Bridging the Diversity Divide Gap in Higher Education

Bridging the Diversity Divide in Higher Education

Introduction

The mission of each and every institution of higher learning is to prepare students for a global competitiveness through equal success and education brilliance. In a current world where most societies are built on a multicultural setting, institutions need to create an environment of diverse cultures be it in student population, faculties and student governing bodies. Diversity among students in institutions of higher learning began way back in1800s when the minorities were given a chance to engage in academic programs.

The period also saw the emergence of women students thus doing away with the notion that education was only meant for the white males (Azziz, 2015). Strategies to democratize education beyond socioeconomic lines is seen as a way to address United States and world complex social challenges especially those aligned around minority issues especially race. Thus through bridging the diversity divide gap, institutions and world as whole prepare students to great world citizens that can compete favorably in a global environment.

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Higher education is viewed as a pathway to social flexibility in the United States and other legal states around the world. Despite diversity transforming the current lifestyle of the United States in different sectors, the transformation has not been accompanied by equal consideration in colleges and campuses. Possibly, the death of affirmative action has positioned the institution of higher learning in genuine splits in regards to diversity guide among students, administrators, faculties and leaders in universities and colleges (Cole, 2008, Pg. 52). Bridging the diversity divide is the only way for the institutions of higher learning to sign a new contract with the society basing on current global complexities.

Higher learning education requires equal consideration of all diverse groups, workers, and leaders in order to understand social issues beyond borders, religion, ethnicity, race and local politics. It is noteworthy that various institutions of learning fail to understand that we live in a new global environment recognized as a world of mutual susceptibility and not a nation.

Bridging the divide also means that the institutions of higher learning should redefine diversity beyond the simple notion of black and white. There are other groups that the institutions have failed to consider such as people with disabilities, different sexual orientation groups, for instance, heterosexual and also adult learners. According to Azziz, (2015), students enrich their knowledge greatly when the environment they learn in represents a perfect humanity complete spectrum. The education system has also failed to tailor the curriculum past the conventional system which only viewed diversity as an issue of people of color and the African-American. A thorough definition of the term diversity is therefore crucial to avoid confusion in achieving a diverse culture in higher learning.

Embracing multiculturalism is the way forward where every person's culture needs to be respected since each culture has a right under the law. Higher institutions of learning should be a place where people from multicultural groups that communicate well, offers everyone a chance of equal identity rather than restricting cultural differences and opinions (Cole, 2008, Pg. 54). Diversity should be observed from all angles in an institution since a great diversity group in an organization is built on accountability of diverse leaders or administrators in different faculties. Lastly, institutions should stop viewing diversity as a contrary to quality thus should come up with models that are inclusive of diverse groups.

Conclusion

Higher education has an obligation to create a higher learning environment that paints a global ideology. The current world continues to thrive on the success of a combination of efforts contributed by people of diverse cultures and personalities. Failure to bridge the divide would be a mistake of leaving out a significant portion of the population that needs knowledge skills to relate well with all population. I believe multiculturalism should prevail everywhere including in schools and workplaces. Thus institutions of higher learning are in a position to accomplish the challenge since it is an environment which is inclusive of students, workers, leaders and a society of people with diverse social and cultural identities.