Diversity and Culture: Secondary Dimensions of Diversity
Social Class
Social class is one among the secondary elements of diversity that influence an individual’s personal as well as organizational life. According to Harvey and Allard (2014), social class is considered an invisible difference when compared to other secondary aspects of diversity. This is because of the popular belief that all persons are equal as they are presented with similar opportunities, meaning that what really makes the difference between the high-class and low-class is the magnitude of effort and hard work that individuals put in (Harvey & Allard, 2014). However, the truth is that social class can easily be deduced from one’s physical appearance, where he/she lives, the school that his/her kids attend, and his/her lifestyle in general. As Harvey and Allard (2014) state, social class has its origins in factors such as networking, educational and social resources.
Educational achievement is one of the measures of social class. It goes without saying that a child’s future is greatly determined by his/her parents’ income as this dictates the quality of education the child gets. Although the government tries to provide basic, affordable education for all citizens, the reality is students’ educational achievements are significantly determined by their parents’ socioeconomic status (Harvey & Allard, 2014). Parents with low incomes tend to have lower academic expectations for their children, perhaps because the parents have a lot of issues to worry about.
Besides education, social class can also be deduced from a person’s social circles, home ownership, and the environment where he/she lives. A person’s social circles, better referred to as social capital, play a big role in the job market and in the corporate arena. Because social capital is all about connections and networks, individuals with weak, resource-poor networks often find it difficult to get a well-paying job even though they may have the academic qualifications for the job (Harvey & Allard, 2014). In the same way, job promotions are sometimes offered based on personal connections. Likewise, a person’s knowledge about issues, his/her core values and beliefs and mode of speech and dressing all speak volumes about the person’s social class.
Home ownership is another indicator of social class, the rationale being that owning a house signals that one is wealthy. Similarly, the area where one lives also indicates his/her socioeconomic status. All these exert substantial impact on the kind of lives that children lead, hence the argument that social class is self-perpetuating (Harvey & Allard, 2014). What this means is that when parents are wealthy and their socioeconomic status above average, there is a greater likelihood of the children enjoying quality life.
As mentioned earlier, the determinations or indicators of social class have a huge bearing on workplace processes and conduct. Apart from influencing hiring and promotion decisions, social class also determines the wages as well as benefits that different employees get. According to Harvey and Allard (2014), class symbols such as executive washrooms are not uncommon in the workplace. There are also instances where not all employees are granted paid leave; only those belonging to a certain social class are considered eligible for such.
Factors Influencing Success in College Education
Harvey and Allard (2014) outline some of the factors that determine success in college education. These include availability of necessary financial resources, ease of access to quality schools, and parents’ attitude towards education. For me, the following factors-in order of importance- have been critical to my success in college education: parents’ financial resources, my own hard work and determination, parents’ attitude toward education, and quality of the elementary and secondary schools I attended. In elementary and high school, it was my hard work and determination that saw me excel and join a good college. From there, my parents’ ability to pay for my college education became the key reason why I excelled, otherwise I would possibly have deferred or even not joined college in the first place even though I am a hard worker. I also applaud my parents for being firm believers in the value of educating their children; if this were not the case, my hard work would be meaningless unless I looked for a sponsorship.
Although the four factors outlined and described above are distinct in terms of their impact on college education success, there is some considerable degree of correlation between them. For instance, parents’ attitude toward education and parents’ financial resources are somewhat correlated in the sense that a parent who believes that education is the key to his/her child’s success will do what it takes and work hard to get the money and other resources that the child needs for education. Similarly, a parent who is interested in and concerned about their child’s education will provide the financial resources for co-curricular and extra-curricular activities as the parent understands that these activities are helpful to the child’s academic success. In reciprocation, children will work very hard and persevere any challenges to achieve their goals and make their parents proud (Page & Jha, 2009).
A second pair of correlated factors determining success in college education comprises an individual’s determination/hard work and parents’ attitude towards education. Parents who view it their responsibility to support their children’s academic goals and journeys “will use their authority [to make this happen while children will put in] the effort to meet or exceed the expectations of parents” (Chou & Spangler, 2016 p.347). In other words, parents with a negative attitude towards education stifle hard work and determination in children, and vice versa. Lastly, quality of elementary and secondary schools and students’ determination and hard work are correlated although the relationship is not necessarily linear. It has been established that some students from less privileged backgrounds-as reflected in the quality of elementary schools they attended- excel in college due to personal effort-determination and hard work (McKenna & Sobuwa, 2020).
Religious Diversity
The following is an audit of religious diversity in ABC Company, one of the organizations I have worked with in the past. To begin with, ABC does not have any written policy about diversity; I guess this is because all the people that work in the organization are Christians. I say this because ABC is a faith-based organization that owns and runs several churches, and all the employees belong to the various churches. Despite the absence of an official policy about diversity, ABC does offer paid leaves for religious holidays, namely Christmas and Easter. This provision is contained in the employee handbook, stating that employees will not be required to report at work during weekends and religious holidays. At the same time, management takes religious holidays into consideration when planning workshops and meetings. However, having been incepted in April 1991, ABC has a tradition of holding anniversary celebrations every Easter weekend. This is not considered a big deal to employees because they all ascribe to Christianity. Since religious diversity does not exist in the organization, there has been no need for the management to develop a mode of communication to address any conflicts that may arise.
ABC Company does not have a dress code; employees are simply expected to dress decently. Interestingly, this is not mentioned in the employee handbook but it is assumed that employees are mature enough to know how to dress for work. Concerning the issue of food, ABC provides tea and snack for its employees. There is a cafeteria within the premises that employees can also buy lunch. For those who don’t take tea, provisions are made for milk or any other beverage as per their individual preferences. Being a relatively small company, ABC does not encourage employee networks or affinity groups. The organization works as one well-knit team in which ideas, problems, and suggestions are shared and addressed in a round table.
At ABC, there are separate offices for each department (which typically comprises a maximum of three individuals). Every individual across the various departments has a personal workspace- a separate desk with a computer and necessary equipment. Decorations in these workspaces are kept minimal- only the employee’s portrait, an ABC-branded calendar, and a statement of the firm’s mission, vision and core values that are mounted in a frame on the wall. Regarding religious practice, ABC staff hold weekly fellowships every Tuesday morning during which they pray together. Employees are encouraged to pray often, whether during lunch break or before office hours.
From the above checklist, ABC Company’s score in terms of religious diversity is 5. The organization tries its best to uphold religious practices among its workforce, but the fact that people from different religions are not included in the company affect its rating when it comes to religious diversity and tolerance. Making recommendations for ABC to improve religious diversity can be a tricky affair given that this is a faith-based organization and every person applying for a job and coming to work in the organization knows that it is strongly committed to Christian values. Nonetheless, it may be necessary for the management to hold one-on-one discussions with individual employees to make sure that none of them finds the policies and practices too demanding. As observed by Harvey and Allard (2014), it is wrong for employers to force employees to participate in religious activities as prerequisites for employment. For example, employees should not be punished when they fail to attend Tuesday fellowships.
Cross-Cultural Communication
As the Widget Company continues designing and offering creative solutions for television, set top boxes and mobile applications to customers, there is need to foster effective communication between employees so that they can deliver quality customer service. Communicating effectively in a cross-cultural setting is not usually easy, especially when a new employee from a foreign country is brought on board. It is a fact that different cultures have different values, different ways of doing things, and interpret meanings differently. However, efforts have to be made to make sure that communication takes place between workers from different nationalities and cultures.
As an employee of the Widget Company trying to understand the communication of a new foreign worker, one of the things I would do is to take the initiative of studying more about the new worker’s culture and its underlying values. I would try to learn what they value most and what non-verbal cues matter to them. Studying about the other person’s culture would help me to understand the things they might find offensive when communicating with others. As suggested by Riccardi (2014), my focus would be to dig deeper into the new worker’s communication with the aim of understanding his underlying values. For example, I would seek to know what the new worker means when he/she maintains or avoid eye contact during communication.
A second helpful thing to do to understand the communication of the new foreign worker is asking questions. According to Riccardi (2014), it helps to ask as many questions as possible so that one comprehends the message that the other person is trying to pass across. To avoid getting offensive, I will keep my questions simple. As I ask the questions, I will listen keenly to the answers that the new worker gives. This will help me to pick important words or cues that I can follow up on as I try to get the meaning of the whole communication.
Still on the importance of studying different cultures and becoming familiar with how things are done in different cultures, it has been established that some cultures prefer direct confrontations while others strongly believe in the concept of saving face (Kellogg School of Management, 2015). If I establish that the new worker’s culture adheres to the ‘saving face’ narrative, I will be keen not to engage in any direct confrontations. On a different note, I will intentionally strive to engage him or her in identifying problems and developing solutions to them. In summary, demonstrating cultural sensitivity is the secret to understanding communication of the new foreign worker.
References
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Chou, C. P., & Spangler, J. (2016). Chinese Education Models in a Global Age. New York: Springer.
Harvey, C. P. & Allard, M. J. (2014). Understanding and Managing Diversity: Readings, Cases, and Exercises, (6th Ed). Pearson Education.
Kellogg School of Management. (2015). Secrets of cross-cultural communication. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kujUs_6qeUI
McKenna, S. & Sobuwa, S. (2020). Student success is about more than hard work. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/student-success-is-about-more-than-hard-work-129465
Page, E., & Jha, J. (2009). Exploring the bias: Gender and stereotyping in secondary schools. London: Commonwealth Secretariat.
Riccardi, P. (2014). Cross-cultural communication. TEDX Talks. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMyofREc5Jk
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