The Buzz: Contrary to Popular Belief, Kids Not Exposed to More Diversity

In keeping with this week’s Inclusion Solution theme on education, a study conducted by researchers at The University of Michigan released this week, shows that the bigger the school, the less likely you are to find interracial friendships, even though these schools may be more diverse.  The study, conducted among students in grades 7-12, asked study participants, using the school roster, to name five best friends in order of closeness.  The data revealed that the larger the school the more racially segregated it was based on the “friend” dimension. The findings are consistent with other social science studies that show race to be a large determinant for the formation of friendships.

I am often asked if the increase in diversity within the K-12 system will essentially eliminate the need for diversity efforts in the workplace in the future, inasmuch as young people are exposed to much more diversity than the previous generations. As Sara Taylor of Deep See Consulting wrote in her April 7, 2013 blog post, Five Myths Why We Don’t Pay Attention to Cultural Competence, exposure does not equal competence. Just because there is seemingly more exposure to difference, it does not necessarily mean that students are taking advantage of it in ways that would enhance their understanding, knowledge and acceptance of difference.   And these studies would suggest that young people are really not even getting more exposure to difference.

Additionally, notwithstanding the results of the University of Michigan study, according to US Department of Education data analyzed by The Civil Rights Project at UCLA released last year,  80 percent of Latino students and 74 percent of black students still study in schools where the majority of students are Black and Latino.  And following the same pattern, White students tend to attend schools where about 75 percent of their classmates are White.

So what can we conclude from these statistics?  Young people will be coming into the workplace with no more cultural competence than previous generations.  For D&I practitioners it means that the need for our work is ever more important.

Image courtesy of ThinkProgress.org