Cultural Diversity: What Is It? Cultural diversity is that quality or characteristic of any society, community, group or family that consists of a variety of cultural and/or ethnic backgrounds. Thus, for example, a nation like America could be said to be culturally diverse because it is represented by various cultures and ethnicities throughout the land. At the same time, being culturally diverse is also about showing respect and appreciation for and towards the various cultural and ethnic groups within the community. Diversity is something that is recognized rather than something is suppressed or ignored. True cultural diversity is not just the physical make-up of the group of community but also the state of mind of the members of that group regarding how they think about and view diversity. Yet, as DiMaggio and Bryson (2000) show, cultural diversity remains a controversial subject for some.

One of the main challenges of cultural diversity is the idea that all cultures should be respected and appreciated in their own right. Opponents of "political correctness," for instance, view cultural diversity as a means of getting rid of "Western culture" and its attendant values (DiMaggio, Bryson, 2000, p. 2). Others view cultural diversity as a means of informing a community/society about its heritage, differences, similarities and ethnic/cultural history: it is an acceptance and celebration of the reality that not everyone in society comes from white, protestant, anglo-saxon backgrounds.

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Understanding how to navigate the pathways of a culturally diverse workplace environment so as to be respectful and appreciate over the various ethnic backgrounds of members of the workplace while at the same time expressing a unified vision of workplace mission can be a difficult task for some (Day, 2007).
Day (2007) recommends taking a developmental approach to dealing with cultural diversity in the workplace. A developmental approach is one in which the cultural differences of the workplace are viewed as opportunities for learning and developing acceptance for on another's ethnic and cultural beliefs and attitudes. This is a more positive approach than the alternative defensive approach, which views differences as obstacles and hazards that are to be avoided. Once it is accepted that uniformity in background is not going to be the case in most workplaces, a true development process can be implemented that can help all team members within an organization to come together more effectively through learning and acceptance.

Turner-Vorbeck (2005) states that another way to overcome the challenge of cultural diversity is to expand the way we think about diversity. In fact,…