Cultural Diversity in Organizations
I do sincerely belief that educational institutions need to created a learning environment targeted at staff and faculty; a climate in which students, staff, and faculty of diverse cultures are treated as equals and not as strangers.
It is extrenmely difficult to understand when faculty members question the quality and type of students recruited by the admissions department just because the students bring a new set of situations or personal problems never seing before in the institution.
The future of higher education institutions in the United States is not any longer in the hands of a few, but in the creation of opportunities for diverse segments of our population.
I would like to recieve and discuss your opinions on this matter, specially if you are a minority working in the higher education environment. I am about to begin my doctoral work and would like to hear other points of view.
I would like to agree with you on a 100% basis, but I tend to belief that more than a understanding of the institution's mission faculty's behavior is greatly influence by their cultural and social make-up. It sounds very negative but the reality is that we look at other people in the light of our beliefs and prejudices.
Everything else aside we can find from time to time individuals within all segments of the institution that rise to the level of great mentors (educators) regardless of the quality of the student they receive as part of the admission process.
Our duty is to educated people regardless of whom they are or what they represent. We are entrusted with their minds and dreams; our teaching philosophy bounds us to help them reach their goals.
I would love to hear more from you. This is a very interesting subject.
Thanks,
Luis,
It is fairly common for faculty members to question the quality of the students they are assigned to teach. This usually happens because they do not really understand the institution's mission and admission processes. One good solution is to make learning about the college's mission and admission processes part of each faculty member's orientation to the college.
We have had good success in this regard when we have asked new faculty members to sit in on admission appointments or when we have had representatives from admissions show the videos they show and talk about how they do their jobs.
