Understanding Diversity

WHAT IS DIVERSITY?

Diversity is from the latin word..

DIVERTERE

It means TURN AWAY, SEPARATE, OPPOSE. According to Collins Dictionary, diversity is defined as “the state or
quality of being different or varied; variety or assortment, a point of difference; the inclusion of people of
different races, genders or religion etc. in a group.

Diversity Wheel

It was 1990 Marilyn Loden, American writer and Judy Rosener, two professors from University of California who
introduced the Diversity Wheel

Goal:

1. To convince people to make their voices heard by pointing their diversity and its impact on their person, rights
and freedom.

Primary core ( Inner circle )

These dimensions are the stronger ones. These are the characteristics we were born with or established by
significant experiences we had or people we interact with.

- This includes our principles, sense of self, our image, perceptions and how we think about others.

The core elements are age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, income, sexual

orientation, class and spiritual beliefs.

Secondary Dimensions

Secondary Dimensions are in the outer circle. It is composed of geographical location, marital status, religious
beliefs, parental status, income, education, work experience, military experience, language, family status.

Secondary Dimensions

These characteristics are part of social identity buy they can change or be discarded as our life experiences impact
us. They are influenced by people we encounter, places we go to or live in, and experiences we go through.

Loden presents 4 principles for managing our own behavior, “RICR” (Loden 1996 )

Respect

Treating others the way they wish to be treated.

Inclusion

Making certain everyone on the team is truly a part of the team’s decision making process.

Cooperation

-Actively helping others succeed rather than competing or attempting to one-up someone.

Responsibility

- Managing personal behavior to maintain a diversity-positive environment and questioning inappropriate

behavior when it occurs.