Why Does Diversity Matter at College Anyway?

Having experienced the recent one world week at one of my local colleges, http://www.strode-college.ac.uk/student_life/288 which I know is replicated across other institutions, and having discussed the need for greater awareness of the Diversity agenda within our work with colleagues I though it would be useful to summarise the 8 reasons why diversity does matter in education. It is from an American posting, (hence the use of a phrase such as liberal arts), but is quite a useful listing by authors of the book Diversity and the College Experience. The headline reasons are:-

1. Diversity expands worldliness.

2. Diversity enhances social development.

3. Diversity prepares students for future career success.

4. Diversity prepares students for work in a global society.

5. Interactions with people different from ourselves increase our knowledge base.

6. Diversity promotes creative thinking.

7. Diversity enhances self-awareness.

8. Diversity enriches the multiple perspectives developed by a liberal arts education.

You can read a fuller summary of this here: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/professors-guide/2009/08/12/why-does-diversity-matter-at-college-anyway.html

Interested in Higher Education ? Make this a regular stop !

Welcome to this, the first Blog aimed at all of those people who provide or support HE Advice to the pupils/students in your area. This blog came out of the Institute of Careers Guidance (ICG) Higher Education Advisers Community which has been created and supported by Andy Gardner. It is based on the need for those of us who work in this area to have one resource which is ours and covers the whole field of HE, but from the perspective of a Careers Adviser. However everyone is welcome here, you do not have to be an adviser to find something useful and interesting here. You may work in Secondary, or Primary education and want to know how best to raise the aspirations of your pupils to consider Higher education, you may work in an FE college or a 6th form and wish to keep abrest of this area, or indeed you might be working in an Higher Education Institution (HEI), but would be interested in seeing what is happening in this general area. Everyone is welcome and can contribute or comment as they see fit. But this is also a blog for the public, so if you are a parent or guardian, an employer or just an ordinary member of the public you are welcome to look in as well.  My prime aim in this blog is to promote the benefits of Higher Education for individuals, businesses and the economy of our country. Of course the fact that it can be interesting and intellectually stimulating is a bonus !