Diversity
This is an excerpt from my research paper “Oppression of Women in Muslim Countries: Eyes of Egypt” which can be found under the Explore tab.
Critically analyzing issues of diversity can assist in developing your personal and professional life. You can gain a new perspective, be able to respect people's differences, better understand how their personal life experiences have shaped them, have a greater awareness of the social institutions surrounding them, consider the society or social groups they are trying to fit into, have compassion for the injustices they have faced and become more aware of the rules & regulations they have encountered. All of which create the unique variety we see in the world. Having experience with many types of people allows us to find a common ground with a wider variety of people, enhancing our ability to communicate and interact. Having a broad variety of experiences and openness to diversity can assist in self & professional development. You will have a bigger view of the world, its people, and will more easily relate with co-workers or clients, as well as contribute to projects in a creative way.
Interacting with diverse people can be very challenging at times. We are often faced and challenged with differing viewpoints which may bring up difficult feelings such as anger, judgement, confusion, the inclination to want to fight back or stand up for our view points, or even label and stereotype people. These emotions may actually pull us into a feeling of not wanting to discover a different view. When we interact with diverse people we are often interrupted by things that we have been culturally taught are right or wrong and our emotions, past experiences, and traumas may be brought to the surface. In these times it may be difficult to take a step back, depending how close to home these feelings hit. We should attempt to separate the issue from the person or people and see them as two separate entities. This can help us to step out of our tunnel vision and into the big picture. From here we can depersonalize this experience in order to critically analyze the issue using multiple lenses. We should ask what the perspective would be with an understanding of history, the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. This will give us a better insight into the issues we encounter.
Gaining a better understanding of the factors that surround an issue will allow us to have a better understanding of the world and its people. The benefits to having diverse experiences are immense. We will inevitably gain a higher perspective of the world and its people by learning in this process. Diversity enhances self-awareness, social development, opens up multiple perspectives, deepens learning, and elevates thinking (Thompson & Cusseo, 2014). It assists in professional development and aids in creative expression. Diversity enriches the life experience by introducing new ideas, new ways of being, a chance to peer into a different way of life, the ability to see from a different perspective and to hopefully take a more balanced, non-judgmental view of people & events. Having diverse experiences increases self awareness "by allowing you to compare and contrast your life experiences with others whose life experiences differ sharply from your own'' (Thompson & Cusseo, 2014). Allowing yourself to invite diverse experiences into your life increases social development and the ability to interact and understand various types of people. It decreases ignorance and increases understanding within many topics, issues or debates.
Overall, understanding diversity and analyzing it critically can assist us in decreasing bias, increasing understanding, and help us move towards taking a kind, non-judgemental, and neutral attitude towards the differences in this world. I believe that this is the key to living in a more peaceful world and we must do our part by teaching people to look at issues through the four lenses. We should critically and fairly analyze topics of diversity by looking through history, humanity, social science, and natural science.
