According to LEADER (Local Employees Acting on Diversity, Equality and Race) diversity “consists of visible and non-visible factors, which include personal characteristics such as background, culture, personality and work-style in addition to the characteristics that are protected under discrimination legislation in terms of race, disability, gender, religion and belief, sexual orientation and age.”
In order to understand how diverse a group is, it is necessary to keep in mind what makes us similar and what makes us different within the group. But it is very important to notice that a well understanding of diversity comes from exploring more than obvious differences because it might be just the tip of the iceberg. Really important things are hidden.
Diversity is composed by three dimensions:
1. Visible: such as age, gender, physical attributes, ethnicity
2. Invisible: education, skills, religion, political views, work experience
3. Core: personality, sexual orientation, work style, personal truths.
The concept of diversity becomes important because it means acceptance and respect, accepting that every individual is unique, but not every person accepts diversity, when it happens it is called discrimination.
United Nations says: "Discriminatory behaviors take many forms, but they all involve some form of exclusion or rejection.”. Discriminatory laws exist in many countries in order to prevent it and to provide equal opportunities; issues such as gender, disabilities, religion, race and sexual orientation are the most common ones.
To avoid discrimination and understand diversity one must have certain competences, which include flexibility, vision, tolerance, cultural consciousness, and cultural self-awareness, among others.
Diversity brings the ability to operate in a variety of situations; it also can create a productive environment because every single talent is fully recognized and utilized.
VIDEO
Is an ironic video, what could happen if one does not understand diversity...
QUESTION
¿Do you think the entry and integration of new members to the European Union are processes that promote diversity? or, on the contrary, ¿strive to homogenize the European Society?
It promotes diversity. The laws in the EU regarding the free movement of citizens across the member states are creating a new phenomenon that has been called “the creation of new minorities” in different countries, this is happening while the EU and different member states are trying to deal with the old minorities located in certain regions for a longer period of time.
The entry and integration processes introduced by the EU are processes that strive to protect the different interest of these minorities and promote diversity in the region by ensuring the continuity of the unique characteristics of these groups such as language and values.
An example of the efforts done by the EU to protect the diversity and integration through the whole territory is the creation of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia that is in charge of look after the citizen and human rights of the migrants and that they integrate easily to their new country. Another example is the way schools are teaching the kids of the migrant workers the language of their home country.
It is easy to imagine how in an integration process as the one being done in the European Union the outcome will be the homogenization of the population but as we have seen the EU is doing what it’s in their power to protect and ensure the rich diversity of all the different cultures that coexist within its borders.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Toggenburg, Gabriel N. 2005. “Who is managing ethnic and cultural diversity in the European Condominium? The moments of entry, integration and preservation”. Journal of Common Market Studies