Chapter 17: Diversity and Cultural Competency
Overview
Learning Framework: Effective Strategies for College Success
Chapter 17: Diversity and Cultural Competency
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Define diversity and identify many aspects of diversity
- Differentiate between surface diversity and deep diversity, and explain the relationship between the two
- Define and apply principles of cultural competency
- Explore the positive effects of diversity in an educational setting
- Define accessibility and identify implications of accessibility on campus and in communities
- Identify strategies for responding to instances of prejudice and hate
Diversity and Cultural Competency
Diversity and Cultural Competency
Introduction
Ours is a very diverse society—and increasingly so. In this chapter, we’ll look first at some of the ways that people differ and explore the benefits of diversity for our society generally and for the college experience. While we should all celebrate diversity, at the same time we need to acknowledge past issues that grew from misunderstandings of such differences and work together to bring change where needed.
What Is Diversity?
There are few words in the English language that have more diverse interpretations than diversity. What does diversity mean? Better yet—what does diversity mean to you? And what does it mean to your best friend, your teacher, your parents, your religious leader, or the person standing behind you in a grocery store?
As we’ll use the term here, diversity refers to the great variety of human characteristics—ways that we are different even though we are all human and share more similarities than differences. These differences are an essential part of what enriches humanity. Aspects of diversity may be cultural, biological, or personal in nature. Diversity generally involves things that may significantly affect some people’s perceptions of others—not just any way people happen to be different. For example, having different tastes in music, movies, or books is not what we usually refer to as diversity.
When discussing diversity, it is often difficult to avoid seeming to generalize about different types of people, and such generalizations can seem similar to dangerous stereotypes. The following descriptions are meant only to suggest that individuals are different from other individuals in many possible ways and that we can all learn things from people whose ideas, beliefs, attitudes, values, backgrounds, experiences, and behaviors are different from our own. This is a primary reason college admissions departments frequently seek diversity in the student body. The following are various aspects of diversity:
- Race: Race refers to what we generally think of as biological differences and is often defined by what some think of as skin color. Such perceptions are often at least as social as they are biological.
- Ethnicity: Ethnicity is a cultural distinction that is different from race. Ethnic groups share a common identity and a perceived cultural heritage that often involves shared ways of speaking and behaving, religion, traditions, and other traits. The term “ethnic” also refers to such a group that is a minority within the larger society. Race and ethnicity are sometimes interrelated but not automatically so.
- Cultural background: Culture, like ethnicity, refers to shared characteristics, language, beliefs, behaviors, and identity. We are all influenced by our culture to some extent. While ethnic groups are typically smaller groups within a larger society, the larger society itself is often called the “dominant culture.” The term is often used rather loosely to refer to any group with identifiable shared characteristics.
- Educational background: Colleges do not use a cookie-cutter approach to admit only students with identical academic skills. A diversity of educational backgrounds helps ensure a free flow of ideas and challenges those who might become set in their ways.
- Geography: People from different places within the United States or the world often have a range of differences in ideas, attitudes, and behaviors.
- Socioeconomic background: People’s identities are influenced by how they grow up, and part of that background involves socioeconomic factors. Socioeconomic diversity can contribute to a wide variety of ideas and attitudes.
- Gender roles: Women hold virtually all professional and social roles, including those once dominated by men, and men have taken on many roles, such as raising a child, that were formerly occupied mostly by women. These changing roles have brought diverse new ideas and attitudes to college campuses.
- Gender identity: Gender identity is each person’s internal and individual experience of gender. It is a person’s sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither, or anywhere along the gender spectrum. A person’s gender identity may be the same as or different from their birth-assigned sex.(Ontario Human Rights Commission.)
- Age: While younger students attending college immediately after high school are generally within the same age range, older students returning to school bring a diversity of ages. Because they often have broader life experiences, many older students bring different ideas and attitudes to the campus.
- Sexual orientation: Sexual orientation is a personal characteristic that forms part of who you are. It covers the range of human sexuality from lesbian and gay, to bisexual and heterosexual. Exposure to this diversity helps others overcome stereotypes and become more accepting of human differences.
- Religion: For many people, religion is not just a Sunday morning practice but a larger spiritual force that infuses their lives. Religion helps shape different ways of thinking and behaving.
- Political views: A diversity of political views helps broaden the level of discourse on campuses concerning current events and the roles of government and leadership at all levels.
- Physical ability: Some students have athletic talents. Some students have physical disabilities. Physical differences among students bring yet another kind of diversity to colleges—a diversity that both widens opportunities for a college education and also helps all students better understand how people relate to the world in physical as well as intellectual ways.
- Neurodiversity: Neurodiversity is a term coined in the 1990s to fight stigma against people with autism, ADHD, and learning differences like dyslexia. It is used to describe the differences in the way people’s brains work. The idea is that there’s no “correct” way for the brain to work. Instead, there is a wide range of ways that people perceive and respond to the world (Child Mind Institute.)
These are just some of the types of diversity you are likely to encounter on college campuses and in our society generally. In the following video, students from Juniata College describe what diversity means to them and explain why it’s an important aspect of their college experience.
Surface Diversity and Deep Diversity
Surface diversity and deep diversity are categories of personal attributes—or differences in attributes—that people perceive to exist between people or groups of people.
Surface-level diversity refers to differences you can generally observe in others, like ethnicity, race, age, culture, language, etc. You can quickly and easily observe these features in a person. And people often do just that, making subtle judgments at the same time, which can lead to bias or discrimination. For example, if a teacher believes that older students perform better than younger students, they may give slightly higher grades to older students than younger students. This bias is based on a perception of the attribute of age, which is surface-level diversity.
Deep-level diversity, on the other hand, reflects differences that are less visible, like personality, attitude, beliefs, and values. These attributes are generally communicated verbally and non-verbally, so they are not easily noticeable or measurable. You may not detect deep-level diversity in a classmate, for example, until you get to know them, at which point you may find that you are either comfortable with these deeper character levels, or perhaps not. But once you gain this deeper level of awareness, you may focus less on surface diversity. For example, at the beginning of a term, a classmate belonging to a minority ethnic group whose native language is not English (surface diversity) may be treated differently by fellow classmates in another ethnic group. But as the term gets underway, classmates begin discovering the person’s values and beliefs (deep-level diversity), which they find they are comfortable with. The surface-level attributes of language and perhaps skin color become more “transparent” (less noticeable) as comfort is gained with deep-level attributes.
Cultural Competency
As a college student, you are likely to find yourself in diverse classrooms, organizations, and – eventually – workplaces. It is important to prepare yourself to be able to adapt to diverse environments. Cultural competency can be defined as the ability to recognize and adapt to cultural differences and similarities. It involves “(a) the cultivation of deep cultural self-awareness and understanding (i.e., how one’s own beliefs, values, perceptions, interpretations, judgments, and behaviors are influenced by one’s cultural community or communities) and (b) increased cultural other-understanding (i.e., comprehension of the different ways people from other cultural groups make sense of and respond to the presence of cultural differences).”1
In other words, cultural competency requires you to be aware of your own cultural practices, values, and experiences, and to be able to read, interpret, and respond to those of others. Such awareness will help you successfully navigate the cultural differences you will encounter in diverse environments. Cultural competency is critical to working and building relationships with people from different cultures; it is so critical, in fact, that it is now one of the most highly desired skills in the modern workforce.2
In the following video, representatives from Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care elaborate on the concept of cultural competency:
We don’t automatically understand differences among people and celebrate the value of those differences. Cultural competency is a skill that you can learn and improve upon over time and with practice. What actions can you take to build your cultural competency skills?
- Acknowledge your own uniqueness, for you are diverse, too. Diversity doesn’t involve just other people. Consider that you may be just as different from other people as they are from you. Don’t think of the other person as being the one who is different, that you are somehow the “norm.” Your religion may seem just as different to them as theirs does to you, and your clothing may seem just as strange-looking to them as theirs is to you—until you accept there is no one “normal” or right way to be. Look at yourself in a mirror and consider why you look as you do. Why do you use the slang you do with your friends? Why did you just have that type of food for breakfast? How is it that you prefer certain types of music? Read certain books? Talk about certain things? Much of this has to do with your cultural background—so it makes sense that someone from another cultural or ethnic background is different in some ways. But both of you are also individuals with your own tastes, preferences, ideas, and attitudes—making you unique. It’s only when you realize your own uniqueness that you can begin to understand and respect the uniqueness of others, too.
- Consider your own (possibly unconscious) stereotypes. A stereotype is a fixed, simplistic view of what people in a certain group are like. It is often the basis for prejudice and discrimination: behaving differently toward someone because you stereotype them in some way. Stereotypes are generally learned and emerge in the dominant culture’s attitudes toward those from outside that dominant group. A stereotype may be explicitly racist and destructive, and it may also be a simplistic generalization applied to any group of people, even if intended to be flattering rather than negative. As you have read this chapter so far, did you find yourself thinking about any group of people, based on any kind of difference, and perhaps thinking in terms of stereotypes? If you walked into a party and saw many different kinds of people standing about, would you naturally avoid some and move toward others? Remember, we learn stereotypes from our cultural background—so it’s not a terrible thing to admit you have inherited some stereotypes. Thinking about them is the first step in breaking out of these irrational thought patterns.
- Do not try to ignore differences among people. Some people try so hard to avoid stereotyping that they go to the other extreme and try to avoid seeing any differences at all among people. But as we have seen throughout this chapter, people are different in many ways, and we should acknowledge that if we are to experience the benefits of diversity.
- Don’t apply any group generalizations to individuals. As an extension of not stereotyping any group, also don’t think of any individual person in terms of group characteristics. People are individuals first, and members of a group second, and any given generalization simply may not apply to an individual. Be open-minded and treat everyone with respect as an individual with their own ideas, attitudes, and preferences.
- Develop cultural sensitivity for communication. Realize that your words may not mean quite the same thing in different cultural contexts or to individuals from different backgrounds. This is particularly true of slang words, which you should generally avoid until you are sure the other person will know what you mean. Never try to use slang or expressions you think are common in the cultural group of the person you are speaking with. Similarly, since body language often varies among different cultures, avoid strong gestures and expressions until the responses of the other person signify they will not misinterpret the messages sent by your body language.
- Take advantage of campus opportunities to increase your cultural awareness. Your college likely has multiculturalism courses or workshops you can sign up for. Special events, cultural fairs and celebrations, concerts, and other programs are held frequently on most campuses. There may also be opportunities to participate in group travel to other countries or regions of cultural diversity.
- Take the initiative in social interactions. Many students naturally hang out with other students they are most like—that almost seems to be part of human nature. Even when we’re open-minded and want to learn about others different from ourselves, it often seems easier and more comfortable to interact with others of the same age, cultural group, and so on. If we don’t make a small effort to meet others, however, we miss a great opportunity to learn and broaden our horizons. Next time you’re looking around the classroom for someone to ask about a class you missed or to study together for a test or group project, choose someone different from you in some way. Making friends with others of different backgrounds is often one of the most fulfilling experiences for college students.
- Work through conflicts as in any other interaction. Conflicts simply occur among people, whether of the same or different backgrounds. If you are afraid of making a mistake when interacting with someone from a different background, you might avoid interaction altogether—and thus miss the benefits of diversity. Nothing risked, nothing gained. If you are sincere and respect the other, there is less risk of a misunderstanding occurring. If a conflict does occur, work to resolve it as you would any other tension with another person.
Developing your cultural competency will help you be more in tune with the cultural nuances and differences present in any situation. It is also the first step in being able to appreciate the benefits diversity can bring to a situation.
Positive Effects of Diversity in an Educational Setting
Why does diversity matter in college? It matters because when you are exposed to new ideas, viewpoints, customs, and perspectives—which invariably happens when you come in contact with diverse groups of people—you expand your frame of reference for understanding the world. If you approach diverse settings with cultural competency, you are able to learn about the experiences of others and your thinking becomes more open and global.
More than half of all U.S. babies today are people of color, and by 2050 the U.S. will have no clear racial or ethnic majority. By 2050, half the workforce will be a person of color.3 These statistics underscore the importance of cultural competency in an increasingly diverse American society and workforce. When approached with an open mind and a willingness to learn, diverse environments can produce the following benefits:
- Experiencing diversity at college prepares students for the diversity they will encounter for the rest of their lives. Learning to understand and accept people different from ourselves is very important in our world. While many high school students may not have met or gotten to know well many people with different backgrounds, this often changes in college. Success in your career and future social life also requires understanding people in new ways and interacting with new skills. Experiencing diversity in college assists in this process.
- Students learn better in a diverse educational setting. Encountering new concepts, values, and behaviors leads to thinking in deeper, more complex, and more creative ways, rather than furthering past ideas and attitudes. Students who experience the most racial and ethnic diversity in their classes are more engaged in active thinking processes and develop more intellectual and academic skills (and have higher grade point averages) than others with limited experience of diversity.
- Attention to diversity leads to a broader range of teaching methods, which benefits the learning process for all students. Just as people are different in diverse ways, people from different backgrounds and experiences learn in different ways. College teaching has expanded to include many new teaching techniques. All students gain when instructors make the effort to address the diverse learning needs of all students.
- Experiencing diversity on campus is beneficial for both minority and majority students. Students have more fulfilling social relationships and report more satisfaction and involvement with their college experience. Studies show all students on campus gain from diversity programs. All the social and intellectual benefits of diversity cited in this list hold true for all students.
- Diversity experiences help break the patterns of segregation and prejudice that have characterized American history. Discrimination against others—whether by race, gender, age, sexual orientation, or anything else—is rooted in ignorance and sometimes fear of people who are different. Getting to know people who are different is the first step to accepting those differences, furthering the goal of a society free of all forms of prejudice and the unfair treatment of people.
- Experiencing diversity makes us all better citizens in our democracy. When people can better understand and consider the ideas and perspectives of others, they are better equipped to participate meaningfully in our society. Democratic government depends on shared values of equality and the public good. An attitude of “us versus them,” in contrast, does not further the public good or advance democratic government. Studies have shown that college graduates with a good experience of diversity generally maintain patterns of openness and inclusivity in their future lives.
- Diversity enhances self-awareness. We gain insights into our own thought processes, life experiences, and values as we learn from people whose backgrounds and experiences are different from our own.
Experiencing Diversity on Campus
The following essay about experiences of diversity in college is by Fatima Rodriguez Johnson (State University of New York). Even though at first the writer felt like an ethnic outsider in college, she grew in understanding of the importance of diversity on campus and of speaking openly and honestly about connecting with diverse cultures.
WHY SO MANY QUESTIONS?
I chose to attend a small liberal arts college. The campus was predominately white and was nestled in a wealthy suburb among beautiful trees and landscaped lawns. My stepfather and I pulled into the parking lot and followed the path to my residence hall. The looks we received from most of the families made me feel like everyone knew we didn’t belong. But, he and I greeted all we encountered, smiling and saying, “Hello.” Once I was unpacked and settled into my residence hall, he gave me a hug and said, “Good luck.” I wasn’t sure if he meant good luck with classes or good luck with meeting new friends, but I heard a weight in his voice. He was worried. Had he and my mother prepared me for what was ahead?
With excitement, I greeted my roommate who I had already met through the summer Higher Educational Opportunity Program (HEOP). She and I were very happy to see each other. After decorating and organizing our room, we set out to meet new people. We went to every room introducing ourselves. We were pretty sure no one would forget us; it would be hard to miss the only Black and Latina girls whose room was next to the pay phone (yes, in my day each floor shared one pay phone).
Everyone on our floor was nice and we often hung out in each other’s rooms. And like some of you, we answered some of those annoying questions:
- Why does your perm make your hair straight when ours makes our hair curly?
- How did your hair grow so long (whenever we had weave braids)?
- Why don’t you wash your hair everyday (the most intriguing question of all)?
We were also asked questions that made us angry:
- Did you grow up with your father?
- Aren’t you scared to take public transportation?
- Have you ever seen anyone get shot (because we both lived in the inner city)?
It was those questions that, depending on the day and what kind of mood we were in, made a fellow student either walk away with a better understanding of who we were as Black and Latina women or made a fellow student walk away red and confused. I guess that’s why my stepfather said, “Good luck.” He knew that I was living in a community where I would stand out—where I would have to explain who I was. Some days I was really good at answering those questions and some days I was not. I learned the questions were not the problem; it was not asking that was troubling.
My roommate and I put forth a lot of effort to fit in with the community—we spent time hanging out with our peers, we ate together almost every evening in the dining hall, and we participated in student organizations. We were invited to join the German Club, and were the only students of color there. In doing all these things we made ourselves approachable. Our peers became comfortable around us and trusted us.
Although my peers and I all had similar college stresses (tests, papers, projects, etc.) my roommate and I also had become a student resource for diversity. Not because we wanted to, but because we had too. There were very few students of color on campus, and I think students really wanted to learn about people different from themselves. It was a responsibility that we had accepted. The director of HEOP would often remind us that for many students, college was the first opportunity they had to ask these types of questions. He said we would learn to discern when people were really interested in learning about our differences or insulting us. If someone was interested in insulting us, there was no need to respond at all.
Although I transferred to another college at the end of my sophomore year, during those two years I learned a great deal about having honest conversations. Taking part in honest conversations challenged my notions of the world and how I viewed people from all walks of life (race, class, sexual orientation, ability, etc.). Those late nights studying or walks to the student center were when many of us listened to each other’s stories.
My advice is to take time to examine your attitudes and perceptions of people different from yourself, put yourself in situations that will challenge your assumptions, and lastly, when you make a mistake do not get discouraged. Keep trying. It’s easy to stay where we are comfortable. College is such a wonderful experience. Take it all in, and I am sure you will enjoy it!
—Fatima Rodriguez Johnson, Foundations of Academic Success: Words of Wisdom
Accessibility and Diversity on Campus
Accessibility is about making education accessible to all, and it’s particularly focused on providing educational support to a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff with disabilities. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, you can be considered disabled if you meet one of the following criteria:
- You have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as seeing, hearing, walking, learning, and others.
- You must have a history of such impairment.
- Others perceive that you have such impairment.
If you meet one of these criteria, you have legal rights to certain accommodations on your campus. At Austin Community College, you can request accommodations from Student Accessibility Services. These accommodations may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Academic accommodations, like alternate format for print materials, classroom captioning, arranging for priority registration, reducing a course load, substituting one course for another, providing note-takers, recording devices, sign language interpreters, access to a TTY (text telephone), and equipping school computers with screen-reading, voice recognition, or other adaptive software or hardware
- Exam accommodations, like extended time on exams
- Financial support and assistance
- Priority access to housing
- Transportation and access, like Wheelchair-accessible community shuttles
Assistive technologies and Web-accessibility accommodations are critical in today’s technology-driven economy and society. The following are some examples of assistive technologies are the following:
- Software like Dragon Naturally Speaking, Kurzweil, Zoom Text, CCTV Magnifier, or Inspiration
- Computer input devices, like keyboards, electronic pointing devices, sip-and-puff systems, wands, and sticks, joysticks, trackballs, and touch screens
- Other Web-accessibility aids, like screen readers, screen enlargers and magnifiers, speech recognition or voice recognition programs, and Text-to-Speech (TTS) or speech synthesizers
The following video from PBS News Hour shares the history of the ADA and explores some of the challenges experienced by people with disabilities.
Take a Stand Against Prejudice and Hate
Unfortunately, prejudice and hate still exist in America, including on college campuses. Prejudice exists against racial and ethnic minorities, women, people with disabilities, older adults, and LBGTQ —virtually all groups that can be characterized as “different.” All campuses have policies against all forms of prejudice and discriminatory behaviors. But it is not enough for only college administrators to fight prejudice and hate—this is a responsibility for all good citizens who take seriously the shared American value of equality for all people. So what can you as a college student do?
- Decide that it does matter. Prejudice threatens us all, not just the particular group being discriminated against in a specific incident. Don’t stand on the sidelines or think it’s up to the people who may be victimized by prejudice or hate to do something about it. We can all do something.
- Talk with others. Communication has great value on campuses. Let others know how you feel about any acts of prejudice or hatred that you witness. The more everyone openly condemns such behavior, the less likely it is to reappear in the future. This applies even if you hear another student telling a racist joke or putting down the opposite sex—speak up and tell the person you find such statements offensive. You don’t want that person to think you agree with them. Speaking up can be difficult to do, but it can be done tactfully. People can and do learn what is acceptable in a diverse environment.
- Report incidents you observe. If you happen to see someone spray-painting a hateful slogan, for example, be a good citizen and report it to the appropriate campus office or the police.
- Support student groups working for change. Show your support for groups and activities that celebrate diversity and condemn prejudice. Once you become aware of such student activities on campus, you’ll find many ways you can help take a stand.
- Celebrate diversity. In many ways, you can learn more about diversity through campus programs and activities. The more all students participate, the closer the campus will come to being free of prejudice and hate. Be a role model in how you act and what you say in relation to diversity, and you may have more effect on others than you realize.
Dealing with Prejudice
If you yourself experience prejudice or discrimination related to your race or ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or any other aspect of diversity, don’t ignore it or accept it as something that cannot be changed. As discussed earlier, college students can do much to minimize intolerance on campus. Many overt forms of discrimination are illegal and against college policies. You owe it to yourself, first and foremost, to report it to the appropriate college authority.
You can also attack prejudice in other ways. Join a campus organization that works to reduce prejudice or start a new group and discuss ways you can confront the problem and work for a solution. Seek solidarity with other groups. Organize positive celebrations and events to promote understanding. Write an article for a campus publication explaining the values of diversity and condemning intolerance.
What if you are directly confronted by an individual or group making racist or other discriminatory remarks? In an emotionally charged situation, rational dialogue may be difficult or impossible, and a shouting match or name-calling seldom is productive. If the person may have made an offensive remark inadvertently or because of a misunderstanding, then you may be able to calmly explain the problem with what they said or did. Hopefully, the person will apologize and learn from the experience. But if the person made the remark or acted that way intentionally, confronting this negative person directly may be difficult and not have a positive outcome. Most importantly, take care that the situation does not escalate in the direction of violence. Reporting the incident instead to college authorities may better serve the larger purpose of working toward harmony and tolerance.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Diversity refers to a great variety of human characteristics and ways in which people differ.
- Surface-level diversity refers to characteristics you can easily observe, while deep-level diversity refers to attributes that are not visible and must be communicated in order to understand.
- Cultural competency is the ability to recognize and adapt to cultural differences and similarities.
- Diverse environments expose you to new perspectives and can help deepen your learning.
- Accessibility is about making the necessary accommodations so that education is accessible to all students.
- Although we would hope that all college campuses would be free of hate and discrimination, it can become necessary to take a stand against prejudice.
LICENSES AND ATTRIBUTIONS
LICENSES AND ATTRIBUTIONS
CC LICENSED CONTENT, ORIGINAL
- Diversity and Cultural Competency. Authored by: Laura Lucas and Heather Syrett. Provided by: Austin Community College. License: CC BY-NC-SA-4.0
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SPECIFIC ATTRIBUTION
- Chapter cover image. Authored by: maxlkt. Provided by: Pixabay. Located at: https://pixabay.com/en/hand-united-hands-united-together-1917895/. License: CC0: No Rights Reserved
- Diversity and Accessibility in College Success. Authored by: Unknown. Provided by: Lumen Learning. Located at: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/collegesuccess-lumen/chapter/diversity-and-accessibility/. License: CC BY 4.0
- Gender Identity. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity. License: CC BY-SA 4.0
- Chapter 9.2: Living with Diversity in College Success. Authored by: Anonymous. Provided by: University of Minnesota. Located at: http://www.oercommons.org/courses/college-success/view. License: CC BY-NC-SA-4.0
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CONTENT
- Cultural Competency at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care. Provided by: UBHC Production Studio. Located at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-h1ZuRXBpg. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube License
REFERENCES
- Bennett, J. M. (2015). "Intercultural Competence Development." The SAGE Encyclopedia of Intercultural Competence. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
- Bennett, J. M. (2015). "Intercultural Competence Development." The SAGE Encyclopedia of Intercultural Competence. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
- "10 Reasons Why We Need Diversity on College Campuses." Center for American Progress. 2016. Web. 2 Feb 2016.