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Enhancing the value placed on diversity

Enhancing the value placed on diversity: from the international classroom to the global workplace

Maria Hussain (Leeds University Business School)

Project overview

The university and the world are changing, students and graduates need to be well-equipped to study, work and manage diversity to thrive in an increasingly interconnected and diverse workplace. It is therefore crucial that we enable all students to realise the value of diversity and intercultural understanding to be effective leaders and global citizens of the future. However, recent studies (Rose-Redwood and Rose-Redwood, 2018; Harrison and Peacock, 2010; Leask, 2009) have shown that there are underlying barriers to engagement between different student groups, which may inhibit diverse ways of working and thinking and thus negatively impact on equitable student experience, outcomes, and thus graduate employability (Advance HE (Higher Education), 2020). Data reported in recent studies (Ely and Thomas,2020) on the impact of ‘diversity’ in organisations indicates that having diverse perspectives at all levels of an organisation is pivotal to effective decision-making in the workplace and crucial for a more equitable society. It is thus vital that the value of diversity is really foregrounded during the student life cycle to not only enhance the learning experience but to nurture more inclusive, equitable global leaders of the future.

The principal project impacts are outlined below:

  • Deliver cutting-edge research on student-centred, interdisciplinary, employability and interculturally enabled learning through delivery of two pilot interventions.
  • Engage with students and external partners and graduate recruiters to better understand attitudes and the value of ‘diversity’ in relation to global graduate employability readiness.
  • Develop evidence-based guidelines to inform curriculum development and enhancement in support of the University’s strategy.

Key findings

-          Clear case for in situ student cross-cultural skills development to be surfaced across the curriculum for all students (see figure below)- One of the principal findings of this study evidences that there is a growing need for students to be able to study and collaborate with students from a range of cultural backgrounds to thrive academically, professionally and to be engaged citizens.

-          Intercultural competence and cross-cultural communication as essential graduate skill(s)-  Increasingly graduates will need to be able work and lead cross-culturally as workforce diversity is set to increase (WEF, 2023) due to significant changes to the makeup of the working population and also increasingly diverse markets (WEF, 2023).Industry leaders confirm that communication skills remain essential to succeeding and thriving in the graduate workplace regardless of sector or position.

-          Workplace 2.0: The case for inclusive leadership behaviours - future leaders’ ability to manage tensions between ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ will be increasingly important with greater diversification of workforce set to continue (Hussain, in press).

 

Implications for practice

This study makes a number of evidence-based recommendations:

  • Surfacing Skills agenda- ICC should be surfaced and recognised within ‘Leeds Skills Matrix’ and ‘Leeds Capabilities Framework’ across the curriculum

It is vital that intercultural competence(ICC) is surfaced and foregrounded institutionally within the ‘Leeds Skills Matrix’ and within the ‘Leeds Capabilities Framework’ to both recognise and make visible  the value of cultural diversity. In this way, will also be able to communicate this message more tangibly to students and external stakeholders that institutionally we are proactively addressing the complex needs of our students in relation to graduate readiness and preparedness for the workplace 2.0.

  • Programme-level learning objectives- embedded across UoL consistently to ensure development of intercultural competence is foregrounded consistently and sustainably.

Through programme-level inclusion of ICC through clearly articulated learning outcomes all students regardless of discipline, programme or personal background will have an opportunity to develop this important graduate competence during the student lifecycle in a consistent and sustainable manner. This will also enable students to tangibly articulate and communicate this sought after competence in relation to their chosen profession on graduation and beyond (see infographic in ‘outputs section below).

 

Are you wanting to develop intercultural competence (ICC), also referred to interchangeably as global insight or cultural intelligence in your students to enable them to thrive at Leeds but also to enhance their graduate employability readiness, but would welcome some support? Look no further, Maria Hussain, a LITE fellow has designed a research-led 3-step guide to 'embedding ICC into your module/programme.'  

 

 

If you want to find out more details about this fellowship or what the next steps were upon completion please read the full snapshot  or contact Maria (M.Hussain1@leeds.ac.uk).

Project start date: September 2022