Diversity Management/Educational Human Resources

5 Pages 1255 Words

There are various ways of looking at the cultural integration of the diverse population of the US. One view is that of the "melting pot," which proposes the people of different races and ethnicity should "blend together and assimilate into a common national culture" (Ivancevich and Gilbert, 2000, p. 75). A viewing countering this is to envision a "multicultural society," which suggests that different ethic groups can retain their culture and learn to coexist with each other (Ivancevich and Gilbert, 2000). While the "melting pot" scenario has been traditionally dominant among European-descended Americans, there has always been a strong undercurrent of multiculturalism (Ivancevich and Gilbert, 2000). Historians tell us that the US was never the homogenous culture that is presented by some traditionalists and conservatives. Diversity management is a concept that embraces the multicultural perspective. Within the field of education, it suggests that schools should not only consider the diverse nature of its student population, but that administration policies should promote the "systematic and planned commitment" of the organization to "recruit, retain, reward and promote a heterogeneous mix of employees" (Ivancevich and Gilbert, 2000, p. 75).
The demographics of the typical undergraduate student body have changed drastically over the course of the last decade. For example, one-third of American students are now minorities, which is up from 25 percent just a decade ago (Mellow, Van Slyck and Eynon, 2003). Forty percent of all undergraduates are now part-time students and 40 percent are over the age of 24, with 80 percent commuting to campus (Mellow, Van Slyck and Eynon, 2003). More than a quarter of these students are parents and 80 percent are employ, either full or part-time (Mellow, Van Slyck and Eynon, 2003). Furthermore, diversity is also indicative of the public school population. The National Center for Education Statistics, in th...