{"id":761,"date":"2019-04-22T17:16:42","date_gmt":"2019-04-22T17:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=761"},"modified":"2026-03-02T17:27:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T17:27:17","slug":"social-diversity-and-social-progress","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/chapter\/social-diversity-and-social-progress\/","title":{"raw":"Social Diversity and Social Progress","rendered":"Social Diversity and Social Progress"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Differentiate between social diversity and social progress<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nLet\u2019s start with the basics. What is diversity? Grab a pen and a piece of paper. Quickly jot down how you would define diversity. What\u2019s the first thing that came to mind? Take a minute to write your response and then continue reading. Take a minute to compare your answer with somebody close to you. Chances are, there were similar themes between your answers and theirs, but your response did not identically match any of the others. This is the perfect way to define diversity!\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-767\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/22170631\/people-1149873_1920.jpg\" alt=\"decorative image\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" \/>Each of us are different. Everyone comes with different backgrounds and experiences. Diversity cannot be simply defined by a variety of ethnicities or races. It can also not be simply described as people from different countries or cultures. Instead, diversity encompasses all of these things and more. Diversity includes but is not limited to language, religion, marital status, gender, age, socioeconomic status, geography, politics\u2014and the list goes on and on! Just like organizational behavior, diversity incorporates a wide variety of genres and ideas but has developed into its own unique field.\r\n\r\nNow that we have reviewed diversity, we need to discuss social diversity. You\u2019re probably wondering how the two are different. According to Dania Santana, a multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusion expert, social diversity is defined as a successful community which includes individuals from diverse backgrounds who all contribute to the success of the community by practicing understanding and respect of different ideas and perspectives. Santana explains that successful socially diverse communities are able to work together to achieve common goals.[footnote]Santana, Dania. \"What Is Diversity And How I Define It In The Social Context.\" Embracing Diversity. April 24, 2017. Accessed April 22, 2019. <a href=\"http:\/\/embracingdiversity.us\/what-is-diversity-define-social-diversity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/embracingdiversity.us\/what-is-diversity-define-social-diversity\/<\/a>.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nWhile the two terms have a lot of similarities, diversity is defined by a variety of differences between individuals[footnote]Merriam Webster Dictionary[\/footnote] whereas social diversity describes how a community, society, or organization utilizes their members\u2019 diversity to work towards a common goal. Lastly, we need to define and discuss social progress.\r\n\r\nHarvard Business School\u2019s Social Progress Index defines social progress as, \u201cthe capacity of a society to meet the basic human needs of its citizens, establish the building blocks that allow citizens and communities to enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their full potential.\u201d[footnote]\"Social Progress Index.\" Institute For Strategy &amp; Competitiveness. Accessed April 22, 2019. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.isc.hbs.edu\/research-areas\/Pages\/social-progress-index.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.isc.hbs.edu\/research-areas\/Pages\/social-progress-index.aspx<\/a>.[\/footnote] Whew! That\u2019s a pretty lengthy definition. Let\u2019s try to break it down to better understand the many aspects of social progress.\r\n\r\nThere are many lenses in which to view social progress. For the purpose of this section, we will specifically focus on social progress in the workplace. Let\u2019s focus on the last part of the definition, \u201cto enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their full potential.\u201d Simply put, social progress is the idea of giving people from all backgrounds the opportunity and environment to work towards their goals and success. Now, how is social progress different from social diversity? Social progress should be constantly evolving and changing to ensure people can reach their full potential whereas social diversity is a term that evaluates where a community or organization is currently operating.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>PRactice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/092373de-452d-407a-8ca8-5ba7f8465497\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nYou can review the chart below to make sure you understand the differences between the three terms we discussed.\r\n<table>\r\n<thead>\r\n<tr>\r\n<th style=\"width: 15%;\">Term<\/th>\r\n<th style=\"width: 85%;\">Definition<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/thead>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\">Diversity<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 85%;\">\"The condition of having or being composed of differing elements\"[footnote]Merriam Webster Dictionary[\/footnote]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\">Social Diversity<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 85%;\">\"A successful community in which individuals of different race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, socioeconomic status, language, geographical origin, gender and\/or sexual orientation bring their different knowledge, background, experience and interest for the benefit of their diverse community.\"[footnote]Santana, Dania. \"What Is Diversity And How I Define It In The Social Context.\"[\/footnote]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\">Social Progress<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 85%;\">\"The capacity of a society to meet the basic human needs of its citizens, establish the building blocks that allow citizens and communities to enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their full potential.\"[footnote]\"Social Progress Index.\" Institute For Strategy &amp; Competitiveness.[\/footnote]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nThe rest of this module will examine diversity, social diversity, and social progress. We will review how each of these terms impact the workplace, and how the workplace influences them.","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Differentiate between social diversity and social progress<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with the basics. What is diversity? Grab a pen and a piece of paper. Quickly jot down how you would define diversity. What\u2019s the first thing that came to mind? Take a minute to write your response and then continue reading. Take a minute to compare your answer with somebody close to you. Chances are, there were similar themes between your answers and theirs, but your response did not identically match any of the others. This is the perfect way to define diversity!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-767\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/22170631\/people-1149873_1920.jpg\" alt=\"decorative image\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" \/>Each of us are different. Everyone comes with different backgrounds and experiences. Diversity cannot be simply defined by a variety of ethnicities or races. It can also not be simply described as people from different countries or cultures. Instead, diversity encompasses all of these things and more. Diversity includes but is not limited to language, religion, marital status, gender, age, socioeconomic status, geography, politics\u2014and the list goes on and on! Just like organizational behavior, diversity incorporates a wide variety of genres and ideas but has developed into its own unique field.<\/p>\n<p>Now that we have reviewed diversity, we need to discuss social diversity. You\u2019re probably wondering how the two are different. According to Dania Santana, a multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusion expert, social diversity is defined as a successful community which includes individuals from diverse backgrounds who all contribute to the success of the community by practicing understanding and respect of different ideas and perspectives. Santana explains that successful socially diverse communities are able to work together to achieve common goals.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Santana, Dania. &quot;What Is Diversity And How I Define It In The Social Context.&quot; Embracing Diversity. April 24, 2017. Accessed April 22, 2019. http:\/\/embracingdiversity.us\/what-is-diversity-define-social-diversity\/.\" id=\"return-footnote-761-1\" href=\"#footnote-761-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While the two terms have a lot of similarities, diversity is defined by a variety of differences between individuals<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Merriam Webster Dictionary\" id=\"return-footnote-761-2\" href=\"#footnote-761-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a> whereas social diversity describes how a community, society, or organization utilizes their members\u2019 diversity to work towards a common goal. Lastly, we need to define and discuss social progress.<\/p>\n<p>Harvard Business School\u2019s Social Progress Index defines social progress as, \u201cthe capacity of a society to meet the basic human needs of its citizens, establish the building blocks that allow citizens and communities to enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their full potential.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Social Progress Index.&quot; Institute For Strategy &amp; Competitiveness. Accessed April 22, 2019. https:\/\/www.isc.hbs.edu\/research-areas\/Pages\/social-progress-index.aspx.\" id=\"return-footnote-761-3\" href=\"#footnote-761-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a> Whew! That\u2019s a pretty lengthy definition. Let\u2019s try to break it down to better understand the many aspects of social progress.<\/p>\n<p>There are many lenses in which to view social progress. For the purpose of this section, we will specifically focus on social progress in the workplace. Let\u2019s focus on the last part of the definition, \u201cto enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their full potential.\u201d Simply put, social progress is the idea of giving people from all backgrounds the opportunity and environment to work towards their goals and success. Now, how is social progress different from social diversity? Social progress should be constantly evolving and changing to ensure people can reach their full potential whereas social diversity is a term that evaluates where a community or organization is currently operating.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>PRactice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_092373de-452d-407a-8ca8-5ba7f8465497\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/092373de-452d-407a-8ca8-5ba7f8465497?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_092373de-452d-407a-8ca8-5ba7f8465497\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>You can review the chart below to make sure you understand the differences between the three terms we discussed.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"width: 15%;\">Term<\/th>\n<th style=\"width: 85%;\">Definition<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\">Diversity<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 85%;\">&#8220;The condition of having or being composed of differing elements&#8221;<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Merriam Webster Dictionary\" id=\"return-footnote-761-4\" href=\"#footnote-761-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\">Social Diversity<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 85%;\">&#8220;A successful community in which individuals of different race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, socioeconomic status, language, geographical origin, gender and\/or sexual orientation bring their different knowledge, background, experience and interest for the benefit of their diverse community.&#8221;<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Santana, Dania. &quot;What Is Diversity And How I Define It In The Social Context.&quot;\" id=\"return-footnote-761-5\" href=\"#footnote-761-5\" aria-label=\"Footnote 5\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\">Social Progress<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 85%;\">&#8220;The capacity of a society to meet the basic human needs of its citizens, establish the building blocks that allow citizens and communities to enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their full potential.&#8221;<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Social Progress Index.&quot; Institute For Strategy &amp; Competitiveness.\" id=\"return-footnote-761-6\" href=\"#footnote-761-6\" aria-label=\"Footnote 6\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[6]<\/sup><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The rest of this module will examine diversity, social diversity, and social progress. We will review how each of these terms impact the workplace, and how the workplace influences them.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-761\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Social Diversity and Social Progress. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Freedom Learning Group. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Specific attribution<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Untitled. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Free-Photos. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Pixabay. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/people-children-child-kids-girls-1149873\/\">https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/people-children-child-kids-girls-1149873\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Pixabay License<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-761-1\">Santana, Dania. \"What Is Diversity And How I Define It In The Social Context.\" Embracing Diversity. April 24, 2017. Accessed April 22, 2019. <a href=\"http:\/\/embracingdiversity.us\/what-is-diversity-define-social-diversity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/embracingdiversity.us\/what-is-diversity-define-social-diversity\/<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-761-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-761-2\">Merriam Webster Dictionary <a href=\"#return-footnote-761-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-761-3\">\"Social Progress Index.\" Institute For Strategy &amp; Competitiveness. Accessed April 22, 2019. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.isc.hbs.edu\/research-areas\/Pages\/social-progress-index.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.isc.hbs.edu\/research-areas\/Pages\/social-progress-index.aspx<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-761-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-761-4\">Merriam Webster Dictionary <a href=\"#return-footnote-761-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-761-5\">Santana, Dania. \"What Is Diversity And How I Define It In The Social Context.\" <a href=\"#return-footnote-761-5\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 5\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-761-6\">\"Social Progress Index.\" Institute For Strategy &amp; Competitiveness. <a href=\"#return-footnote-761-6\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 6\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Social Diversity and Social Progress\",\"author\":\"Freedom Learning Group\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc-attribution\",\"description\":\"Untitled\",\"author\":\"Free-Photos\",\"organization\":\"Pixabay\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/people-children-child-kids-girls-1149873\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"Pixabay License\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"bffbbf92-8192-412f-a7e2-7f2c5555dbbb, 76483efd-21b4-41d3-9f88-d3aadc24c60a","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-761","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":23,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2288,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/761\/revisions\/2288"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/23"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/761\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=761"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=761"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}