research report on diversity

Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies

This book has been written to enable the students to develop a mental and cognitive diversity consciousness in order to help them become successful in their personal and professional lives and to increase their sensitivity on diversity. Therefore, the target audience of the book is students. The author offers perspectives through the interviews he had with students, examples from previous studies and analyses on real-life events to achieve his goal. The book is presented in the scope of multicultural education, and more specifically, under the title of diversity consciousness. A product of an empirical study, the book touches on notions such as racial and ethnical relations, cultural diversity, multiculturalism, social media, communication, leadership, social work, empathy, social equality, social justice, democracy, assimilation, pluralism, teacher training courses, professional development, conflict, cooperation, problems in workplace, group dynamics and personal development. The author includes many concepts related to diversity with examples and definitions. Since the book targets students, it's written in a non-academic, plain and comprehensible language. The author occasionally adopts a descriptive and analytic approach to the subject of diversity consciousness. The book comprises seven chapters, namely: Diversity: An Overview, Diversity Skills and Success, Personal and Social Barriers to Success, Developing Diversity Consciousness, Communication in a Diverse World, Teamwork and, Conclusion. In the chapters that are directly related to diversity consciousness, the author treats the subjects on diversity consciousness in a detailed manner. Also, each chapter starts with the objectives of the chapter, contains questions encouraging the reader to think and ends with studies on the subject. Additionally explanatory tables and illustrations and entertaining photographs shared in the book are to be remarked. Culture is a phenomenon contributing to the richness of the world's societies (Bucher 2000). Thanks to multicultural education, it has been appreciated that cultures are richness and culture started to receive the attention it deserves (Aydın, 2013). Written from the point of view that cultures are richness, the book encourages people from different cultures to be proud of their culture and thus increases their self-confidence. Bucher (2000) asserts in his book that students with increased selfconfidence shall be more successful academically. Similarly, Banks (2008) is of the opinion that, in an unprejudiced educational system, self-confidence and empathy shall develop and thereby academic success shall improve. For this reason, the book has an important position among other research books written on the subject of multicultural education. Studies similar to this one made in the U.S. need to be done in Turkey too. In the chapter "Diversity: An Overview", the author defines diversity as all manners in which people are different from one another and consciousness as the ensemble of our mental activities and cognitions. He points out the common misunderstandings with the question "What diversity consciousness isn't". He answers this question with statements like "It's not a phenomenon that is only important for some people", "It's not ignoring differences", "It's not treating everyone in the same way", "It's not only being prudent" and "It's not a passing fad". After these discussions, the author addresses the concepts of assimilation and pluralism. The author states that assimilation promotes a structure where people lose their own cultural characteristics and blend in with the culture they live with whereas pluralism promotes a structure where cultural differences are accepted and preserved. This chapter, which includes occasional perspectives from students, is best summarized with the comment "Being different is not a burden, but a blessing" made by one student. The chapter "Diversity Skills and Success" starts with a general definition of success as the objectives of the individual. It's followed by the sociocultural theory. According to this theory, people around us influence us in positive or negative ways and they play an important role in shaping our personalities. Some behaviors, characters, information and other personal qualities can only be understood by taking social interactions in consideration. Another point the chapter stresses is the notion of communication. Communication, team spirit and self-evaluation are the key components of diversity consciousness. Diversity consciousness is actually being aware of differences. Our diversity

The concept of human cultural diversity is to accept and respect each other. That means each individual is unique, he or she should understand and recognize the individual differences. The differences might be race, political implications of ethnicity, gender, economic status, nations, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or any other ideologies. The cultural variation emerges from the ethnic identity. It is a discovery of such differences in a safe, positive, and real environment. People should understand each other and go beyond simple tolerance and embrace and respect the rich cultural diversity, ethnicity and various cultures that each individual maintains. It should be focused on living together with different ethnicity in one place. But these differences all lie in the modern political and intellectual competition. The differences come from the historical background. It is believed that diverse groups bring different perception, understanding and creation to the culture. The topic of cultural diversity creates one of the most important issues in the world today, and the issue promises to continue to the next century. The cultural groupings make the whole culture in a country. People should be taught in order to develop and increase their awareness, understanding and appreciation of the diverse cultures. It is very clear that every culture, race and ethnicity makes an important contribution to the society. Toward promoting inter-cultural understanding and mutual respect for diverse cultures are essential in order to build new bridges among people. This paper begins by defining cultural diversity and advantages of cultural diversity. The paper uses quantitative method with survey questionnaire. The structured questionnaire has been used to collect data and asked teachers and the students from different countries. The paper uses content analysis in this part within the frame work of the qualitative method. The respondents have quite diverse backgrounds which is very important to have a wider perspective. During the whole research and after the completion of the research, the researcher should abide by the ethical code of The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).The SPSS 20, and the Nvivo10 were used to find and analyse the collected data. The results of this study show that there have been diverse views regarding the term cultural diversity .It has been found out that the teachers and students have not been quite comfortable and positive regarding the cultural diversity. Role of cultural diversity has been discussed and suggested that children, starting from the very early age, should be taught to live and interact with different race and ethnicity for the promising future.

Policy, People, and the New Professional, 2006

Lately I have had a lot of Turkish clients, a lot of Turkish women… and that is strenuous in a completely different way than working with Dutch women. There is a very big difference indeed… I think because of culture… there are many stress complaints and also little self-reflection, at least with the women I have seen up till now.

2022

Abstract—This study uses the concept of diversity from Science Studies applying it to Social Studies to understand the diversity present in their everyday living. Diversity requires a multi-ethnical, multi-cultural, and multi-religious background to be developed, which goes in conjunction with UN goals. Therefore, it is assumed that a diverse living and lifestyle should support the individual through harsh periods while diminishing prejudice and intolerance. The present study applied the Diversity Survey Questionnaire containing 47 questions (40 questions using a 5-multiple choice scale ranging from always to never, and 7 questions with written answers). 333 individuals participated in the research. The diversity survey was created by Dr. Monica Mastrantonio to measure how diverse and inclusive a person’s life be can be. The results were collected and measured using the Google platform. The collected data shows that diversity has crucial importance in everyday living. Nevertheless, data also showed that people lack significant opportunities to engage in multiple and diverse life experiences. Participants also agreed on various aspects that can be done to improve diversity in their lives. It is concluded that this survey brought important aspects in how people engage in a plural and diverse society, and what needs to be done in that direction. Keywords— diversity, everyday living, multi-cultural, UN goals, digital humanities.

This study uses the concept of diversity from Science applying it to Social Studies to understand the diversity of relationships and inputs present in human everyday living. Diversity requires a multi-ethnical, cultural, age, gender, religious background to be developed. This means diversity in relationships need diversity as a concept in all human relations. Diverse living and lifestyle can potentially support the individual through harsh periods meanwhile diminishing prejudice and intolerance. The present study applied the Diversity Survey Questionnaire containing 47 questions (40 questions using a 5-multiple choice scale ranging from always to never, and 7 questions with written answers). A total of 333 individuals participated in the research. The diversity survey was created by Dr. Monica Mastrantonio to measure how diverse and inclusive a person's life be can possibly be. The results were collected and measured using the Google platform, and automatically using metrics to reach quantitative results. The collected data shows that diversity has crucial importance in everyday living. Nevertheless, data also showed that people lack significant opportunities to engage in multiple life experiences. Participants also agreed on various aspects that can be done to improve diversity as a method of living. It is concluded that this survey brought important aspects in how people engage in a plural and diverse society, and what needs to be done in that direction.

Diversity New Realities in a Changing World, 2007

Foreword: This collection is an ambitious attempt to look at diversity from very varied perspectives. It is unique in so far as it is international in scope and contains essays which are academic and essays which are personal. In our modern world the question of diversity is not an extra optional but an every day reality and to make it a reality we do need to win both the hearts and minds of those who have to lead in making it work and getting others to see the potential and benefits of positively engaging with the challenges posed by diversity. The virtue of this book is that it contains chapters which deal with organizational issues and those which deal with social, cultural and political issues. It, therefore, brings together all the dimensions of diversity in one volume and describes how the debate about diversity has developed. It is important that diversity is discussed in all its dimensions. I believe that this book will provide a very timely and useful material for discussion and bring the considerations of this often emotive subject to a different and more productive level. This book challenges some of the conventional wisdom and encourages the reader to think about diversity as a multifaceted concept – which in my view is necessary because often diversity is looked at in isolation from other considerations – almost as a sideshow, something to be accommodated or tolerated. Understanding diversity in all its dimensions in today’s world is essential, and if we are to prepare for new realities and realize new realities then the approach taken in this book is not only novel but has a lot to offer. Baroness Usha Prashar

Inclusive Education Is a Right, Right?, 2020

Basic Communication Course Annual, 1996