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Who we are is shaped by our cultures. Business leaders must not only recognize but also celebrate cultural diversity if they are to uplift and care for their workforce and foster an environment at work that keeps those important personnel. Employees and the business gain when different identities are accepted and embraced in the workplace. Find out more about the advantages of having a diverse workforce.
Cultural Diversity: What Is It?
Everybody is a part of a culture, whether it is racial, ethnic, religious, family, geographical, or something else entirely. Even workplaces frequently develop a “company culture” that reflects their objectives and core values. While racial and ethnic diversity are not the same as cultural diversity, the details of a culture can be influenced by both:
A group of people can be classified according to their shared language or dialect, customs, location of origin, or ancestry. Ethnicity is a concept that pertains to a sense of peoplehood.
Skin color, facial structure, hair texture, and eye shape are examples of phenotypic or visible features that are used to create race.
Particularly if we are members of a minority race or ethnicity, our ethnic and racial identities can shape the cultures to which we belong and are perhaps the most fundamental components of our cultural identities. People who live in a majority culture and are sheltered from outside influences frequently are unaware that they are functioning inside their own cultural framework since it serves as their “default” social and behavioral structure.
Why is Celebrating Cultural Diversity Important?
When individuals with different cultural identities come together, particularly in a collaborative framework, it fosters empathy and understanding among all members of the group.
Examining differences instead of ignoring them is crucial in an environment where there is a diversity of cultures. For instance, the idea of being “color blind” to race suggests that we should just see someone as a fellow member of the human race and ignore their race.
This strategy perpetuates the unspoken belief that the majority culture is the “norm” that everyone else should adapt into, ignores power dynamics that hurt members of racial or ethnic minorities, and fails to acknowledge how ideas of racial supremacy and systemic injustice have historically given some groups far greater privilege and opportunity.
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In this 2012 paper, researchers from the Department of Psychology at Tufts University, Harvard Business School, and MIT’s Sloan School of Management explored the origins, applications, and consequences of color blindness, particularly in the context of managing diverse teams.
“Shutting our eyes to the complexities of race does not make them disappear,” according to the piece, “but does make it harder to see that color blindness often creates more problems than it solves.”
Therefore, managers and businesses can establish welcoming and inclusive spaces by investigating and appreciating cultural diversity, but first understanding how those in power have injured and disadvantaged specific groups because they are different.