What Are the Advantages of Diversity in Society?
Diversity in society allows for richness and variety, boosting innovation which leads to economic growth, improving access to jobs, producing culturally vibrant and varied communities and preventing stagnation. Early exposure to ethnic and economy diversity prepares children and students for a multicultural world, with studies demonstrating that this type of socializing contributes significantly to their academic development and level of cultural awareness.
Dr. Charles Taylor, professor emeritus at McGill University in Montreal, studied the benefits of diversity in society and cautioned that an overly homogeneous community that demands assimilation risks fragmentation from those who refuse and stagnation from the lack of contribution. He indicates that the chief advantage of diversity is the opportunity to learn from someone with a different background and perspective and to share that knowledge.
The risk of assimilation is extremely high in certain communities. Although the United States characterizes itself as a melting pot, Dr. Taylor criticized the tendency of immigrants to encourage their children to abandon their roots and languages to blend into the suburban, homogenized white American culture. To contrast this example, he holds up other societies that teach children English without erasing other languages in the process, maintaining a connection to minority cultures.
