Now how ethnically diverse did you say Marin County is?
@californiaaa Here is a study from UCLA that says diversity training is good for doctors. You may want to rethink your position http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-study-finds-medical-student-62578
Californiaaa, mainebh is right. My SIL is black and has had some pretty hair-raising experiences in medical care due to the insensitivity of medical personal because of her race. They range from assuming that she was on welfare (she isn’t and in fact a medical worker herself) to implying that she has a stronger tolerance for pain because of her racial history (and this is not uncommon, it came up in a local study several years ago by the UW, I believe).
Medical personnel absolutely need to understand how to treat those of other races and ethnicities and it doesn’t come naturally to all of them, thus workshops or courses in how to do it.
@ mainebh
Ok, let’s read this study:
The research team explored whether the proportion of minority students within a medical school made a difference in three outcomes: First, whether students said they felt prepared to care for diverse patient populations; second, their attitudes about access to health care; and third, their plans to care for patients in areas that are traditionally underserved by the health care system.
The authors found no association between the diversity of a medical school, however, and whether white students intended to provide care in underserved areas.
In other words, students, after diversity training, said they felt prepared to care for diverse patient populations, but were NOT intending to do it. 
Oh, god …
There is no reasonable meaning of “equal” I can think of where the majority of people would consider this statement true, so it would be a bit strange to teach it.
I read a study once. One of the better measures of empathy is the contagiousness of yawning. And it’s been studied that yawning is far less contagious between Blacks and Whites as between Whites and Whites or Blacks and Blacks. So, maybe your daughters are different, but they’re out of the norm if they are.
Marin County is California? Let’s count … George Lucas (white), his wife (black), their child (black) … all of them on the same freeway in the same traffic jam with the rest of California.
< My SIL is black and has had some pretty hair-raising experiences in medical care due to the insensitivity of medical personal because of her race. They range from assuming that she was on welfare (she isn’t and in fact a medical worker herself) to implying that she has a stronger tolerance for pain because of her racial history (and this is not uncommon, it came up in a local study several years ago by the UW, I believe).>
Ok, and I am constantly mistaken for a Walmart employee. Should we retrain all Walmart customers? btw, welfare (insurance) questions are most commonly asked at the front desk. Not by doctors.
Second, African Americans have less pain tolerance than whites, not more. It is not a racial issue, but social. Africans from Africa, for example, have higher pain tolerance than African Americans. Eastern Europeans have higher pain threshold than Southern Europeans. Not to mention a tremendous difference between Chinese and Indians, that are grouped into “Asian” in USA.
Where do we start and where do we stop re-training and re-education? How else to we slice population to address all sensitivities? BTW, why don’t they have special doctors to address Hispanic white, Hispanic black, and Hispanic Asian populations? All have unique needs …
If my hair would raise for every “insensitivity” in my life, I’ll have a terrible hairstyle.
- My last name is always misspelled, always. And often mispronounced. It took me quiet some effort to put the same spelling into my passport, social security card, and driving license. Neither agency wished to change their spelling and suggested that other agency changed their version. At some point I had three different documents with three different names in them. Fixed. Recently I learned my D's school records were misspelled. Fixed. Now my youngest D got her first passport, and the last name is misspelled! It is a never ending story :)
- My first name is so common, that on a handful of occasions, I was mistaken a for different patient by doctors. That was very scare, in fact. The worst was when I was pregnant, and the doctor (after an ultrasound) told me that I am past the date for a safe abortion. I was not for an abortion! He had a chart for a different patient in his hand! Now I always, always, double check with the nurse if she has the right chart. A handful of times I was confused with other patients. :)
- Sometimes I joke that I need a tattoo across my belly: "Check the name of the patient that you are planning to treat! You may have the wrong Maria" :)
@Vladenschlutte. OK, you got me. My Ds may not be that synchronized with Blacks in yawing. How does it matter? Could it be trained in college? What for?
I think Vladenschlutte’s point is probably that many of us think we are more empathetic than we really are when it comes to people different from ourselves. I think it’s true that if you’re not around people of a different group very much, you are more likely to stereotype them and to have inaccurate ideas about what they are like.
I’ll just add that one of the inaccurate ideas might be that everybody else is just like us in all important respects.
<there is="" no="" reasonable="" meaning="" of="" “equal”=""> … this is exactly the slippery slope of “diversity”. It highlights the differences in people (contagiousness of yawning) instead of highlighting the similarities.
In the end, the population is sliced and diced into small subgroups, each very individual in their need. Asian Americans want clubs for Chinese, Korean, Japanese … next, North and South Koreans, Tibetan Chinese and Uighur Chinese, … next, first generation Chinese, multi-generation Chinese … next, biracial, tri-racial, … Christian Chinese, Buddhist Chinese, Muslim Chinese … each population had it’s own, unique rights! I am all for the clubs for each group. I am against special training to address all sensitivities.
As a black male, I’m looking at schools that are diverse. Not HBCUs or some small school in deep Mississippi. I hope my college will be exemplary of the world/ country. That means lots of internationals too. A good ex. of these would be ivies
OP’s question:
I’d say in my D’s case it was a factor in determining where to APPLY, not as much in the final selection as all crossed a certain bar.
She had, like most students, various criteria for choosing schools and racial/ethnic/geographic diversity was among them. She’s in a lily white area and didn’t want that for college. She also considered Howard but we were unable to visit so it fell off the list. Schools that were finalists for her included Temple and Amherst and Tulane and Northeastern, all with various levels of diversity and all fairly far from home. In the end she chose the best financial option which also happened to be, IMO, the best fit given all of her criteria including being, I’d say, the second most diverse racially and ethnically.
However, as she is white, it’s an assumed privilege to be able to choose among schools where she is going to be part of a plurality, if not majority, and a fairly favored one at that.
<i think="" it’s="" true="" that="" if="" you’re="" not="" around="" people="" of="" a="" different="" group="" very="" much,="" you="" are="" more="" likely="" to="" stereotype="" them="" and="" have="" inaccurate="" ideas="" about="" what="" they="" like.=""> <i think="" it’s="" true="" that="" if="" you’re="" not="" around="" people="" of="" a="" different="" group="" very="" much,="" you="" are="" more="" likely="" to="" stereotype="" them="" and="" have="" inaccurate="" ideas="" about="" what="" they="" like.="">
But the universe is not divided into white-black-Asian-Hispanic-Native. There are many, many groups of people that we never met and tend to stereotype. I thought that Alaskans are “Jack London” type pioneers before I went to Anchorage and saw many African-Americans there. Detroit and Detroit-suburbs were the same for me, until I saw the difference. I think stereotypes are part of human nature. Most my relatives stereotype that it is hot in the desert, day and night.
You can’t educate against all stereotypes. By doing so you promote another stereotype - that people are inheritantly similar, based on the color of their skin. That Hawaii-an born, private school educated Obama has more in common with Detroit youth, just because his melanin content is similar (actually, it is NOT similar).
Contradiction: If people are culturally similar based on the genes, you can’t re-educate them. If people are culturally similar based on their upbringing and education - than white kid from Detroit should have the same “cultural diversity value” as the black kid from the same street in Detroit.
“MHO, metro areas are so diverse in USA that almost everyone has a colleague, or friend, or neighbor of a different race/origin. Thus “diversity in college for the sake of meeting people of different race” becomes less of an issue. IMHO.”
Not everyone in the US lives in a metro area.
I’ll be honest. I wanted at least some critical mass of Jewish kids for my kids, even though we aren’t heavily Jewish or into “Jewish things.” I would not have wanted them to be one of only a handful of Jewish kids on campus.
Difference is not always based on race. Actually, most often it is NOT based on race.
When I watch forensic files (cheap crime movies) I feel more empathy to victims of the crime that are children and women with children. Regardless of their skin color. I emphasize with people that are similar to me - mothers with children.
I think too much fixation on race - is not healthy for the society. Kids should emphasize the common: we are all students, we all like English-Math-CS, we live in the same dorm, we watch same movies, we like same sport teams, … we are the same! Instead, they are bombarded with messages highlighting their difference.
Very true. And I’d add that we think our kids are more empathetic than they really are . . .
@ Pizzagirl, …
On one hand, people want diversity on campus. In the same time, they want a sizable number of kids like them. Jews want to have Jews on campus. Blacks want to have other Blacks. Like, they want some exposure to other cultures, but not too much, please. Gosh, complicated.
20 years ago, when I came to USA, I wanted to join a good uni with a good program in Biology. When I was choosing schools for kids, I was looking for safety and academics. My D is the only Hispanic girl in her class, she is an expert in Spanish and she enjoys it.
And this is why colleges also like to have geographic diversity.
My D didn’t want to go to school with people primarily from her state.
(I’ve spent a lot of time in Alaska because my dad lived there for many years and there ARE a larger % of Jack London types than most other states!)