It’s easy to think of college campuses as islands ― academic havens with little interaction with the greater world beyond. In reality, the work done on the grounds of colleges and universities has a big impact on society, from medical breakthroughs to mass adoption of social change. It’s important then that U.S. institutions of higher learning are representative of society as a whole in their student bodies and staff. That’s easier said than done, of course, but multicultural representation on college campuses should be a top priority.
Beyond the boost a multicultural campus brings to the immediate student and faculty body, there are some things they can bring to the “real” after-college world, too.
Those include:
Eliminating the wage gap
There is a gender wage gap and there is a minority wage gap. Unless you are a White male, you are probably making less than White males who do the same job as you. Some argue that the wage gap doesn’t exist but statistics show otherwise. The latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that women make 78 cents for every dollar earned by a man in the United States. The racial pay gap varies, but in industries such as technology minority workers make $3,000 to $8,000+ less than their White counterparts.
Even if these numbers are not 100 percent accurate, they are telling of an overarching problem with the American workforce: people are not paid equally. By having more diversity in the amount of highly educated workers, Americans have a better shot at getting rid of the nasty wage gap for good. Not only will these educated workers be more apt to ask for what they are worth, but it stands to reason that more diversity will emerge in positions of leadership (i.e., those that make salary decisions).
Feeding diversity into the professional workforce goes a long way toward pay equality and ups the standard of living for minorities and women.
