“It is probably best if students are at least made aware of the existence and historical origins of both, and presented with the arguments in favor of each. There is no uniquely correct Gini coefficient.”
Statistical data abound of how a diverse team is better at problem-solving and more innovative. Diversity is not only a matter of fairness. If we want to do well – wherever we find ourselves – we need contributions from all kinds of people.#EnterTheBadass.
“To stay competitive, businesses should always continue to innovate. One of the best ways to boost their capacity to transform themselves and their products may involve hiring more women and culturally diverse team members, research suggests.
In a study published in Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice, the authors analyzed levels of gender diversity in research and development teams from 4,277 companies in Spain. Using statistical models, they found that companies with more women were more likely to introduce radical new innovations into the market over a two-year period.”
Actually – in a variety of scenarios – standstills could be prevented if the team is less homogeneous.
“A body of research has revealed another, more nuanced benefit of workplace diversity:non homogeneous teams are simply smarter. Working with people who are different from you may challenge your brain to overcome its stale ways of thinking and sharpen its performance.”
In psychology – for example – I’ve seen through my work with students from many walks of life, how quickly stalemates dissolve when new voices enter the conversation.
“Hay, al sur de La Habana, entre el verdor y el oro, un lugar destinado a los juegos. Es un sitio tranquilo, dicen, muy bueno para las mutaciones.”
Independent Thinker/Voter says
“Statistical data abound of how a diverse team is better at problem-solving and more innovative”.
Then why are the most important positions, such as the physician for the president or other leaders (politicians, CEOS, whatever…) filled by a team of the best in their field, whether it is “diverse” or not?
If your wife was going in for heart surgery and the team was all one ethnicity or race, would you insist upon changes, taking out whatever there was most of to insert members of the correct race, sex, or heritage?
What about if a family member handed your their life savings today and asked you to invest it? What you pick the team of financial experts that was the most “diverse” or the ones with the best record?
If your animal companion was in an auto accident, would you search until you found an animal hospital with the right “diversity” or would you be satisfied if you knew they hired by competence?
Your children are going to be flying to see family in another part of the country. Do you search until you find the airline that boasts of “diversity” or would you prefer the one with the best record for safety?
If your taxes are incorrect one more time, you’re going to face hefty penalties if not prison time. Do you take them to the most diverse accounting team or the best?
Someone you love has been falsely accused of murder. You’ve taken out a second mortgage on your house and are searching for the right attorneys. Do you go for the office with the right heritage and background or do you want a cutthroat lawyer who’s not afraid to go where necessary to see that the truth comes out?
One more—you get to pick your own bosses (wouldn’t THAT be nice?) You can choose those who you’ve worked with, that you know will treat you fairly and lose diversity –or you may select those you may or may create/sustain the work environment you want, but they are “diverse.” In this particular case, let’s say you can’t have both. Your career, not to mention your stress levels and mental/emotional health are on the line.What do you do?
When we are talking theoretically, we want to be seen in the best light by those we seek to impress, so we say what sounds good. I was once very far left in my politics (I voted Green Party when possible and Democrat when not.) Both the Democrat party and I have changed, and the Republican party has become populist/pro-working class in some instances where it was not when I was voting D-Gr. When I was younger, I said many of the things the pro-diversity crowd says today. Then when I graduated and entered the professional world, I found out the importance of having the best people possible as colleagues working for and around me, I stopped saying those things. I was no longer speaking theoretically.
It is normal to discuss matters theoretically and say what we think makes us “come off” well; we all do it or have done it in our lives. We also all go through the state where everything is theory; we haven’t experienced much of the world, and every situation is a freshman dorm bull session. But each of us, when lives — ours or that of loved ones — is at stake, ends up choosing the very best we can find, with it making no difference if members of the “team” are all as completely different or as identical as possible.
My husband and I are teachers who have worked in schools of all types in five states. We know how vital is it that teachers are chosen on the same basis as attorneys and surgeons — we hope that someday we get to the point where, in talking about what’s best for our kids, we leave theory behind and choose for them as if we were selecting a defense attorney or a heart surgeon for ourselves or our loved ones. They and the future of our republic depend upon it.