Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Each person in our society is a unique individual. Throughout the past week I have had the opportunity to explore the differences between people and their perspectives on what culture and diversity mean to them, in order to further my own understanding of these two terms.

            The first person I interviewed this week was a person who differed from me in religion, class and gender. While this person had different identities than my own, I felt we shared many similar ideas in our definitions of culture and diversity. According to C. Krmpotich (personal communication, March 17, 2014), culture is people’s backgrounds, their traditions and their physical appearance, whereas diversity is the differences between people within a culture. I believe it was unique how in his definition of culture, physical appearance was identified as a characteristic (C. Krmpotich, personal communication, March 17, 2014). Before this week, I had not considered how much of an impact physical appearance, specifically hair styles, can affect the diversity amongst individuals in a culture.

            Another person I interviewed this week was a person who is a fellow coworker of mine whom holds many similar identifying characteristics to myself, yet differs in that she is a mother of two children. This young lady defined culture as encompassing an individual's lifestyle, religion, beliefs, & values, while diversity is the variety of cultures within a particular group (J. Feigum, personal communication, March 17, 2014). I appreciated how J. Feigum (personal communication, March 17, 2014) identified that within each identifying group people may associate with, individual personalities still remain a factor in the make-up of the group.

             The final person I interviewed has the same educational background as me and is in the same profession, yet she is part of a blended family and is ten years older than me. V. Weyer (personal communication, March 17, 2014) defined culture as how someone lives based on how they are raised and their heritage (i.e. a Swedish culture), with their foods and music being a part of their culture. Diversity was described as the people of many different cultures in residing in the same area (V. Weyer, personal communication, March 17, 2014). While I thought V. Weyer (personal communication, March 17, 2014) did a wonderful job identifying characteristics of culture, I was surprised at her definition of diversity as it seemed very vague and she struggled with defining differences between culture and diversity.

            Within the three individuals I selected to interview, they included aspects of family background, parenting styles, traditions, appearance, religion, values and beliefs, which according to Laureate Education, Inc., (2011), all are characteristics of culture. However, when it came to defining diversity, I noticed each person struggling at first to explain aspects which are included in the term ‘diversity’. For example, while my interviewees identified how individuality within cultures is what helps to define diversity, no one explained how people’s identity is influenced by diversity, or consequences which people face daily due their lives as a diverse individual within a larger society. As Ngo (2008) explained, identity is constructed through the powers of society, causing many individuals, more specifically immigrant students and families to begin losing their sense of identity as they begin acquiring characteristics of the dominant society and abandon their family’s culture in order to ‘fit-in.’

            Reflecting upon other people’s definitions of culture and diversity has influenced my own thinking of these topics in that I am thankful for the amount of knowledge I am receiving through my current course as I feel many of my interviewees did not have a clear grasp on the differences between culture and diversity, and the impact culture and diversity have on people’s daily lives. While I was proud to each of my interviewees were able to state at least some characteristics of culture, I do believe culture and diversity is something all people, including myself need continuous education on in order to become more understanding and accepting of all individuals within our society.

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). EDUC 6164 Course Media. Culture and

diversity. Baltimore, MD. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4732505_1%26url%3D

Ngo, B. (2008). Beyond "culture clash": Understanding of immigrant experiences. Theory into

Practice, 47(1), 4–11. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201440_04/MS_MECS/EDUC_6164/Week%203/Resources/Resources/embedded/Ngo2008.pdf.