Introduction
A person who happens to travel around the world will get to notice that people are different and associate with varying values, beliefs, customs, norms, and behaviors. Such differences make up the diversity that exists in different races. All people need to do is recognize and respect such differences to make diversity helpful and productive for their benefit through creativity and innovations. Thus, this paper explores the primary and secondary dimensions of diversity, related stereotypes, and their impact on daily life and in relation to marginalized groups.
Stereotypes Associated with Three Primary Dimensions of Diversity
Stereotypes may be described as generalized beliefs or notions about a certain category of people. According to Mcleod (2023), a stereotype is a “fixed and an over-generalized belief about a given group of people.” As a result of stereotyping, we end up ignoring the people’s differences that makeup diversity and by thinking untrue things about others. Some of the three primary dimensions I have learned include age, gender, and mental or physical abilities of people. to begin with, the aspect of age has some positive stereotypes such as, old people are wise and can make better decisions than children or young people. However, age is stereotyped negatively. For example, in African culture, older people are considered frail, forgetful, and unproductive, unlike young people who are termed creative and productive (Chonody & Teater, 2017). Such a stereotype is not true because someone at the age of sixty years has vast experience and can think of better ideas that can steer a company to higher performance than a twenty-two-year-old fresh graduate.
The primary dimension of gender has also positive and negative stereotypes. These stereotypes on gender tend to vary from community to community across the world. For example, boys at an early age are bought truck and car toys to play with while girls are bought dolls and related stuff. Such items depict that men are designed to undertake hard and mind-engaging tasks while women should engage with home chores and light tasks. This stereotype is not true as currently, both genders can take up hard and light jobs. Such stereotypes have advanced to clothes and colors where the male gender gets associated with blue and green colors and girls are associated with white and pink colors. For example, the female gender is considered to handle white clothes with care, unlike men who would spot and dirt them carelessly. Finally, in my community, girls are associated with a soft approach to life while boys are naturally expected to be aggressive. However, I disagree with this stereotype because any gender can be soft or aggressive in life. Hence, what men can do, women can equally do and achieve results.
The last primary dimension of diversity I learned is mental and physical ability. One key stereotype in almost all communities in the world is that women are good at reading and understanding languages while men quickly understand mathematics and calculus. Men are considered as having a high intelligent quotient and thus have mental abilities required for specific job categories such as astronauts, doctors, and engineers (Hill, Corbett & St Rose, 2010). On the contrary, women are viewed to have lower mental abilities and can thus take non-engaging jobs that do not need high mental abilities. Therefore, these stereotypes are many associated with these primary aspects of diversity and do vary from community to community.
Three Secondary Dimensions of Diversity That Impact My Life Professionally and Personally
The three secondary dimensions that have impacted my life include education, income, and religious beliefs. As a nurse, my education background has impacted my professional background and growth. For example, through education, I have acquired sufficient knowledge to work in healthcare facilities and grow in my career. I understand nursing and treatment procedures and this is all thanks to my educational background as a nurse. Further, I can use my knowledge in analyzing patients’ needs and influencing outcomes by striving to improve such patients’ outcomes and well-being. Thus, the education aspect has developed and shaped me to become a professional nurse.
Secondly, the income dimension has impacted me professionally and personally. That is, the earnings I get from my nurse job help me in funding my research work, enrolling in and paying for course programs at Aspen University, and in my overall career development. As a result, I have a course that is progressing and I usually use my income to pay for workshops and training to keep up with the education standards in the healthcare sector. Lastly, income has impacted me in a personal way. That is, I lead a better life where I do not struggle in affording basic needs and a little luxury. Therefore, money income has given me a life and to help my close family.
Lastly, religion has been my support since childhood. I believe in God and am convinced that He has held my life during difficult times and in my achievements. According to Shahrbabaki, Nouhi, Kazemi & Ahmadi (2017), people in difficult times such as sickness like heart failure draw their hope and faith in God. The use of spiritual strategy helps such patients in coping with the pain and suffering and to accept the reality of the disease (Shahrbabaki, Nouhi, Kazemi & Ahmadi, 2017). As a result, these patients embrace patience, tolerance, confidence, and humility in managing their condition. Thus, I too have faith in God as the supreme that has brought me this far and it has positively impacted my personal life.
Underrepresented and Marginalized Groups Based on Primary Dimensions of Diversity
Based on the primary dimensions of diversity, I could think of the African-Americans and Hispanic-American ethnic groups as underrepresented and marginalized. To begin with, the African-Americans are marginalized due to the poverty in their group, racism, and discrimination by the white (Davis, Wetherell & Henry, 2018). The origin of this race is Africa where education came a bit late unlike in western countries like the US where people got enlightenment long ago. Further, African-American are associated with laxity and low-income earnings that earns them disrespect from wealthy ethnic groups. It is the same ethnic group that many people stereotype and associate with bizarre cultures and that are presumed to add no value but regressive (MacCann, 2013). Other reasons that make the African-American society marginalized are racial attacks, unemployment, and discrimination. Thus, I would advocate for them for proper education, more employment opportunities, and legal protection through a fair rule of law.
Lastly, the Hispanic-American ethnic group is marginalized due to poverty. The members of this group lead a life of poor standards of living. The group is also associated with a low education level which makes it underrepresented. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022), the Hispanic group is marginalized “as they have faced racial, ethnic and anti-immigrant prejudice including discrimination in employment, housing, and education.” As such, these people face racism and discrimination that stresses them and throw them into a panic. Thus, I would advocate for a fair rule of law, employment opportunities, good housing, and protection against racial trauma.
Conclusion
The primary and secondary dimensions of diversity are found in communities and they assist with racial identity development. Further, they impact an individual’s personal life, profession, relationships, and the friendship that person builds with others. As a result, diversity brings along both positive and negative outcomes that impact one’s life and growth. Hence, it is recommended that an individual gets to recognize and accept differences in people due to diversity and select the aspects that can positively affect their life.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022). Unfair and Unjust Practices and Conditions Harm Hispanic and Latino People and Drive Health Disparities. Retrieve from: https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/health-equity/hispanic-latino/unfair-and-unjust.html
Chonody, J. M., & Teater, B. (2017). Social work practice with older adults: An actively aging framework for practice. SAGE Publications.
Davis, J., Wetherell, G., & Henry, P. J. (2018). Social devaluation of African Americans and race‐related conspiracy theories. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48(7), 999-1010.
Hill, C., Corbett, C., & St Rose, A. (2010). Why so few? Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. American Association of University Women. 1111 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036.
MacCann, D. (2013). White supremacy in children’s literature: Characterizations of African Americans, 1830-1900. Routledge.
Mcleod, S. (2023). Stereotypes in Psychology: Theory & Examples. Available at: https://simplypsychology.org/katz-braly.html
Shahrbabaki, P. M., Nouhi, E., Kazemi, M., & Ahmadi, F. (2017). Spirituality: A panacea for patients coping with heart failure. International journal of community-based nursing and midwifery, 5(1), 38.
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