Abstract
This article examines attitudes toward diversity at an academic institution. Research participants indicated their support for various forms of diversity in response to closed-ended questions and then described what the word 'diversity' meant to them. By comparing numerical data with open-ended definitions, we highlight the particulars of how our respondents interpret diversity. Specifically, we show that for about one-third of our sample, diversity programs are equated with 'oneness', 'equality', and 'color-blindness'. We analyze this interpretation of diversity as a discursive construction that enables respondents to profess progressive views while at the same time upholding traditional American values of assimilation. We end the article with a critique of this emerging diversity regime and consider alternative models of promoting diversity.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 631-650 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Critical Sociology |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 1 2011 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Sociology and Political Science
Cite this
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Does diversity mean assimilation? / Marvasti, Amir Barzegar; Marvasti, Karyn McKinney.
In: Critical Sociology, Vol. 37, No. 5, 01.09.2011, p. 631-650.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Does diversity mean assimilation?
AU - Marvasti, Amir Barzegar
AU - Marvasti, Karyn McKinney
PY - 2011/9/1
Y1 - 2011/9/1
N2 - This article examines attitudes toward diversity at an academic institution. Research participants indicated their support for various forms of diversity in response to closed-ended questions and then described what the word 'diversity' meant to them. By comparing numerical data with open-ended definitions, we highlight the particulars of how our respondents interpret diversity. Specifically, we show that for about one-third of our sample, diversity programs are equated with 'oneness', 'equality', and 'color-blindness'. We analyze this interpretation of diversity as a discursive construction that enables respondents to profess progressive views while at the same time upholding traditional American values of assimilation. We end the article with a critique of this emerging diversity regime and consider alternative models of promoting diversity.
AB - This article examines attitudes toward diversity at an academic institution. Research participants indicated their support for various forms of diversity in response to closed-ended questions and then described what the word 'diversity' meant to them. By comparing numerical data with open-ended definitions, we highlight the particulars of how our respondents interpret diversity. Specifically, we show that for about one-third of our sample, diversity programs are equated with 'oneness', 'equality', and 'color-blindness'. We analyze this interpretation of diversity as a discursive construction that enables respondents to profess progressive views while at the same time upholding traditional American values of assimilation. We end the article with a critique of this emerging diversity regime and consider alternative models of promoting diversity.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80053047986&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0896920510380071
DO - 10.1177/0896920510380071
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80053047986
VL - 37
SP - 631
EP - 650
JO - Critical Sociology
JF - Critical Sociology
SN - 0896-9205
IS - 5
ER -