Increased communication and networking between people from diverse backgrounds, genders, and ages might lead to increasing organizations' accomplishments. Moreover, diversity is identified as differences within group experiences, perspectives, attitudes, and traits. However, inclusion is a practice that provides meaningful communication between them. All in all, valuable outcomes in workplaces might be achieved through meaningful interaction among different employer groups (Karimi and Matous, 2018). This essay attempts to discuss the ways that could be used by medical professions to increase inclusion and diversity types namely, cultural, gender, and age diversities, followed by evaluating the effectiveness of this approach. It will be argued that diversity could be the most important way to increase work efficiency.
On one hand, the first method to apply cultural diversity in medical fields such as physiotherapy might be considered a responsibility of university professionals in several aspects. Physiotherapy professionals in universities are responsible for providing a multicultural educational area which might lead to the achievement of effective and safe medical services. In addition, they could be responsible for teaching students how they will deal with issues and decision-making concerning cultural diversity within a framework of physiotherapy skills core and professional standards. Thus, a safe and productive environment with diverse cultures can reflect on overcoming the educational barriers among students. Therefore, it might result in engaging cultural diversity in universities and future workplaces (Hanesworth, 2015; Bialocerkowski, Wells, and Somers, 2011).
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Universities may have to prepare themselves to attract students from diverse cultural backgrounds by following multiple processes. Firstly, actively advertising the course requirements through university websites or course handbooks. Besides, building a physical area of mixed gender and cultural classes might be considered as a part of this process. For instance, the American Council on Education could be considered a good example of fostering diversity in higher education by attracting students from different cultures and traditions. Briefly, acceptance of students in universities regardless of backgrounds and cultural discrimination could participate in creating a multicultural community (Bialocerkowski, Wells, and Somers, 2011; Fougner and Horntvedt, 2011; American Council on Education, 2017).
Cultural diversity might be improved by following multiple ways. Firstly, the creation of a committed office with several programs to enhance diversity and multicultural teams to provide out-of-work flexible hours for worked students. Secondly, customization of a department for diversity which includes admission staff and equality institutions. Thirdly, the establishment of opportunities to facilitate homeless students for higher education and obligate them to achieve success. Also, focus on international students by generating pathway programs and summer courses to guide them before starting their academic studies. In addition, providing extracurricular activities or events for different nationalities could be a good idea for enhancing diversity. In general, arranging opportunities for multicultural students to work together and share their experiences and skills could motivate the improvement of diversity in the future (Lee, 2019).
On the other hand, according to gender diversity, measuring gender bias in the organization might be a helpful tool to increase gender diversity and share multiple qualities and quantities of health care. Lee and Coulehan (2006) illustrated that Quick Discrimination Index (QDI) which involves 7 variables including gender could be considered as a questionnaire tool to explore gender bias in the medical professions and help to establish a suitable solution. In general, gender discrimination supervision may have a significant effect on training future doctors to be able to deal with people of different sexes.
Gender diversity in leadership positions might be achieved by the encouragement of women to be highly educated. Odhiambo, Gachoka, and Rambo (2018) stated that, many decades ago, women were prevented from improving to senior-level jobs while males consumed elite-level careers in society. However, the American Council on Education (2017) suggests that women's leadership networks could be necessary to increase the number of highly educated women in elite jobs such as deans by motivating and linking them to higher education organizations. For example, the Medicine in Contemporary Society (MCS) program at the State University of New York provides a program with a 4‐year curriculum duration about humanities and social core skills in respectability, and communication in the medical field. This program has several benefits regarding teaching students the importance of mixed-gender workplaces even in senior positions and how they deal respectively (Lee and Coulehan, 2006). Briefly, encouraging women to be in elite positions leads to high gender diversity institutions.
Overcoming the gender pay gap action could help in the engagement of gender diversity in all professions by the following steps. Firstly, understanding the reason for the gender pay gap and diagnosis of the potential barriers that might face the employee in their work. Secondly, the involvement of mixed gender staff to work together and engage them to get senior-level leadership regardless of sex. Thirdly, assessment of the plan by diversity officer to get the improvement over time. Finally, allowing enough time to produce results of the solution to the gender pay gap problem (OMB Research, 2019). Overall, the gender pay gap might be considered a serious problem that really might restrict the spreading of gender diversity in employment.
The mixture of different ages in medical workforces could be achieved by different actions. For example, job advertisements, documentation, records, interviewing, and training selections should be based on providing opportunities for any age including younger and older. In other words, eliminating all questions that might be related to age or birth date in job applications. In addition, providing a chance to make complaints to anyone rejected as a result of age discrimination could be beneficial to obligate organizations to increase the implication of age diversity. Also, during employment duration, the same rights must be given to all employees fairly depending on detected rules regardless the age. Moreover, the age monitoring system can be used instead of visible age data to identify age-related issues and try to establish suitable solutions. Therefore, dealing with applicants and workers fairly according to the law regardless the age might be considered as a compulsory method to enhance age inclusion and diversity in health professions (Businessballs, 2019).
Embedding diversity and eliminating discrimination could have assorted positive impacts on medical organization achievement. Different backgrounds, identities, and groups among health professionals could be considered as an opportunity for them to learn from each other and reflect on the development of the medical curriculum. In addition, the implication of the diversity phenomenon might be important to achieve satisfying metrics in terms of quality of results, critical thinking, decision-making, problem-solving, and feedback exchange with communication awareness, flexibility, and creativity. Therefore, the improvement of personal skills and values, communications skills, and mutual goal setting by diversity might create an ideal performance of workplace (Hanesworth, 2015; McMahon, 2010; Bialocerkowski, Wells and Somers, 2011; Dogra, Reitmanova and Carter-Pokras, 2009).
This essay encountered one suggestion which would be to increase the spreading of cultural, gender, and age diversity applications among medical organizations particularly physiotherapy to achieve ideal performances.
In conclusion, effective medical organizations' accomplishments could be directly related to the increased percentage of diversity. Moreover, diversity might be achieved by consultation between different ages, cultures, and genders in terms of critical thinking, sharing feedback, and participating in decision-making. Thus, establishing a specific office with professional staff to provide several programs and activities could be a way to attract multicultural students. In addition, the application of age equality in job opportunities among applicants and dealing with them regardless the age might be a significant method to increase age diversity. Despite the above, the measurement of gender bias in the medical field could be a necessary procedure to find the causing actions and try to solve them. Accordingly, the Quick Discrimination Index might be a helpful tool that could help in gender discrimination solving. Thus, overcoming the gender pay gap action and male leadership position monopolizing could be considered as solution techniques to restrict gender discrimination and enhance gender diversity. Therefore, diversity and inclusion should be a compulsory technique that should be used by universities to prepare students to work in diverse backgrounds place in the future.
References:
- American College President Study (2017) DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION, American Council on Education, Available at: https://www.acenet.edu/leadership/Pages/Inclusive-Excellence-Group.aspx (Accessed: 6 August 2019).
- Bialocerkowski, A. Wells, C. and Somers, K, G. (2011). ‘Teaching physiotherapy skills in culturally-diverse classes’, BMC Med Educ, 11(34).
- Businessballs (2019) Age Diversity and Ageism, Businessballs, Available at: https://www.businessballs.com/equality-and-inclusion/age-diversity-and-ageism/ (Accessed: 8 August 2019).
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- Lee, C. (2019) ‘13 Ways to Support Diversity at Your Institution’, Turnitin, 23 April, Available at: https://www.turnitin.com/amp/articles/13-ways-to-support-diversity-at-your-institution (Accessed: 6 August 2019).
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