Case Study
Diversity in personal life and in the workplace is becoming more prominent and requires people to focus on possessing respect for those with differences and use these differences to learn and gain new insights into life. Mary Stuart is a college student residing in Chicago, Illinois, who is very goal-oriented and raised by a well off family with high expectations for her family. In this case study Mary is taking a college course taught by a professor from another country with an accent that makes it difficult for some students to understand. Several of the students have verbalized they believe he is not a knowledgeable professor nor is well versed in the teaching field. Mary, on the other hand, believes he is very smart with a good deal of relevant experiences for the students to learn from. If I were in Mary’s situation I would view the professor as someone different from me and unique as well as learn from his diverse experiences worldwide. I would view the student in the class as very petty and disrespectful. Everyone has the right for respect from others and is given a fair chance to show their true self and all they have to offer. I would say nothing to my classmates and let time take its course. This may allow Mary’s classmates to learn by the end of class their higher level of interest and possibly discover more commonalties than expected. Mary’s classmates need to develop diversity skills such as communication and self-evaluation to exert diversity consciousness to the best of their ability. Smart, well thought out, and respectful communication skills are necessary not solely be caring of others but also to think before speaking to express nondiscriminatory, open minded response. Self-evaluation and understanding areas of improvement allow the individual to focus on change to improve. In conclusion, as Audre Lorde said, “It is not our