Reflective Essay: Diversity In The United States

Words: 519
Pages: 3

In my opinion, Diversity means difference, it may be individuals of different race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies, who can coexist by recognizing, accepting and respecting these individual differences. I am an international graduate student from India, who currently pursuing my Masters in healthcare administration at Missouri State University, Missouri, USA. My department is composed of students and faculty from different countries, cultures , races/ethnicities, people from different generations, it creates environment for learning, teaching and research. There are several positive and very few negative impacts for students in diverse cultural settings. Studying in other country with different diversified student force and staff, brought several challenges such as, increased anxiety, I felt discomfort and self-conscious to mingle with others at beginning. Even after facing some communication problems earlier, I slowly adapted to the new environment. The staff and other students are friendly and highly helpful in my future endeavors. Other challenges of diversity, that must be addressed and overcome are individuals of color experience isolation, discrimination and racism, woman and minority faculty members are displeased with many aspects of their job such …show more content…
Recognizing, accepting, and respecting these demographics may influence our interactions and enable us to minimize the challenges and yield maximum benefits from diversity. Studies provides evidence that diversity in academic programs has positive impact on all students, diversity fosters cognitive development, leadership abilities, innovative thinking and growth in intellectual and academic skills (Fine & Handelsman,