In a broad sense, diversity may be easily associated with terms such as differences and segregation. Although such an understanding of diversity may be sufficient for its various meanings, such as in the life sciences for example, wherein diversity is often mentioned in relation to the distribution of wildlife, diversity has a more specific definition when used to describe human populations. In fact, it is easily conceivable that diversity for humans is not merely composed of differences in terms of physical characteristics, but other factors as well such as social aspects.Hence, in order to further understand the concept of diversity it is best to define the term in consideration of humans and also identify evidences of diversity present within cultural groups. In humans, diversity is often associated in relation to two main categories, genes and cultures (Durham, 1992).
Placing focus upon the genes as a basis of diversity, it is of course expected to take into consideration the differences in terms of biological characteristics.In this sense, even though the main genetic code seen throughout humans of different races may be quite similar, there are still differences in terms of how genes are expressed (Durham, 1992). Such differences are the main reason as to why even though humans are grouped together, individuals or groups throughout the world exhibit basic differences in terms of color and height. Hence, in this sense, diversity in humans, through a biological perspective may be defined as differences in terms of the expression of genes which result in physiological differences.
As previously mentioned, such a definition of diversity may also be utilized in the study of other organisms and not just of humans alone. In this sense, a definition of diversity which may be more specific towards humans may be observed in the consideration of culture. To expound, cultural diversity is generally defined as the differences in human societies or groups in relation to factors such as beliefs and traditions (Lindsey, Robbins, and Terrell, 2009).The presence of such factors in relation to the definition of cultural diversity is rather expected since culture is the main focus. In addition, cultural diversity, which may be perceived in either a local or a global sense, is highly associated with differences in terms of race; as a matter of fact, due to differences in terms of culture, stereotypes have been present which develops a tendency among individuals of falsely considering a cultural group to be uniform and without internal differences (Lindsey, Robbins, and Terrell, 2009).
Differences or evidences of diversity within cultural groups are rather easily determined and observed. For one, considering that a cultural group may be composed of a single race, differences in terms of economic status are still apparent (Lindsey, Robbins, and Terrel, 2009). Of course, even if a community has the same basic history or the same general notion of what may be acceptable or not, differences in wealth is commonly observed due to further social stratification.Also, since there are differences between the economic status of individuals within a cultural group, then it is rather expected that differences based upon the way of life as well as the level of education are present as well (Lindsey, Robbins, and Terrel, 2009).
Education and the manner of living are both considerably affected by wealth, since the amount of funds becomes a determinant for the options available in relation to both education and manner of living. In general, as previously discussed, diversity is simply a general term that signifies variation.Also, as presented, there are different ways in which diversity may be applied in the discussion regarding humans, due to the fact that diversity may be presented in biological or cultural and sociological aspects. In addition, with the presence of diversity within cultural groups, it becomes apparent that diversity may also be applied throughout the different levels and aspects of society and not merely on differences in race and culture. Therefore, human diversity is indeed a term of wide scope and numerous considerations.
