Gender Approaches to Diversity, Religiosity, and Spirituality: Its Ethical Implications

Introduction

Diversity and spirituality represents two most important construct in the modern world. It is apparent that humankind today is becoming increasingly diverse in manifold systems as manifest in immigration, ethnicity, works, schools, economy, social capital, sports, and religious institutions, and so are issues relating to wellness, health system, teaching and instruction (Johnson, 2011). Similarly, we also see many kinds of diversity in terms of faith, gender, ethnic groups, cultures, race, qualifications, age, and physical appearance. It is generally accepted that we find it more comfortable dealing with people who are similar to us, and who have similar backgrounds to us. But unfortunately, the nature of the changing world animated by globalization has made the world to become more and more diverse and complex. However, contemporary scholarship has progressively demonstrates that there exist a wide-range mentality about religion which also incorporate a mentality regarding spirituality culminating into diversity and complexity in relationship (Haire & Moyer, 2015).

For instance, globalization and the fast shifting business setting have made diversified groups increasingly popular and unavoidable idea (Murphy, 2007). Diversified clusters often are comprised of people from different nations, cultures, age groups, genders and educational backgrounds (Kivisto, 2016). It is pertinent to note that on the one hand, diversified players do bring some form of creativity (Alesina et al., 1999), on the other hand, it also presents some challenges which impacts on the effectiveness of the administration (Adewale, 2006). However, one of such challenge is increased diversity which can lead to collective dividing lines. Despite growing emphasis on diversity and inclusion in the world, many research findings suggest that there exist some imperfections which can cause minor points in collection cohesion, thus the likelihood for conflict, negative influence, and poor collective satisfaction and performance (Schoenfeld, 2015). Additionally, dividing lines are more likely to create problems when players in the group are not open to diversity. Apparent in the social identity theory, differences caused by dividing lines in any society could intensify segregate, break-ups and conflict among members, which in turn can negatively impact on social process and outcomes, such as learning, innovations, and cohesion (Kivisto, 2016).

Interestingly, societies around the world are also undergoing extensive changes on an existential level, in their bit to response to shifts in the society. Individuals are increasingly becoming dissatisfied with being seen as derisory cogs in the machinery of their societies, but would rather need to be recognized as holistic individuals that can make a meaningful contribution to their societies (Lim, Cho & Curry, 2008). Correspondingly gender issues are ever more becoming a central and critical part of our lives. With these modifications occurring in the society, there is a growing need to find meaning in whatever we do with others in our environment, such that it could be possible to bring the spiritual selve to harmony with others which may result in some spiritual fulfillment in the society (Frost, 2014). This trend signifies a spiritual quest for meaning and purpose in the society. Expectedly, women in every society are essential for local, national and global development. Across developing countries, studies show that investing in women’s education produces several socio-economic benefits (Carrel, 2006), just as studies have linked women’s leadership to corporate performance in industrialized economies (Carrel, 2006). Research also finds that immigration and cultural diversity more broadly are positively correlated with local area development and economic prosperity (Leigh, 2006). Nonetheless, despite these recognized benefits of diversity, complex social structures perpetuate inequality and exclusion. Such structures are represented by barriers at the societal, organizational, and individual level. However, there are significant variations across societies, people and groups that are instructive in highlighting the sort of barriers marginalized groups faced in several societies.