A synonym of “variety”, a range of variation of people in a given community. A group composed of differing people of varied backgrounds and perspectives. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “diversity” is defined as “the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.” It is a condition of living and working with people who have differences. In contemporary democratic multicultural societies, diversity drives “cultural, economic, and social vitality and innovation” (The Greater Good Science Centre, 2024). Social and cultural diversity is considered to be a potential, an advantage, a richness of a social group. In the labor market, “diversity management” promotes the inclusion of diversified employees into the structure of the workplace. Navigating and managing differences might be socially and politically challenging. One of the strategies that helps to tackle inequalities is social inclusion (see: Inclusivity).
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2021, https://www.oed.com/; Servaes S, Choudhury P, Parikh AK. What is diversity? Pediatr Radiol. 2022, 52(9):1708-1710. DOI: 10.1007/s00247-022-05356-0; The Greater Good Science Centre, 2024, https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/diversity/definition