DIVERSITY

Patriann Monteith
International College of the Cayman Islands

GR 509
Chicago Seminar
Reflection Paper Dr. Edghill-Walden
Lecturer: Dr. David Marshall
22nd May 2016

DIVERSITY

On 18th May 2016, we had an evening session where we were given a lecture by Dr.
Edghill-Walden on Diversity and its role in business development. From the lecture I learned in
order to accept diversity, acceptance of inclusion needs to take place. Diversity is the variety of
different thoughts, prospective, culture, sexual orientation, belief systems, etc. Inclusion is the
acceptance and value of other individuals beliefs. By accepting inclusion, this can perhaps
change your prospective on certain issues.

The lecture further discussed that the acceptance of diversity and inclusion has been an
issue for years and can be dated back to as early as slavery. During slavery, there were many
ways to divide and keep individuals away from unity. There were divided between whites and
blacks and even internal divides between blacks and blacks. However, it was noted that diversity
is not only in relation to race, sex, language, culture, etc. but also other elements such as class.
For example, individuals divide themselves in regards to the neighborhood they live in, their
place of employment, etc. I found this very interesting as I did not think of diversity in terms of
class.

The topic of diversity and inclusion is related to the topic of Management

Communications, especially about persuasion. When you are communicating with another
individual about beliefs, you want them to accept and value your beliefs and views and to
possibly change their perspective on a certain issue. This can be done by being persuasive.
Persuasion is being able to influence people to change their attitudes, behavior and way of
thinking regarding an issue. It also influences people to change what believe in or do something.

DIVERSITY

This does not mean that the individual has changed their own beliefs in regards to a certain issue,
but after persuasion and using exclusion, they are able to see that issue in a different light.

Within an organization it is good to hire individuals with different cultures so that that
organization has diversification of thought. If everyones thought process is the same, innovation
cannot take place. I believe this is an issue that is prevalent in the Cayman Islands Government.
The individuals who are in the Government are the older generation of Caymanians. Their way
of thinking is in a traditional sense and they are very receptive to change. In light of this, the
development of the laws, regulations and economy of the Cayman Islands is stagnant. Due to
their way of thinking being very similar, new ideas are not brought to the table.

The younger generation has identified this as an issue for the Cayman Islands and have
tried to change this way of thinking by running in the political election for a seat at the
Legislative Assembly. However, due to the older generation of Caymanians not liking change
and not wanting to hear the views and suggestions by the younger generation, the older
generation of politicians are still in the Government. From these examples, it is evident that
diversification of thinking is an issue not only for the individuals who are in Government but for
the Caymanian society as a whole. Until diversification of thinking is accepted and implemented,
the Cayman Islands economy will be stagnant.

In conclusion, I believe that one of the ways in which an organization can succeed is to
accept diversity and inclusion. By accepting diversity, this can lead to innovation to take place

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within the organization. This is because different views, opinions, suggestions and experiences
are brought to the table that allows new ideas and ways solutions to be produced.

Reference
1. Edghill-Walden, Vernese (2016) Diversity and its role in business development