Diversity and environmental sustainability

Diversity and Environment

Diversity as an object of sociological analyzation comes from the idea that diversity is an issue that affects everyone. The way society is shaped, the way that it functions, and the way that it is structured all have histories in the way that diversity has interacted with each other (Bonacich 1973). From a sociological perspective, diversity is what defines a society. Focusing on one of its most important and influential aspects, the idea of diversity has guided the way society has formed its ideas of one another, and how its reactions vary from situation to situation, comes this idea that diversity even exists. However, diversity goes beyond that of physical differences from person to person. Diversity is a result of the implications that society has put upon every given diverse group (Smedley & Smedley 2005).

When diversity is brought up as an issue impacting economics, negative connotations tend to be associated with it. Diversity is highly correlated to social class. The more of a minority one's race and/or ethnicity is, the lower the social class tends to be (McIntosh 1990). This not only has to do with the realities of life, but it also has to do with the lack of financial success that minorities have had due to the racism and discrimination that they have had to face (Clark et al. 1999). Unlike their White counterparts whom mostly come from well established families and higher socioeconomic backgrounds, minorities tend to come from first generation, poorer social class, and not so good neighborhoods, and they therefore get stuck in an economic rut that can be difficult to get out of (McIntosh 1990). From a sociological perspective however, this is viewed as society's way to keep the weaker person in their place. Economic considerations given to diversity also impacts the workplace as it is seen as a goal for companies to reach a certain diversity quota in order to demonstrate how fulfilled and how inclusive a company is (Smedley & Smedley 2005). In the times that are lived in now, diversity is a way of life in the world, especially in that of business. No longer are companies associated with other companies in the same country, but economies are colliding and intermixing in order to build a better society, and this collision of culture needs to be represented in the individuals who deal and work within those given economies, therefore giving diversity a new role within this given economic context.

Diversity is not just impacting the economy in terms of economical revolutions, but political grounds are also being addressed from diverse implications. No longer is the United States of America one where a certain culture, ethnicity, or religion, is a dominant force. It is an actual melting pot of a variety of groups that all want equal representation when it comes to government and in the issues that they feel passionate about. Politics has now become a ground of change when it comes to being what it used to be. There is now a need to show a little piece of every American citizen in every aspect of government, especially if this system wants to be respected as one doing their assigned political jobs. Diversity dominates everything in societal culture, as it is societal structures that have developed the sense of diversity in the first place (Duster 2003).

According to the discipline under which a given situation is being analyzed, the outcome could vary. A different explanation for why an outcome is the way that it is can differ from discipline to discipline. For example, an increase in high school drop-out rates among African-American and Hispanic students in inner-city schools in the United States would be explained quite differently from one perspective than the other. A sociologist would explain the drop out rate as something that society has created a venue for to make dropping out not only accessible but acceptable for these youth. From assuming teen pregnancy expectations, to the unavoidable gang association in the inner-cities, there are plenty of opportunities that society has evolved that give youth a higher rate of dropping out than their White suburban-living counterparts. The school systems that they attend also tend to ignore their different cultural upbringing and their various home life aspects that could contribute to their disinterest in school (Bonacich 1973).

Psychologists would view this group behavior as being a product of what they have learned from witnessing those around them. If they see their neighborhood friends dropping out, and they have experienced their older siblings doing the same, while at the same time not having the role models at home to teach and show them that staying in school will provide a better future, than they learn from example. A person who does not socially learn anything else around them, and does not know the alternatives that they could have because no one around them is doing anything different, then they end up following the same cycle.

A political scientist would explain this behavior as being a product of the institution set forth. Because of the way things are structured, the school system, the local government, and the neighborhoods, these kids sometimes do not have any other alternative. Schools are not set up in ways that would encourage them to stay since they are overcrowded as it is, and the neighborhoods that they grow up in are not conducive to any educational mobility (Clark et al. 1999). A political scientist would not put blame on personal choice, but instead on institutional mishaps.

From an economist's perspective, these minority groups are at a disadvantage by living in the poor inner city to begin with. Their school is more likely than not to be overcrowded and underfunded for its population and this can become apparent in the quality of education. If the student is coming from a poor lower social class to begin with, a more immediate financial gain would be made if the student dropped out of high school to get a full time job than they would have by staying in school and waiting it out to get a degree. When facing financial strains, people tend to be very short-sighted and only view immediate financial gratification as being the solution to what turns out to be long-term economic distress.