Ethnography Research
Education and diversity
Introduction
Education institutions get considered as the platforms to which individuals of different ethnicities, gender, religion, nationality, or race meet to acquire knowledge. Schools and colleges get considered tools that influence individuals to develop positive interactions with other individuals without focusing on the differences between groups. Diversity has developed to become an essential part of a student’s learning experience, especially in higher education. Universities and colleges differ in many aspects but they all agree that there is a need for diversity within their student communities, faculties, and staff. The higher education institutions provide a post-secondary learning environment that enables students to experience a different kind of leadership, policies, and independence. The changing demographic in various countries calls for states and institutions to increase their diversity efforts. Understanding the impact of diversity in higher education needs one to observe the curricular, co-curricular, and interpersonal relations within students in a college.
The increased adaption of the diversity ideology and strategies in the institutions influences interests in identifying how diversity affects education programs and operations. There is an increasing number of students with different racial and ethnic backgrounds in learning institutions. The increase in these compositions is meant to influence the mindedness of the students to think globally. The global mindedness gets set to influence students to appreciate the differences between them and to work together towards improving the education status. Despite these assumptions, scholars in different parts argue that most higher education institutions lack diversity through their programs and operations. There is a need to conduct ethnographic research in which our university diversity values get evaluated. The research includes the determination of the effects of diversity on the learning programs and campus programs.
Background
The changing environment in educational institutions creates an educational value in which the students get forced to understand things differently through diverse mindedness values. Turner (2013) asserts that the issues of diversity get experienced in contemporary society despite global efforts. These issues also exist in multicultural societies such as the United States. These issues point out that more efforts should get adapted by the states and institutions to improve the situation. Diversity in a classroom presents different challenges to the learning process and affects the students’ integration. In an environment where the students are diverse, the feelings of inferiority and superiority are present. These feelings influence how students grow and develop. Dey et al, (2002) argue that the institutions need to develop strategies in which the students abandon their homogeneous peer groups and build relationships across the racial and ethnic communities.
Lauring & Selmer (2011) argue that issues of diversity have existed largely in countries with diverse populations yet there are is no research that investigates the impact of diversity on education. The arguments raised by these authors present the urgent need for such research. Lack to research this environment according to Lauring & Selmer, (2011) may result in racial tensions not only in educational institutions but also in the national economy. The situation may affect the economy of a nation indirectly through foreign investment factors and social stability. Turner (2013) argues that the challenges faced continuing in institutions because racial, ethnic, and gender diversity are not incorporated in the students, faculty, and the staff of higher institutions.
The United States is a multiculturalism society that incorporates different ethnic and cultural groups. The issues of diversity in the US need to get addressed with serious strategies because they affect how individuals relate between themselves. Kelly conducted a study to identify the factors that affect the institutionalization of diversity in higher education in Minnesota State and identified various factors that influence diversity. Kelly argues that the major factors affecting the institutionalization of diversity in facilities to higher learning are the lack of tactical strategies to implement diversity initiatives. Although the institutions consider themselves, diverse due to the composition of the different ethnical and cultural groups, the institutions do not recognize strategies such as recruiting and retaining faculty and staff, curriculum development, and student recruitment strategies as effective methods for cultural awareness in the education community. Institutions need to create successful practices and leadership strategies that influence the positive impact of diversity on the
Literature Review
Diversity includes the differences that get experienced through the race, sex, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, culture, age, nationality, and cognitive and physical abilities. Earlier studies linked diversity to the learning process of the students. Sulkowinski and Deakin (2009) assert that the student learning process gets enhanced when students understand different cultures. The study asserts that there is a correlation between the culture and the learning approaches applied in the schools. Boland et al (2011) study on the effects of cultural factors on learning activities discovered that students prefer different learning approaches according to their culture. Australian and Belgium students according to the study preferred the learning process in which they participated in doing the cations. Japanese students on the other hand preferred watching as a method of learning.
The quality of learning gets influenced by the increased improvement of global mindedness. Nilemar and Brown (2019) argue that increased positivity n diversity get influenced by the global mindedness of the lecturers. Global mindedness includes factors such as responsibility, cultural pluralism, efficacy, global centrism, and interconnectedness. Individuals with global mindedness; express deep personal concerns to other people, promote the value in everyone, trust individual actions, focuses on the social goodness, and appreciates the interrelatedness of all the people. As the institutions diversify, there is a need to diversify the workforce and the staff the response to the changing demographics.
Michael (2007) outlines the competencies that show the excellence of diversity in learning institutions. Diversity according to the article, Toward a diversity-competent institution should get applied in the mission statement, definition, leadership, structure, planning, modeling, and assessment. The institutions should also reward the efforts of diversification to ensure the performance keeps improving. The institutions should also express diversity physically, academically, in health, social activities, and values. Society should always celebrate the fruits of culture connectedness because the institutions get identified by what they do and who they are. These competencies indicate the need for institutions to assess the effects of their diversity efforts.
Purpose of the Study
A case study conducted to the students of the university highlight different aspects of the learning and operations process impacted by the level of diversity in the institution. The study was important in identifying the impact of diversity on education in the university. The increased lack of effective strategies to implement diversity leads to negative effects of the initiatives to the university environment and the need to explore the level of these effects. Effective strategies cannot get developed without the full knowledge of the effects of a diverse population in the school environment. Understanding the impact of diversity leads to the creation of strategies more effective and feasible by the institutions and governments.
Purpose of the Statement
The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of diversity on education programs and operations to determine the need for effective strategies to implement diversity initiatives on learning institutions.
Research Questions
- How is the institution as a whole affected by the diverse population?
- How are the curriculum and co-curriculum activities affected by diversity?
- How are interpersonal relationships affected by Diversity?
Research Methodology
The design included a qualitative study that answers the questions of the study. An observation method was applied to investigate how diversity was applied by the faculty, students, and the staff. The method of data collection enabled the research to analyze how individuals of different ethnic and cultural groups reacted to each other. The study methodology enabled the study to investigate nonverbal expressions, communications between groups, and the time individuals spent on various activities. The study enables one to get a holistic understanding of the problems influenced by diversity. Being part of the university enabled one to easily identify the sites and the areas to access fast information. Participation in different activities allowed the members of various groups to act normal to improve the validity of the study.
The Site
The study was conducted in the university premises. This allowed the researcher to choose different sites to observe the participants according to the questions of the study. The researcher’s familiarity with the institution environment allowed research planning to become effective in access to the participants.
The Participants
The study included the observation of individuals in the faculty, staff, and student groups. The education process and operations depend on the activities that occur between these groups. Diversity gets physically expressed through the actions and communication of these groups. Since the university consists of a large population, the participants were sampled according to their activities. The faculty included the institution leaders, the staff included the tutors and support staff in sports-related fields, and the students included those in the researcher’s course and those involved in co-curriculum activities.
Data Collection
The faculty got assessed through the meetings they conduct. The behaviors and interactions of the institution leaders got assessed to identify how their decisions got influenced by diversity. The staff including the tutors and the support groups got assessed on their work stations to influence the factors that influenced their decisions. The connections that exist between the staff and the leaders got assessed by observing different meetings within the institution. Communication between the tutors, support staff, and the students were observed to assess the level of integration that existed between different groups. The students were observed in different sites. The curriculum activities were observed during lectures. Co-curriculum activities got assessed through activities in sports. The interpersonal relations between students were assessed by observing how students formed groups and friends.
Results
A critical observational study got applied to learn the effects of diversity on education programs and operations. The experiences from the researcher, involvement in activities, and observation of the passion and interactions of the participants get analyzed to identify the effects of diversity. The observed sites got allocated at least sixty minutes to gather all the information needed to answer the questions of the study. The observational methods applied sought to identify the effects of diversity on the education process by assessing the operations of the entire institution, the evolution of curriculum and co-curriculum activities, and the assessment of interpersonal relations.
The Institution
The university incorporates diversity through its mission, policies, leadership, staff members, and student community. The mission of the university takes an inclusive approach in determining what it aims to achieve it provides educational services to the students. Through the inclusion of diversity in the mission, all the education programs and operations got affected through the policies created. The policies created by the institution allow the leadership, staff, and the students to get equal chances in the admission activities. This diversity valued influenced how the institution affected the relationship between the student’s affairs and academic affairs. The policies created on diversity makes the students feel valued and involved despite their differences.
The institution feels welcoming to individuals wishing to join since there are physical expressions of diversity in the environment. Leadership positions of the institution are diversely shared. The institution through multicultural leaders effectively welcomes the decisions of each member. The members also seem free and comfortable sharing ideas showing fewer conflicts within the groups. The students’ leadership got observed not to include much diversity. The student’s get to power through elections which favor the majority populations. The minority groups in leadership occupy the lower positions. Students with minority populations seem reluctant to students’ elections due to these factors.
The staff is diverse got observed to appreciate their level of diversity. The number of female tutors is slightly lower than those of male tutors. When the staff gets together, communication seems free and involving. During meetings, the staff effectively got involved in discussions that incorporate the ideas of the members despite their differences.
Curriculum
The teaching and learning process got affected by the diversity that exists in the institution. The programs existing in the institution aim at improving society through knowledge. The institution allows students to attend their programs according to their qualifications and not their cultural and ethnic characteristics. The activities involved in lectures all give every individual chance to express themselves without negative perceptions. Some courses provide cultural studies that allow students to share the cultural values increasing student’s knowledge. Students however seem extra eager to get information on the minority groups. It was observed that the minority groups hesitate on sharing their experiences especially if they had ethnic accents. Minority groups were less interested in cultural studies programs since they felt inferior.
Co-curriculum
Activities outside the class incorporated diversity at every level. The students exist in their different ethnic groups which provide them chances to express and address factors affecting their learning activities. For Example, The Asian Student Organization allowed students to speak their native language and engage in activities specific to their cultures. Women’s student association allowed the students to discuss factors affecting women. These activities influenced the students to feel a sense of belonging and involvement.
Inter-Personal Relations
Interpersonal relations depended on the social groups attached to each student. Students chose friends according to their diverse groups. For instance, Asian students were observed to frequently be in groups. Diversity had not affected the interpersonal relations of the students. Groups observed to have diverse members had common characteristics. For instance, students who were musicians formed a group. Relations between students and staff members were diverse. Students related to their tutors according to the courses they were doing and not according to their sex, gender, or cultural characteristics.
Discussion
Diversity influences the learning institutions according to the strategies created by the institutions. The university expresses the values of diversity through its mission, policies, and physical interactions. These values influences members of the faculty interact, how the staff relates, and how the students are admitted to the university. The institution has a favorable culture that does not hesitate to identify racist behaviors. The population composition gets influenced by the diversity values empowered by the institution. Education programs get positively influenced by diversity. The leaders effectively create policies that get applied to the classes.
The positive climate environment in the institution directly connects to the increased number of students, faculty, and staff of different races, ethnicity, nationality, gender identity, sex, religion, and other aspects that differentiate individuals. The faculty and the staff members positively create personal relations without considering the cultural differences. These values influence how ideas and motivation between members get generated. The students’ interpersonal relations get created through cultural groups. These affect their corporation and teamwork. Interpersonal relations are influenced by diverse cultural organizations that the university allows to exist. The institution has effective strategies to implement diversity in the institution but fails to implement strategies that would influence the students to have a global mindedness.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Diversity positively influences education programs and operations in institutions. The institution effectively applies diversity through its mission and influences the leaders, faculty, staff, and students to avoid discrimination behaviors. These affect how programs are run and operations are adapted. Students through diversity improve their curriculum and co-curriculum. The faculty and the staff help the students feel comfortable by giving them equal chances in course activities and work. The institutions however need to adapt strategies that increase the global mindedness of the students to consider their relations beyond their cultural aspects. Higher education institutions should infuse operational policies that work to create comprehensive diversity awareness. The practices implemented to influence global mindedness should provide connectivity, collaboration, and facilitate respect among students despite their cultural values. More attention should be given to students in the institution because they influence mostly the physical appearance of the institution and influence the society to adapt inclusion policies.
References