Editorial

Beyond Diversity Unity and Innovation

Dentistry must focus diversity initiatives upon universal human traits and opportunities for growth and reform.

Corporate 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 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 focus on our similarities will unify, not further divide, and set the table for group consensus on common goals.

Gain Consensus: Shared Template Continuum Diverse groups comprising individuals who celebrate their similarities must next embrace common goals to avoid unhealthy conflicts of interest and hostilities that divide and impede growth. Gaining consensus on what these groups intend to accomplish in any endeavor makes it more likely they will succeed.

Historically, immigrants assimilated into the existing American culture. This process suppressed many of their diverse thoughts, opinions and customs when taken to an extreme. Today, diverse groups more often retain their customs and traditions and resist assimilation. Failure to assimilate, however, results in a disconnected, multicultural patchwork, with groups unlikely to agree upon a shared template on any issue. [4]

Ideally, on a Shared Template Continuum, with the extremes representing total assimilation versus multicultural independence, we should encourage the level of assimilation necessary to achieve consensus on common goals without suppressing diverse thoughts and opinion. Dentistry needs the open dialogue essential to consensus and the mutual respect and trust it creates to form the basis for relationships, not only in dental schools, the dental workforce and organized dentistry, but also in dentist-patient relationships. As we expand trust in diverse dentist-patient relationships, it will serve to reduce oral health disparities.

Empower Individuals: Authority Continuum Individuals who share a template to accomplish common goals must command sufficient authority over their professional environment to put policies and procedures into effect. On an Authority Continuum, at one extreme, an entity’s policies and procedures control and shape its individuals. Diverse individuals remain marginalized without the power or means to affect change. They ultimately become a cost center, and the diversity strategy is then deemed a failure. [5]

At the other extreme, the entity positions diverse individuals to shape and define entity policy and become a growth center. On this continuum, we must go beyond mere inclusion and empower individuals with sufficient authority to implement their policies and procedures to the level that enables them to achieve their common goals. [6] Invest in Growth: Implementation Continuum Once diverse individuals who celebrate their similarities reach consensus on an issue and have authority to control policies and procedures necessary to reach common goals, we must provide the resources, developmental tools and best practices to implement their strategies. Regretfully, many administrators develop diversity measures merely to comply with self-regulatory mandates or “corporate social responsibility” guidelines and fail to provide adequate support for growth. [7] On an Implementation Continuum, this view rep- resents the extreme of achieving diversity only to comply with mandates. Ideally, we need to view diversity initiatives closer to the other extreme, i.e., to achieve growth, and then invest the financial resources and managerial support necessary to succeed.

The dental profession must move beyond the flawed premise that complying with diversity mandates alone will bring people together and eliminate healthcare disparities. Diversity is not an event, but a process. Attaining diverse dental student and workforce profiles stands only as a first step in the process. Diverse groups must embrace human similarities and unify, gain consensus on common goals, earn the authority to shape policies and procedures, and utilize the necessary resources and developmental tools to implement innovative growth.

Ultimately, the mutual respect and trust engendered among diverse individuals as a result of this process will enable dentistry to meet its professional duty to equitably serve all members of our society. Our destination: unity and innovation. Our vehicle: diversity.

D.D.S., J.D.

REFERENCES

1 Wright J, Vujicic M, Frazier-Bowers S. Elevating Dentistry Through Diversity. JADA 152(4),April 2021.

2 Wright J, Vujicic M, Frazier-Bowers S. Elevating Dentistry Through Diversity. JADA 152(4),April 2021.

3 Samuel L. The 10 Universal Human Traits. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/boomers-30/202012/the-10-universal-human-traits, December 9, 2020.

4 Westfall T. Melting Pot vs. multiculturalism. https://www.journal-advocate.com/ci_32405732/melting-pot-vs-multiculturalism, May 8, 2019.

5 Llopis G. 5 Reasons Diversity and Inclusion Fails. https://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2017/01/16/5-reasons-diversity-and-inclusion-fails/, January 16, 2017.6 Llopis G. 5 Reasons Diversity and Inclusion Fails. https://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2017/01/16/5-reasons-diversity-and-inclusion-fails/, January 16, 2017.7 Llopis G. 5 Reasons Diversity and Inclusion Fails. https://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2017/01/16/5-reasons-diversity-and-inclusion-fails/, January 16, 2017.