Cultural Diversity Essay: Topics, Tips, & Example

🎎 Cultural Diversity Essay: the Key Issues

What does cultural diversity mean? That’s what we need to understand before we start writing. Cultural diversity is when several cultures are mixed.

Take America, for example.

You can taste a vast number of national cuisines. Or you can hear a lot of national music. All that is due to different cultures co-existing here together.

Cultural diversity can be confused with multiculturalism. The first concept means the way society deals with multiple cultures in one place. The second one assumes that the more cultures interact, the better. And there are many ways this interaction can go.

There are two main theories of multiculturalism:

1. The melting pot theory. That holds the idea of different cultures “melting” together. They lose their individual features completely, forming one single culture. The situation with American immigrants shows this pretty well.
2. The salad bowl theory. The less grim theory describes not full but partial cultural losses. The cultures here don’t cease to exist in order to become one. They rather co-exist, keeping their uniqueness intact. Sounds great, but it leaves more room for discrimination and conflicts.

Benefits & Challenges of Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity is an issue that affects several aspects. Mostly education, business, and the economy in general. And every issue has its pros and cons. Here are some good things and challenges that cultural diversity can bring to a business company.

Benefits:

1. Diverse cultures – diverse teams. And diversion in a group leads to more perspectives on issues the team faces. It keeps the atmosphere fresh and competitive. And as long as you keep this competitive spirit healthy, you are good to go.
2. More cultures – more markets available. Diverse companies have more information about foreign markets. Thanks to the fact that for some employees, foreign markets are not foreign at all. As a result, you are less likely to create an offensive ad or product.
3. More diverse – more attractive. Trying to find employees with different cultures can be beneficial. You may find a hidden talent for your company. And attract new applicants by opening new cultural horizons.
4. More diversity – more creativity. An international team focuses on different experiences in one place. And such a team always comes out with a stream of fresh ideas.
5. More diversity – more skills. People with different cultural backgrounds have different skill sets. With that, your company would have way more possibilities. Coming up with a new product or service will become a much easier task.

Challenges

1. Different cultures – different etiquette. Business etiquette is something that differs from culture to culture. It can sometimes lead to misunderstandings or conflicts within the team.
2. Different people – different ways to work. Workers from Europe are used to the idea of individuality. Asian employees tend to work as a single organism. Now imagine what happens if you make these folks work together. Correct, a lot of problems with productivity that you’ll need to solve.
3. More cultures – more competition. And as we said before, you always need to keep this competition in check. Once it stops being healthy, you will have some voices of the team silenced. And some others will become needlessly loud.
4. More cultures – more stereotypes. And stereotypes can lead to barriers between employees. You don’t want your team to fight over nationality issues. So, you should prepare to fight possible prejudices that can occur.
5. More foreigners – more red tape. This is a purely practical problem. Law that covers foreigners’ work conditions can be tricky to follow. Additional expenses, necessary documents, and accommodation. All of this need attention, so make sure to give it.

💡 51 Cultural Diversity Essay Topics

Making a cultural diversity essay topic is easy and complicated at the same time. The vastness of the issue gives a lot of possible options. But choosing the option you want can be a bit tricky. Here are some ideas for a possible topic.

1. Cultural diversity now and in the medieval ages.
2. Multiculturalism is the best way to handle diversity in cultures.
3. What misunderstandings can occur between Asian and European business people?
4. Tensions between the British and the French: roots and misconceptions.
5. Can cultural diversity be unethical?
6. Possible alternatives to a multicultural society.
7. The importance of language in forming a culture.
8. What are the musical tastes of different cultures?
9. Women in Muslim societies: the kingdom of strangers.
10. Art as a source of cultural knowledge.
11. Hispanic American diversity.
12. Creating a culturally diverse company in America and China: compare and contrast.
13. Diversity & discrimination of women in the workplace.
14. Traditional music as a way to know the culture.
15. Aboriginal and Chinese Australians: cultural diversity.
16. Cultural diversity as a business practice.
17. Diversity at the workplace: problem and importance.
18. The myth of Irish people being drunks.
19. The ethnic diversity in the U.S. metropolitan areas.
20. The role of women in different cultures.
21. Cultural movement: hip-hop-related films.
22. Comparing the most and the least diverse countries in the world.
23. Issues of cross-cultural communication.
24. Integrating refugees into society and the way to do it right.
25. Women and economics: historical and or cultural change.
26. The role of the Internet in cultural diversity.
27. Cross-cultural communication and barriers.
28. Studying abroad. What to prepare for and how to adjust your cultural background.
29. Socio-cultural contributions to gender roles.
30. The American and the Chinese take on education.
31. Universalism vs. cultural relativism in human rights.
32. The vital role of cultural heritage.
33. Intercultural and cross-cultural communication research.
34. The connection between globalization and cultural diversity.
35. Family, cultural legacies, and identity formation.
36. Different attitudes towards children in different cultures.
37. Cultural and traditional values’ importance in society.
38. The wrongs of The Melting Pot theory.
39. Different aspects of intercultural nonverbal communication.
40. The art of making a gift in different countries.
41. Chinese culture and cross-cultural communication.
42. The biological necessity of cultural diversity.
43. Intercultural relationship and communication.
44. Cultural diversity in healthcare.
45. Intercultural assumptions, prejudices and viewpoints.
46. How to promote cultural diversity in schools? The right and the wrong ways.
47. Multicultural competence and cultural identity.
48. Diversity awareness is a part of any rational mind.
49. Cross-cultural differences and interactions.
50. The issue of some cultures being violent.
51. Food anthropology as the study of food in diverse cultures.

Need more ideas? You are welcome to use our title-making tool!

📑 Cultural Diversity Essay Outline

Every essay needs planning first, and you will need an outline for that. An outline for an essay on cultural diversity has a lot in common with any other essay layout. Let’s see an example of one.

Cultural Diversity Essay Introduction

The introduction serves 3 goals:

1. grab readers’ attention,
2. provide them with a thesis statement,
3. give background information.

The introduction leads your audience to the topic and gives an overall impression of the following text.

An introduction usually includes:

• Background information. Information that the reader needs to know before going deeper into the essay.
• Hook. Serves an attention-grabbing purpose. A hook is usually a controversial or intriguing statement that makes the reader interested in further material.
• For example: “All Irish people are drunks, and all French people like to surrender, right? Wrong.”
• Thesis statement. A thesis gives the general idea of the whole essay. This one can be a huge pain to make. Shortly speaking, it must be concise, brief, and open for discussion. For example:

“While cultural diversity creates a lot of problems, multiculturalism that encourages every culture and discovers new ways to fight prejudice can be the best solution.”

Cultural Diversity Essay Body

The body of an essay is the most significant part of it. In a 5-paragraph work, your body will consist of 3 paragraphs. Each should describe one of the arguments you used to support your thesis.

Cultural Diversity Essay Conclusion

It’s the last paragraph of your assignment that sums up all the text above. You don’t need to add anything new in a conclusion. Just restate your position and show how your arguments helped you prove it.

✍️ Cultural Diversity Essay Example

And finally, let’s take a look at a complete sample of a cultural diversity essay.

And with that, all that is left to do is wish you good luck on your assignment. By the way, if you’ll need to make a title page for your cultural diversity essay, you might want to use our title page generator.

Let us know which part of the article you found the most useful, and have a great day! Thank you for your time.

❓ Cultural Diversity FAQ

🔗 References

1. Cultural diversity – UNESCO
2. The Importance of Diversity in the Classroom | Drexel University
3. Multiculturalism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
4. Culture and diversity – NSW Department of Education
5. What Is Multiculturalism? Definition, Theories, and Examples
6. Multiculturalism | Definition, Impact, Challenges, & Facts