential of contributing towards development and progress of the workplace. Inclusion is based on the belief that the diversity of the people or employees helps them to contribute to the workplace in their own distinctive ways. Diversity is just acknowledging the differences of people or employees. On the other hand, inclusion is the practice of embracing and welcoming these differences and believing in the abilities and potential of people, instead of stereotyping them on the basis of differences. Diversity is the part of each and every workplace, which includes the offices, educational institutes, corporate business, health care systems, and prisons, as well. Inclusion is the practice which helps the people to accept the differences of others and provides them a chance to contribute to the peaceful and progressive work environment (Farndale, Biron, Briscoe, & Raghuram, 2015).

Diversity is an important and essential part of each and every organization or workplace. People from different racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds interact with each other, in their shared workplaces and sometimes, their differences become the source of misunderstandings, stereotypes, and biases. In order to keep the environment of the workplace peaceful and progressive, workplace diversity training are very important. Workplace diversity training actually denotes the inclusion efforts of the employers. The training provides opportunities for the employees to interact with each other, share their opinions, concerns, and insecurities as well. They are then provided the chance of bonding and realizing the potential of each other through communication and team building activities. Workplace diversity training is also important because of the fact that it enables people to interact with each other, apart from the official work and get to know each other on a personal and individual level. This helps the workers in developing mutual respect, accepting the differences of each other and exploring the abilities, achievements, and potential of each other. Moreover, the training also provides them to resolve their conflicts and explore mutual interest and ideas to ensure the progress of the business. There is another aspect of workplace diversity training, which contributes to the progress of business at a greater level. The aspect is that due to the training, employees get closer to each other while clearing their misunderstandings and getting rid of biasness, which helps them to connect with each other. They become more creative and cooperating while contributing to a better and positive workplace environment. Such an environment also provides job security and satisfaction to the employees, enabling them to perform even better and earn profits for the organization.

My workplace provides me with the opportunity of dealing with people belonging to diverse cultures and ethnicities. My workplace is a prison, and I have to interact with prisoners as part of my work. There are prisoners belonging to the Hispanic, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, English cultures and many others, as well. There are prisoners belonging to different racial groups, including the whites and blacks. Apart from these differences, the prisoners also practice different religions, which is another component, adding to their diversity. The environment of the prisons needs to be managed in a very careful and strict manner because the prisoners who are actually criminals can add discomfort to the peace of the environment. It is a common practice in the prisons that the prisoners belonging to different racial and ethnic backgrounds develop a conflict with each other and give rise to riots and unrest in prison. So, inclusion is a very important part of the prisons and such places require it more than other workplaces because it is a correctional facility which should help the people to understand and accept the differences of others. There could be more inclusion in the prison settings, which can help the prisoners to get rid of their biasness, prejudices and other misunderstandings and accept the identity and differences of other groups. It would also help them when they would become a part of the society, after getting released from the prisons.

References

Farndale, E., Biron, M., Briscoe, D. R., & Raghuram, S. (2015). A global perspective on diversity and inclusion in work organizations.

Rice, M. F., & White, H. L. (2015). The multiple dimensions of diversity and culture. In Diversity and Public Administration (pp. 11-31). Routledge.