Diversity is vital for creating and maintaining more productive, healthy environments and fostering the growth of humanity. In the absence of diversity, prejudice sours potentially exceptional partnerships. These partnerships are essential in the fields of education and business alike. For example, a University of California, Los Angeles study found that middle schoolers who experienced more diversity scored higher on testing measures, thus positively correlating the two. Another study showed that 75% of black employees in the United States reported that they had experienced discrimination in 2020 due to their race/ethnicity. The same study showed that increased variation among employees heavily reduced these figures. Diversity is essential for furthering humanity because it fosters innovation and comfort. Diverse environments allow a wide-ranged pool of ideas to flourish where they would have otherwise drowned in a sea of assumptions. However, the benefits conferred by these settings are only made possible by an intimate understanding and implementation of diversity.
Education is essential for creating a brighter future. Students must have the proper resources to heighten their understanding of the world to attain this future; diversity is undoubtedly one of these resources. This idea is reinforced by a Berkeley study that followed several students throughout their collegiate experiences. Some of these students took a class about diversity in their first year, while the rest did not. Those who took the class were reported to possess “more sophisticated moral reasoning” when they graduated. Additionally, a Stanford study provided data showing that dissenting ideas produced broader group thought when presented by a black person rather than a white person. These studies solidify that diversity in academic environments enriches productivity and fosters innovation. Such enrichment is not found solely in academia, however.1
Diversity creates a feeling of safety and comfort in the workplace. Beyond making people feel happier and safer, diversity has additional benefits in business settings.2 According to a study organized by a Stanford professor in 2004, "dissenting opinions" presented by non-white individuals provoked more thought concerning alternative solutions in majority-white groups than those presented by white people. The conclusion derived from this study is simple: a group of different types of people generates broader thoughts and solutions that satisfy more people than a group of similar individuals. Companies that put effort into racial and gender diversity in the workplace will likely bring in more revenue than their competitors.3 According to a report by McKinsey & Company, companies with significant gender diversity produce 15% more than their industry average, while companies with significant racial diversity produce 35% more. This is true in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the United Kingdom.4 When a company seeks to perform market research, having a diverse board of individuals direct the research often leads to the company gaining a greater understanding of its consumers. This deeper understanding allows companies to adapt to rapidly shifting markets and take advantage of new niches more easily.
Diversity encourages productivity in both the classroom and the office. A diverse environment consistently presents more high-quality ideas than an environment of uniformity and encourages more advanced thinking in students. This educational enhancement produces higher test scores and allows students to develop more complex ways of thinking to utilize as they join the workforce. Furthermore, businesses with high diversity produce significantly more revenue than those with low diversity due to having both first-rate ideas and a greater variety of perspectives. In summary, diversity is positively correlated with economic and creative productivity and should be a goal of any company or school seeking to grow and prepare for the future.
1 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-diversity-makes-us-smarter/
2 https://workplace.msu.edu/psychological-safety-and-dei/
3 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-diversity-makes-us-smarter/
4 https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/why-diversity-matters#/
