By Elizabeth Griffin:
Australia is a very diverse country, with people from around the world choosing to live, work or simply visit here.
This diversity is well represented by UWS with “more than 100 cultural and ethnic backgrounds” found in the student body according to the universities website. A lot of diversity can also be found in the staff with “over 20% of staff coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.”
It is this high level of diversity that makes many aspects of UWS, including education so beneficial, for staff and students alike.
The diversity of students and staff means that there are more opportunities to interact with people from many different walks of life, who may have vastly different experiences and opinions than you. What makes this so beneficial is that it expands the horizons of everyone involved from students to staff. By getting to know so many different people you expand your knowledge of the world around you as well as the knowledge of others.
Being informed about a large variety of people has a number of benefits. It allows for greater, more in depth discussion within the classroom itself and elsewhere. By having diverse student and staff bodies a greater range of opinions can be bought to any and all discussions.
This means that not only can new areas of discussion be reached, something which would have been very difficult to do otherwise, but new opinions can be formed by those in participating in the discussion based in the various opinions and experiences of others.
Being educated with and by a group of diverse people helps in other aspects of life, not just during time spent at University. By working with many different of people during University, it helps you to work with others in other activities, whether it be work, sports or other activities.
It also helps you to better understand people you may encounter throughout your life. By learning about the different opinions and experiences of others with a multitude of backgrounds, you can better understand why someone may feel or think the way they do, which can help in a number of areas, from working with clients or coming up with ideas at work.
Diversity has shaped Australia in many positive ways, helping to create the nation we know today. Just as diversity has shaped Australia, so too has diversity helped and continues to help all aspects of UWS.
IMAGE: John C Bullas
