Appreciating Cultural Diversity - Essay Example

As globalization spread its tentacles to change workplaces, colleges too were not left out. The cultural diversity that is brought about by globalization needs to be positively embraced for the key reason that such an act prepares one for the multi-ethnic workplace. Based on the above and that of Boiarsky’s “The Relationship between Cultural and Rhetorical Conventions,” this treatise hypothesis that students need to recognize the diverse cultures within colleges so as to improve their mastery in communication skills in future work ethics.

In principle, the present-day workplace has a particular bias in the employment of an individual that appreciates and thrives in a multi-cultural environment. Such an individual would fit in such a workplace in such a manner that all personnel would focus on the firm’s bottom-line as opposed to the myriad differences amongst themselves. As such, the students, need to engage in activities at the college that would expose them to cultural diversity in such a manner that they would get to easily fit in a multicultural workplace setting. As noted, there is a need to “create sensitivity on the part of students and those in the workforce” (Boyarsky 255). Once that is achieved, they will have positioned themselves in knowing how to effectively communicate at the workplace and thus contribute towards positive workplace chemistry. On a personal level, for example, I opted to offer a colleague a birthday gift in the form of a watch. Little did I know that watches offered as gifts in the Japanese culture are an indication that one is not amused with the other’s poor attention to deadlines and keeping time. Were it not for the appreciation of diversity, one might have viewed the action of the Japanese for turning down the gift as offensive. 

Besides the above, it is apparent that a multi-cultural environment comes with it new paradigms of changes that would in turn aid the development of the business. In other words, embracing cultural diversity presents an opportunity for better communication at the workplace that in turn levels out the playing field for healthy competition. Through diversity, the learner is able to develop the best ways of interacting in a diverse setting thereby enabling themselves and those around them to effectively utilize talents and abilities.

Lastly, for the learner, embracing cultural diversity presents a unique opportunity for one to develop a formidable ground for creative and critical thinking (Boiarsky 246). By exposing oneself to a multi-cultural environment, an individual is able to expand his or her capacity to analyze issues from different vantage points. Such an analytical acumen goes a long way in aiding the understanding of how different communities behave.