Why Education for Diversity?

DEVELOPING A MULTICULTURAL IDENTITY

A recognition of the fact that there is increasing diversity in the workplace or school and acknowledging that strategies for inclusion are needed to minimize problems within the organization, is not likely to lead to the ability for effective multicultural communication and integration by themselves. Much less are they likely to promote the equity needed to prevent longer term dysfunctionality within the organization.

Most strategies for inclusion center on training that familiarize participants with cultural differences with others and try to develop consciousness of biases that participants might have in relationship to those differences. While both aspects are needed, they usually are not enough after the short term. First, they are still based on how “others” are different from “us”. Most of the time this still fosters holding “us” as the standard for what is “appropriate”, “usual”, or “normal”. Or else, it leads to the alternative response of minimizing or trivializing these differences in favor of a common “humanity”, that is usually defined very similarly to “us”.

Acknowledgement of cultural differences must be accompanied by cultural self-awareness. This is only possible through deep introspection that allows us to acknowledge that “us” is neither the standard against which to judge all “others” nor an objective or universal human standard. Each one of us is a cultural being whose behaviors, values, and attitudes develop and are defined by our cultural context. Only that acknowledgement allows for the empathy and the development of skills necessary to understand that we are all different from each other and that there are different, equally valid ways of working for and achieving personal and organizational goals. The development of this multicultural identity, able to work within multicultural frames of reference, is essential for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Educate for Diversity has developed In Search for our Multicultural Identity, a training and development program specifically targeted to go beyond the knowledge and inventory of differences and biases, and into a fundamental comprehension of the role of culture in our behaviors, values, and attitudes, and a recognition of each one of us as a cultural being. This becomes the foundation for each one of us being able to develop a multicultural identity that recognizes, considers, and adapts to diverse cultural contexts.

AN ADULT EXPERIENCE IN TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

The resources of Educate for Diversity have over 35 years’ experience in adult education in university and training settings. As adult education experts, they are able to design and deliver training experiences that are effective, interesting, and fun for adults. They substitute traditional unidirectional information dumping and overload with a highly collaborative and interactive learning environment that incorporates the participants’ prior knowledge to construct new meaning and understanding. Educate for Diversity training respects what participants bring to the table, continuously challenges to move to new and higher levels, and makes sure delivery is worth the participants’ time and effort investment.

INITIAL AND CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT FOR EFFECTIVENESS IN CUSTOM-DESIGNED PROGRAMS

Experience in higher and other educational settings leads to expertise in comprehensive institutional assessment that is required by accreditation and licensing agencies. Educate for Diversity will work closely with organizational leadership in designing an initial assessment of organizational needs in diversity, equity, and inclusion. This includes data collection and analysis, interviews, focus groups, and survey design and administration, as needed. This initial assessment will be used to develop tailor-made training and other programs and services that address specific organizational needs and priorities. It also becomes the frame of reference for continuous assessment, feedback, and improvement of programs and services offered.

PROVEN EXPERIENCE IN DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF INCLUSION AND EQUITY PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES THAT TRANSFORM ORGANIZATIONS

Recognizing diversity and enabling organizational stakeholders to be inclusive and promote equity, is a necessary, but not sufficient, first step in assuring commitment to equity within the organization and in the activities and services it provides to external clients. The design and implementation of creative and innovative programs and activities that sustain organizational equity and inclusion and that reach out to include and serve with equity key components in the organization’s environment, becomes an imperative.

Educate for Diversity is unique in its proven experience in the design, development, and implementation of highly creative and successful organizational initiatives that have promoted equity and inclusion. These initiatives have not only been successful in increasing inclusion and equity, but also have been financially and administratively beneficial for the organizations. It is worth noting among these:

• Design, development, and implementation of the first fully dual language bilingual university level program in the nation, with over 5,000 graduates in 16 years
• Design, development, and implementation of the first accelerated adult education program in a Hispanic-serving institution, with over 20,000 graduates in 22 years
• Sustainable growth of these programs so they came to represent approximately 25% of the organization’s enrollment
• Design administrative, academic, and service strategies for these programs, to be able to effectively serve students from more than 20 different national origins and 4 different languages
• Design, development, and implementation of the administrative and corporate structures required for the successful implementation of these programs and initiatives
• Achieve a 325% return on investment for the corporation created to develop the dual language program, allowing sustainable growth and expansion
• Successful implementation of assessment and compliance structures needed to secure and maintain licensing in five state jurisdictions, as well as national and regional accreditation standards.

UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON THE LATINX REALITY: ITS DIVERSITY AND COMPLEXITY

The length, scope, and immersion of our work with the Latinx/Latino/Hispanic communities has led to a comprehensive understanding of that reality. Many approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion treat these as a monolithic community, failing to grasp its own diversity. Diversity and inclusion strategies tend to emphasize what is common to the Latinx experience and in so doing, repeat the same mistakes that led to exclusion and inequity between the Latinx and other communities.

There are many elements that need to be considered in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that include the Latinx community:

• The meaning of and reason for Latinx, Latino, Hispanic and other identifiers
• The impact of 23 different national origin/culture groups and the relevancy of multiple indigenous groups
• Racial diversity of the Latinx reality
• Differences in migration experiences: external/internal, documented/undocumented
• Implications of first, second, native-born, and other generational groups
• Diversity in language use at home, work and society in general

Based in a Puerto Rican perspective but having worked extensively in Mexican, Cuban, Dominican, Central and South American communities, Educate for Diversity has developed firsthand knowledge and experience with this diversity. Having to work within those communities has forced and enabled us to recognize and understand the Latinx diversity and successfully develop strategies for inclusion and equity among these components of the Latinx reality. Equity and inclusion of the Latinx communities requires a multicultural identity, able to reference not only the differences between Latinx and other communities, but also the differences within.