• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

Benefits of Diversity: experiences from teaching

by Aydasara Ortega - October 17, 2021

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin
Benefits of Diversity: experiences from teaching
Image by Gerd Altmann of Pixabay

“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.”

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: DC Authors Tagged With: Education

About Aydasara Ortega

Aydasara Ortega Torres writes for Democracy Chronicles from New York. She is a Faculty Member of Psychology at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Also take a look at her website for more of her work.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Independent Thinker/Voter says

    December 6, 2021 at 5:42 pm

    “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.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | DC AUTHORS | Benefits of Diversity: experiences from teaching

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

The Christian Evangelical Church

By Jack Jones January 22, 2023

I am not against Big Business having a voice, just not all the voices, and especially not an impersonator pretending to speak for God.

No One In Monterey County Is Good Enough To Serve In Legislature

By Joe Mathews January 9, 2023

California’s “democratic reforms” have left a place as… [key] as Monterey County without any state representation from one of its own.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

In America, the Joe-mocracy Rules

By Joe Mathews December 27, 2022

A republic? A democracy? No, our country is an avuncular autocracy run by old guys named joe.

Property Rights, Indiana-Style

By Andrew Straw December 24, 2022

Indiana’s justices have replaced constitutional property rights with ad hominem politics. Replacing them starts with better governors.

To The American Oligarchs: Lay Off Us

By Jack Jones December 21, 2022

No matter how many jobs are ruthlessly pulled out from under us, we are still going to do what it takes to put food on the table.

Indiana’s Irrational Ballot Access System

By Andrew Straw December 4, 2022

Opposing the potential 2024 retention of the Chief Justice Loretta Rush will be key to preventing disability discrimination bad blood in Indiana courts.

Federal Judge Strikes Down Biden’s Loan Forgiveness program

By Jack Jones November 24, 2022

What is unlawful is the Texas federal judge’s decision to strike down President Biden’s loan forgiveness program, not the program itself.

DeSantis Battles Trump in Florida Steel Cage Match

By Steve Schneider November 20, 2022

We take you now to the much-anticipated DeSantis-Trump steel cage match, in which “DeSanctimonious” has promised to “kick Trump’s ass.”

Why Gambling Can’t Really Lose In California

By Joe Mathews November 2, 2022

When state voters approved an expansion of casino gaming, gaming interests assured us that gambling here would be governed by strict limits.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

Girl Scouts Earn Democracy Badge At Workshop In Salina

Girl Scouts Earn Democracy Badge At Workshop In Salina

January 26, 2023

The workshop assisted Girl Scouts in grades K–10 in earning their Democracy Badge through learning activities on democracy.

Study: Media Can Reduce Polarization By Telling Personal Stories

Study: Media Can Reduce Polarization By Telling Personal Stories

January 26, 2023

Sharing personal experiences and pairing them with facts reduces political dehumanization and increases political tolerance.

Study: 2020 Election Resulted In Increased Anxiety And Depression

Study: 2020 Election Resulted In Increased Anxiety And Depression

January 7, 2023

A review of 2020 Household Pulse Survey data reveals that as an election nears, people in [America] report more depression and anxiety.

Key Iran Labor Sectors Launch Major Strikes

Charlie Hebdo Caricatures Iran’s Mullahs

January 7, 2023

The satirical weekly is publishing a special issue on Wednesday, January 4, mocking Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in support of the protests…

First Impressions Are Strongly Influenced By Political Partisanship

First Impressions Are Strongly Influenced By Political Partisanship

December 22, 2022

How we perceive strangers or the impressions we have about them, particularly their faces, is influenced by political partisanship.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy