When the Whole World Can Benefit from DEI

Cultural Competency Reassessment

My cultural competency score has improved a bit, as I also feel like my understanding of cultural competency has deepened since Unit 1 began. I think the main factors that hindered my cultural competency in the past was the fact that I felt like I lived in a community where most people looked and thought like me. This kind of bubble or maybe even “safe space” existence probably limited my exposure to other cultures and made subconsciously me accept ideas and certain stereotypes without every really questioning them or even being aware of what I was doing. But now I feel like this course has shown me how interesting and authentic other cultures are and why it is worth understanding them.

From the course, I learned three important things about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The first lesson is that diverse teams create richer ideas (Yang et al., 2022). When people from different backgrounds come together, they bring unique perspectives and this mixture of different perspectives can help bring about innovative solutions to problems (Pawlak, 2021). The second lesson taught me to always question my beliefs and know why it is I believe something (Keller, 2004). This is important because it is easy to accept things without thinking. But when we challenge our views, we often find areas to improve. The third lesson is the global importance of DEI. Every country, every city, and every community can benefit from embracing DEI (Pompper, 2021).

I feel like I am motivated to put my knowledge into action and sharing it is the first step. I plan to talk to friends, family, and colleagues about what I have learned. If I see someone being treated unfairly, I will not be or stay silent. I want to stand up for them. At work, I want to advocate for hiring practices that give everyone a fair chance. Training sessions that teach about DEI are also something that will be on my agenda. And my learning will not stop here. I want to read more, and go to workshops, and join discussions to keep growing in my understanding of DEI.