Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

4 – Addressing Diversity in Design of Online Courses
promotion, and retention of members of a particular
group (Thomas, 2006).
Not all agree with this view and argue that the definition
of diversity is much broader and is continually
changing and evolving (Smith, 1995). Broader meanings
of diversity tend to encompass a greater variety of characteristics
that are not immediately observable or public.
These include dimensions such as educational background,
national origin, religion, sexual orientation, values,
ethnic culture, education, language, lifestyle, beliefs,
physical appearance, economic status, and leadership
style (Cox, 1993; Lumby, 2006; Thomas, 1995, 1996;
Wentling & Palma-Rivas, 2000). Still others take account
of additional dimensions such as political views,
work experience/professional background, personality
type and other demographic socioeconomic, and psychographic
characteristics (Gardenswartz & Rowe, 1998;
Thomas, 1995; Wise & Tschirhart, 2000).
Maznevski (1994) differentiates between two main
types of diversity characteristics, namely, role-related
diversity such as occupation, knowledge, skills, and
family role; and inherent (to the person) diversity such
as gender, age, nationality, cultural values, and personality.
In contrast, McGrath, Berdahl & Arrow (1995)
developed a more comprehensive framework of diversity
attributes using clusters.
What these different definitions highlight is the
breadth and variety of understanding of what diversity is
and can encompass. Thomas’ (1996, pp. 5–8) definition
of diversity is an attempt to reflect this broadness as well
as acknowledge that any discussion about diversity must
make explicit the dimensions being explored. He defines
diversity as “any mixture of items characterized by differences
and similarities”. Key characteristics of diversity
include:
• Diversity is not synonymous with differences, but
encompasses differences and similarities.
• Diversity refers to the collective (all-inclusive) mixture
of differences and similarities along a given dimension.
• The component elements in diversity mixtures can
vary, and so a discussion of diversity must specify the
dimensions in question.
Lessons from the literature
A significant diversity dimension that has received considerable
attention and research is that of culture (Cox,
1993; Hofstede, 2004; Triandis, 1994). Much of the drive
for this has come from the increasing types and degrees of
diversity occurring within organizations in an increasingly
globalized marketplace and the need to manage
this process to achieve effective functioning of work
groups (Maznevski, 1994).
Historically the definition of culture has been contentious,
resulting in numerous definitions by researchers
(Erez & Earley, 1993; Triandis, 1996). Shweder and
LeVine (1984) and D’Andrade (1984) defined culture as
a shared meaning system within a group of people.
Hofstede (1980), on the other hand, described culture as
a set of mental programs that control an individual’s
responses in a given context. Still others (Triandis, 1972;
1995b) have viewed it as consisting of shared elements
of subjective perception and behaviour where the subjective
aspects of culture include the categories of social
stimuli, associations, beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values,
and roles of individuals who share a common language
and live during the same historical time period in
a shared geographical location. Triandis (1996) also
identified subjective culture as being a function of the
ecology (terrain, climate, flora and fauna, natural resources)
linked to the maintenance system (subsistence
and settlement patterns, social structures, means of production)
within which it is situated.
Even though there are multiple definitions most
agree that culture consists of shared elements “that provide
the standards for perceiving, believing, evaluating,
communicating, and acting among those who share a
language, a historic period, and a geographic location
(Triandis, 1996, p. 408). It’s important to note that most
countries consist of hundreds of cultures and subcultures
(Triandis, 1995b) and that culture is not synonymous
with nations, although it is often discussed this
way in the literature (Erez & Earley, 1993).
One of the most widely used and quoted studies on
culture is the seminal work of Hofstede (1980; Hofstede,
2001), which studied cultural differences in a large multinational
organization with data from more than 40
countries. He developed a five-dimensional model that
took account of cultural variation in values. According
to this research, the five dimensions on which culture
vary are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism
versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity,
and long-term versus short-term orientation.
Power distance describes the way in which members
of the culture accept inequality of power, that is, the
unequal sharing of power; uncertainty avoidance reflects
the degree to which a culture emphasizes the importance
of rules, norms, and standards for acceptable behaviour;
individualism versus collectivism relates to the
degree to which individuals are integrated into primary
groups or in-groups (Triandis, 2001); masculinity versus
femininity refers to the division of roles based on gender;
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