Interesting Study on Diversity

Parent Cafe
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<p><a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/04/the_downside_of_diversity/?p1=MEWell_Pos1[/url]”>http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/04/the_downside_of_diversity/?p1=MEWell_Pos1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>"IT HAS BECOME increasingly popular to speak of racial and ethnic diversity as a civic strength. From multicultural festivals to pronouncements from political leaders, the message is the same: our differences make us stronger.</p>

<p>But a massive new study, based on detailed interviews of nearly 30,000 people across America, has concluded just the opposite. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam – famous for “Bowling Alone,” his 2000 book on declining civic engagement – has found that the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings."</p>

<p>Does this mean that the politicians will spend more time in less diverse areas? Maybe that is why they all spend so much time in New Hamphire. ;)</p>

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<p>Does the study differentiate between communities that have been diverse for a long time, and those that have experienced diversity more recently?</p>

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<p>^ I didn’t notice any reference to the length of diversity. The only mention to community location(s) in this artice : "The results of his new study come from a survey Putnam directed among residents in 41 US communities, including Boston. "</p>

<p>Are you suggesting Neodiversity? ;)</p>

<p>From another July 8 article: "In 1970, the United States was 83 percent non-Hispanic white, 11 percent black, less than 5 percent Hispanic and less than 1 percent Asian. Today, largely as a result of immigration reform in 1965, America is 66 percent non-Hispanic white, 15 percent Hispanic, 13 percent black and a little better than 4 percent Asian.</p>

<p>The younger the population, the less white it is. According to Mark Mather of the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau, in 1980, 26 percent of America’s under-20 population was minority. By 2006, 42 percent of the under-20 population – but only 20 percent of the 60-and-up population – was minority. The gap is only going to widen."</p>

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<p>I recall an article Putnam wrote some years ago to introduce his preliminary findings. I have not read his new book or the Boston Globe article yet (need to catch up!) but much of what he says makes sense, especially in the context of Boston history. The fight over busing of the 1970s was not only about racism; it was about different ethnic enclaves wanting to preserve their homogeneity. There was no diversity as such; they could have been different nations existing side by side. A friend of mine, of Irish stock said that he had his first taste of pizza when he came to college. He lived in a totally Irish neighborhood and had never gone to the Italian North End.
I think enclaves are created when there is a critical mass of people from the same ethno-linguistic group, especially when members of some of these groups have limited English. The tendency to seek out people with whom one can talk and who share the same cultural values and same historical experience becomes very strong.</p>

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<p>Putnam does great work. I didn’t really trust the
Boston Globe to represent him fairly. So:</p>

<p>Here’s a link to the paper. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/action/showPdf?submitPDF=Full+Text+PDF+(819+KB)&doi=10.1111%2Fj.1467-9477.2007.00176.x&cookieSet=1[/url]”>http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/action/showPdf?submitPDF=Full+Text+PDF+(819+KB)&doi=10.1111%2Fj.1467-9477.2007.00176.x&cookieSet=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I think the most interesting point of the article is regarding the “paradox” of diversity…and the fear that the cost-benefit relationship is somehow changing.</p>

<p>From the linked article regarding the ‘benefits’ of diversity vs the ‘costs’ discussed in the op’s post:</p>

<p>"So how to explain New York, London, Rio de Janiero, Los Angeles – the great melting-pot cities that drive the world’s creative and financial economies?</p>

<p>The image of civic lassitude dragging down more diverse communities is at odds with the vigor often associated with urban centers, where ethnic diversity is greatest. It turns out there is a flip side to the discomfort diversity can cause. If ethnic diversity, at least in the short run, is a liability for social connectedness, a parallel line of emerging research suggests it can be a big asset when it comes to driving productivity and innovation. In high-skill workplace settings, says Scott Page, the University of Michigan political scientist, the different ways of thinking among people from different cultures can be a boon.</p>

<p>“Because they see the world and think about the world differently than you, that’s challenging,” says Page, author of “The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies.” “But by hanging out with people different than you, you’re likely to get more insights. Diverse teams tend to be more productive.”</p>

<p>In other words, those in more diverse communities may do more bowling alone, but the creative tensions unleashed by those differences in the workplace may vault those same places to the cutting edge of the economy and of creative culture.</p>

<p>Page calls it the “diversity paradox.” He thinks the contrasting positive and negative effects of diversity can coexist in communities, but “there’s got to be a limit.” If civic engagement falls off too far, he says, it’s easy to imagine the positive effects of diversity beginning to wane as well. “That’s what’s unsettling about his findings,” Page says of Putnam’s new work."</p>

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<p>Yes, this is where size matters: when a critical mass has been reached so that individuals who might otherwise have participated in diverse teams now self-segregate. On many campuses, one can see it in the various ethnic-themed dorms.
But it also depends on the different levels of analysis. If may be that there is not a lot of interaction among the members of various groups, but the overall effect of the presence of these various groups in cities such as NYC or London gives them their energy and dynamism. The negative and positive effects of diversity may be felt in different ways. Putnam is primarily interested in civic engagement.</p>