"Diversity" is a much bandied-about term that to
many people smacks of trendiness and a corresponding lack
of substance, In part, this syndrome is due to the observation
that many who use the term fail to define it, or use it as
a substitute "buzz word" for traditional human rights
terminologies that have become too emotionally charged. In
addition, diversity as a concept remains an intellectual abstraction
to many because a great number of its advocates have failed
to tie it to an effective business or organizational rationale.
Diversity as a concept and program has a major utility of
its own. While related to the older concepts of equal opportunity
and affirmative action, it goes well beyond the parameters
of earlier programs.
Equal opportunity is a merit-based program in which only
accurate and clearly measurable instruments may be used in
evaluating an individual's ability in competition with others.
It is a fine concept, and great progress has been achieved,
but the dilemma remains that people in the absolute clearly
are not always measurable nor do all measuring techniques
assess everyone accurately. This is particularly true when
cultural differences impede traditional measurement and assessment
techniques.
Affirmative action, on the other hand, gauges the progress
of different racial/ethnic/gender constituencies in given
arenas and attempts to find solutions for greater inclusion
and representation. Affirmative action, however, does not
mean "lowering standards" in favor of race or gender
but is, rather, a technique for reaching specific segments
of society and increasing the previously limited competition.
Its limitation is that it is not all-inclusive of all possible
human differences. Therefore it runs the risk of creating
an "us/them" dynamic.
Diversity not only assumes that all individuals are unique,
i.e., different, but that difference is indeed value-added.
While all societies and organizations have a need to establish
common rules and modes of operation, the assumption in diversity
is that if an organization learns how to harness individual
differences, it will be more effective and competitive than
those organizations that are not able to do so. It is, in
other words, an effectiveness argument. In personal terms,
the other component of a diversity approach requires a finely
tuned process for self-examination. Rather than learning about
other groups--and that, indeed, may be important--diversity
requires an individual to assess what one's personal values
are, and how these values affect our individual behaviors
with other people. What we value will affect how we behave
with other people. We need to be consciously aware of our
values.
For operational purposes, culture is a set of values held
by a group of people and, importantly, the behaviors that
stem from those values. Diversity arises from this multiplicity
of cultures. Cultures not only are national in nature. They
may be regional, urban, rural, suburban, or based on age,
religion, class, professional affiliation and organization-and
many more. In fact, one's own life experience may affect cultural
values. Being "minority" or "majority"
in any larger culture will also affect values- how one views
the world.
Perhaps paradoxically, diversity should result in supreme
individualization: treating an individual as uniquely different
from any other person and thereby avoiding stereotypes based
on actual or perceived group memberships.
All organizations, including those of a voluntary nature,
essentially perform three things: They develop products and
services, they market them, and they deal with issues of customer/client
satisfaction. These tasks subsequently are performed by managing
human resources. The critical question to ask in the context
of diversity is: How does difference, or absence of difference,
affect how we design products and services, market the same,
or deal with questions of customer/client satisfaction? Do
all cultures, for example, provide voluntary services in the
same way? Does one market goods and services uniformly around
the world, or within diverse societies like the United States?
And how do you please a customer/client if you don't know
what he or she values? Values, of course, are all about culture.
Volunteerism occurs in all human cultures, but is often performed
differently from culture to culture. In the United States
we have developed a great number of community-based organizations
focusing on volunteer activities. This phenomenon may not
be representative of many other societies where extended family
groupings, religious organizations, and government may play
greater roles. The challenge for volunteer organizations in
an increasingly diverse U.S. population is, on the one hand,
to learn how to tap into networks different from those customary
here and, on the other hand, to assist in the acculturation
of groups new to the United States. Community-based volunteerism,
for example, is relatively rare in the traditional Hispanic
and Asian contexts--families and churches may play a greater
role--yet these populations once here in the United States
are exhibiting a trend toward greater dependence on community
organizations. That is clearly an example of acculturation.
From a more traditional perspective, it behooves every organization
to identify key players in each community who can then assist
in carrying out the mission of voluntary organizations. Activities
such as fund raising, how people are managed, and how decisions
are made within groups are affected by different cultural
norms. Diversity, then, is about learning to include different
perspectives and processes so that the work of the organization
can be as effective as possible.
The argument about diversity really centers around how to
be more effective personally, professionally, and organizationally.
It is not a value judgment about "right" and "wrong"--although
each individual has the right (and obligation) to determine
his or her own values--but, rather, what approach is most
effective in a given setting. In essence, then, diversity
is knowing what you don't know coupled with the knowledge
that the way we measure people may not always be accurate
due to the filters created by our own individual set of values.
Excerpted from Diversity and Volunteerism: Deriving Advantage from Difference by Santiago Rodriguez, with permission of THE
JOURNAL OF VOLUNTEER ADMINISTRATION, Spring 1997 issue,
Volume XV, No. 3, pp. 18-20. Copyright 1997, Association for Volunteer
Administration.
