editorial
Beyond Diversity Unity and Innovation
C
Dentistry must focus diversity initiatives upon universal human traits and opportunities for growth and reform.
orporate mandates. Task forces. School programs. Well-intentioned diversity strategies that fail to some degree because they lack the correct focus. Despite the dental profession’s efforts to date, the current dental student and dentist workforce profiles do not reflect the diversity of the U.S. population.[1] Racial, ethnic and cultural oral healthcare disparities continue to plague our patient population.[2] Current initiatives often view diversity too much as an end in and of itself and not enough as a catalyst to unify and innovate professional development. Dental practice owners, dental school administrators and organized dentistry policymakers must shift their focus on diversity away from superficial differences and compliance requirements toward fundamental traits in common and opportunities for growth that capitalize upon unique abilities. Successful diversity strategies should incorporate four directives to advance these goals: 1. Emphasize human similarities above individual and group differences. 2. Gain consensus on common goals that respect disparate opinions and diversity of thought. 3. Empower individuals with the authority to constructively shape policies and procedures rather than imposing policies and procedures that define the individuals. 4. Invest in the resources, developmental tools and best practices that facilitate growth and position participants to succeed. Each of these directives requires a choice of perspective that lies along a continuum between two
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JANUARY 2022
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The New York State Dental Journal
extremes. Rarely does an extreme point of view address the competing interests the continuum represents. The entity initiating the overall mandate or program must strike the correct balance between the continuum extremes for each directive to facilitate a successful strategy for that entity’s specific challenges. Celebrate Similarities: Human Traits Continuum A strong emphasis on human similarities over differences will unify diverse groups in this currently divisive time. Humans possess significantly more traits in common than traits that differ. We all share the same DNA, expressed in our similar physical, mental, and social needs and qualities. These universal traits define who we are and transcend our differences.[3] Concomitantly, many of our diverse qualities represent unique abilities and innovative viewpoints. Hence, on a Human Traits Continuum, which stretches from a focus solely upon shared fundamental traits on one extreme to a focus solely on superficial and artificially constructed differences on the other, emphasis should fall as close to the similarities extreme as possible while still recognizing special diverse qualities. We lose the value of promoting diversity when we celebrate our differences to the exclusion of our sameness. Ultimately, diversity initiatives should ensure that our superficial and relatively less important differences do not interfere with our right and ability to express our fundamental selves. A renewed
