Diversity Glossary
Prepared by Susan Klopfer (Cash In On Diversity; How Getting Along With Others Pays Off)
As we strive for diversity competence, it is critical to have a decent vocabulary and understanding. Some of the words included in this glossary are especially important to know for describing the changing work environment, while others are included for those who want to keep reading and learning more about diversity. I have also included a number of cross-cultural and anthropological terms since they fit neatly into the scheme of this book. You will find an occasional personal observation or experience meant to help clarify terms, as well.
Also note that an occasional glossary word or phrase receives special attention; entries such as Diversity, English as a Second Language, Islam, Race, Undocumented Workers, and related topic, are what this book is about and deserve added time and space.
A
Acculturation: When a new settler comes into a country, acculturation refers to their learning or adopting customs or rules and morals or ideals of the new host culture or society. The acculturated immigrant learns and follows safe driving rules, for instance, or sends their children to school per school district requirements. Also called cultural adaption, unlike a temporary visitor, the immigrant must find a new source of livelihood and build a new life. They must decide how much value they place on maintaining their original cultural identify compared to starting and maintaining relationships with other groups in their new culture. If immigrants entirely give up their original cultural identity and move into full participation in the new culture, they become assimilated; also see Assimilation, Integration, Norms, Values, Culture.
Adaptation potential: Person’s possible success in adapting or adjusting to a new culture
Affirmative Action: Set of public policies and initiatives designed to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Originally, civil rights programs were enacted to help African Americans become full citizens of the United States. The term "affirmative action" was first introduced by President John F, Kennedy in 1961 as a method of redressing discrimination that had persisted in spite of civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees. It was developed and enforced for the first time by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Focusing in particular on education and jobs, affirmative action policies required that active measures be taken to ensure that blacks and other minorities enjoyed the same opportunities for promotions, salary increases, career advancement, school admissions, scholarships, and financial aid that had been the nearly exclusive province of whites. From the outset, affirmative action was envisioned as a temporary remedy that would end once there was a "level playing field" for all Americans.
For federal contractors and subcontractors, affirmative action must be recognized by covered employers to recruit and advance qualified minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and covered veterans. Affirmative actions include training programs, outreach efforts, and other positive steps. These procedures should be incorporated into the company’s written personnel policies. Employers with written affirmative action programs must implement them, keep them on file and update them annually. More information is available through the U.S. Department of Labor on its website.
Affirmative action is still controversial and people sometimes question whether it has worked. It does, according to several major studies that document important gains in racial and gender equality as a direct result. According to one U.S. Labor Department report, affirmative action helped 5 million minority members and 6 million White and minority women move up in the workforce.
Ageism: Tendency to regard older persons as debilitated, unworthy of attention, or unsuitable for employment. One of the leading forms of negative discrimination in the workplace, ageism involves prejudice, bias or intolerance (often using stereotyping) against a particular age group, usually the very young, or the elderly. While it typically focuses on old age, it is spreading to middle age as the boundaries of middle age move into what was once considered old age.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) was meant to curb ageism in the workplace. Under this Act, it is entirely unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee or potential employee based on his or her age. The ADEA is meant primarily to protect workers who are over the age of forty.
Ally - Typically a non-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered (LGBT) person who supports and stands up for the rights of LGBT people. See LGBT.
Amish: Orthodox Anabaptist sect (16th Century European Christians) that separated from the Mennonites in the late 17th century and exists today primarily in Ohio and southeast Pennsylvania. Larger Amish communities also exist in Indiana, Iowa and Oregon.
Anti-Semitism: Oppression of Jewish peoples based on their religion or ethnicity
Anxiety: State of being uneasy or worried about what might happen
Arabic: Literary language of the Koran; language and culture of Arabs; see Islam.
Arabs: Ethnic group that first spread Islam; Semitic people were originally from Arabia and now live throughout the Near East, North Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Argot – Special talk within a particular group of people. For example, terms used by computer hackers or Wall Street investment bankers
Assimilation: When an immigrant entirely gives up the original culture identity and moves into full participation of a new culture; being absorbed into the culture of an existing group; sometimes used to describe conforming to a corporate culture. An assimilated person identifies with the country and not the ethnic group. Assimilation is a long-term and sometimes multigenerational process. See Integration, Acculturation.
Asylee: Person living outside the country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution. The difference between an asylee and a refugee is that an asylee is applying for admission in the country he or she is already in; a refugee is applying for admission from outside the country he or she wants to enter.
Attitude: Established ways of responding to people and situations (positive or negative) that we have learned based on the beliefs, values and assumptions we hold. Attitudes are formed (and can change) sometimes by copying those of people who are important to us, particularly people representing our families, organizations, schools, institutes, etc. See Beliefs, Behavior, Values.
B
Back translation: Translating from one language into another and then translating back into the original to compare the results to avoid errors in translation
Beachy Amish: Group that broke off from the more conservative Amish over the use of automobiles and modern farm equipment
Behavior: Ways in which living things respond to their environments; how something functions or operates, like the faulty behavior of a computer program or the ornery behavior of a spoiled child.
Beliefs: State of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing. As with attitudes, beliefs may change in response to new information.
Bias: Inclination or preference, especially one that interferes with impartial judgment
Biculturalism: Ability to function in two cultures
Bisexual: Person who is attracted to both men and women. Gender-neutral term preferred by people who are open to intimate relationships with persons of either sex
Black English (African American Vernacular English, AAVE): Language of the co-culture growing out of slavery and discrimination, sometimes called Ebonics (a term that also has other meanings or strong connotations) or jive or jive-talk. Its pronunciation is common to Southern American English, which is spoken by many African Americans and many non-African Americans in the United States. There is little regional variation among speakers of AAVE. Some linguists argue that AAVE shares so many characteristics with creole dialects spoken by black people in much of the world, that AAVE itself is a creole or language of mixed origin. Some examples include
Dis: Harass or disrespect
Fitty: Fifty
Haps in the hood: "What's going on in the neighborhood?"
Off the hinges: Outstanding or great, as in "That song is off the hinges!"
Kicks: Shoes
Mo: More
C
Civil Rights Act of 1964: Landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against blacks and women, and ended racial segregation in the United States. It was established to end unequal application of voter registration requirements and to end racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and in other facilities that served the general public ("public accommodations").
Caliph: Secular and religious head of a Shi’a Muslim state. See Islam.
Change: Changing in or substituting new for existing. Change is often met by resistance due to currently held attitudes, beliefs, values and behavior. Progressive organizations see the need to formally manage change using “change management” techniques.
Change agent: Person who influences innovative decisions. Ethical considerations of a change agent include concern for the unanticipated consequences of introducing a new idea of product into a culture.
Channel: What a message goes through as it is transmitted; a newspaper carries or serves as the channel of information. External channels of communication include public relations, marketing, press releases, web-related strategies and publishing books and articles.
Chicano: Term used by some people born in the United States whose ancestors came from Mexico; often used to represent a nationalist identity and a commitment of dissimilation. See Latino, Hispanic, Mexican American.
Christianity: See Islam
Chronemics Study of the use of time in nonverbal communication. Not everyone in the world views the concept of time in the same way. Some cultures, in fact, don’t even make time a part of their lives. The way we understand and react to time is a powerful communication tool. Time perceptions include such actions as punctuality and willingness to wait. Time use affects lifestyles, daily agendas, speed of speech, movements and how long people are willing to listen. “Hopi Time” is slang sometimes used to demonstrate how time is thought to be perceived by many Native Americans. See Monochromic Time, Polychromic Time.
Classism: Prejudice and/or discrimination on the basis of social class. Includes individual attitudes and behaviors, and systems of policies and practices set up to benefit the upper classes at the expense of the lower classes; goes beyond being merely class-conscious. An example: Joan is eating out with a friend and the waitress messes up the order. The friend, who prides himself as an educated Oregon liberal, says, "Well, if she was smart, she wouldn't be a waitress."
Closeted or In the Closet: Person who keeps their sexual orientation or gender identity a secret from some or all people
Co-Culture: “Subgroups” within a society; a set of people with distinct sets of behavior and beliefs that make them appear different from a larger culture of which they are a part. Distinctions may include the age of its members, their race, ethnicity, class or gender. Qualities that determine a co-culture (a term that is currently more politically and academically correct than subculture) as distinct may be visual or artistic, religious, occupational, political, sexual or a combination of these factors. High school co-cultures might include the popular kids, the nerds, the outcasts and the middle class or “normal” kids. Other classes of co-cultures include Goths, Hackers, Hip Hop, and Vampires. Of course, there are many more and the list grows.
Code switching: Going from one language to another in the same sentence, as from Spanish to English and then back to Spanish. For example: She is muy bonita, the lady from the oficina de human relaciones! Try it – it’s a lot of fun! (You have to be able to speak more than English, of course, and it’s just one more reason why it’s entertaining and stimulating to learn a second language.)
Coming out: A person’s public disclosure of being gay; a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Debated as a privacy issue, also described as coming out of the closet; sometimes described as a means toward feeling gay pride instead of shame and social stigma, also (and unfortunately) as career suicide. For most LGBT people this is a life-long process.
Communication: Trying to stimulate meaning in other humans through the use of symbols; replicating memories; a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to create shared understanding. This word has many definitions and comes from the Latin comunicare, meaning to share with or to make common, as in giving to another a part or share of your thoughts, hopes, and knowledge. It is often said that communication and culture are inseparable; culture is a code we learn and share, and learning and sharing culture requires communication between a sender and a receiver. See Noise, Feedback.
Confucianism: Chinese ethical and philosophical system emphasizing personal virtue and devotion to family and society; based on teachings of Confucius who lived from 551–478 BC. Mainland China is strongly influenced by Confucianism as well as Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Vietnam, and also various territories settled predominantly by Chinese people, such as Singapore.
Corporate culture: “How things are done at work.” Whether written as a mission statement, spoken or merely understood, corporate culture describes and directs the ways a company's owners and employees [are supposed to] think, feel and act. A business's culture may be based on beliefs spelled out in its mission statement. It could consist in part of a corporate symbol, like the rainbow-colored apple that symbolizes Apple Computer. Or it may be found in values displayed – such as successful employees dressing in the same manner and wearing the same brand of watch, sporting similar hair styles or vacationing at the same spot (a golf resort). A strong and unexamined corporate culture can make it especially difficult for innovation or any type of change; culture roots must first be discovered and understood, advises R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., acknowledged diversity management guru.
Creole: Language developed from the prolonged contact of two or more languages and acquired by children as their first language. The vocabulary typically comes from the dominant group and the grammar from the subordinate group. A foreigner talk hypothesis (FT) argues that a pidgin or creole language forms when native speakers try to simplify their language to address speakers who cannot speak their language at all.
A simplified language, called a pidgin, is developed and used by people who do not share a common language in a given geographical area. If the pidgin is used long enough and doesn’t die out, it begins to evolve into a richer language with a more complex structure and richer vocabulary, called a Creole.
In the United States, some speak “Cajun,” a dialect coming from Louisiana Creole that finds in roots in French and African Languages. Here are two Bayou Cajun words and expressions collected by author Terry Eymard: “ain?” (What did you say?), “bag daer” (back there, as in, Pierre wen bag daer).
Cross-cultural: Comparing features or observations among different cultures. A cross-cultural study of recreation might involve comparing vacation time spent by families in various countries.
Cultural identity: Identifying and believing of one’s acceptance into a culture. “Tomás identifies with the beat culture of the 1950s.”
Cultural sensitivity: Knowing that cultural differences exist but making no spoken value judgments based on one’s personal values about these differences
Culture: From the Latin word cultura or cultivate. “How things are done.” There includes the total ways of living, behaving, using language, communicating, thinking, believing; a set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group; values of a group large enough to be self-sustaining over generations. Culture is dynamic, always changing.
Culture shock: Anxiety, disorientation, and stress felt when in a new culture. Reverse culture shock can occur when one returns to their home country. When landing at an airport in Germany, because I don’t speak the German language, I felt disoriented. Using airport public phones was very different than what I am accustomed too, so after trying to make several calls unsuccessfully, I began to feel dizzy and angry. The sound of people speaking German seemed amplified and I had to sit down and relax, take a few deep breaths, to get over my culture shock.
Whether a person enters a host culture as a short-time visitor or as an immigrant, culture shock is a typical response. It doesn’t always happen at first contact with the new culture, but for many people it actually comes in waves or stages, according to some anthropologists who have studied this phenomenon over the years.
D
Dalai Lama: Spiritual and religious leader of the Tibetan government in exile. See Tibet.
Dialect: Variety of speech differing from the standard; sometimes called versions of a language. The United States is considered to have three dialect regions: Northern, Midland, and Southern.The trend in the U.S. is moving to more distinct, relatively independent regions (Clough, 1997) and consistent with this move is the growing strength of regional dialects in the U.S. Researchers Labov, Ash and Boberg (1997) found that accents in Philadelphia, cities of the Great Lakes region, and most of the South are getting stronger. Dialects of U.S. cities are more different now than 50 or 100 years ago.
While many social scientists estimate the total number of U.S. dialects range from 3 to 24 or more, others suggest it's actually impossible to count the number of dialects in the United States because under a loose definition of the term, thousands of cities, towns and groups have their own varieties or dialects.
Diaspora: From Greek, meaning scattering, movement or dispersion. For example, refers to people sharing a national and/or ethnic identity, moving away from an established or ancestral homeland. When capitalized, the Diaspora refers to the exile of the Jewish people and Jews living outside ancient or modern day Israel. One of the largest diasporas of modern times was the African Diaspora, which began at the beginning of the 16th century. During the Atlantic Slave Trade, 9.4 to 12 million people from West, West-Central and South-east Africa survived transportation to arrive in the Western Hemisphere as enslaved.
Discriminate: Treatment taken toward or against an individual of a certain group based on class or category including, for example, sex, ethnicity, race, disability, age, and religion. Discrimination is the actual behavior towards another group and involves some sort of rejection of exclusion. See Prejudice and Racism.
Diversity: Fact or quality of being different. Diversity recognizes any difference that impacts on the equal treatment of people - including differences in race, gender, age, culture, disability, religion, sexual orientation, mental illness, native language or any other characteristic that helps to shape a person's being. In this context, diversity can include any way that people differ. Diversity is not a legal term, such as affirmative action or equal opportunity.
States Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas who revolutionized the field of diversity by creating now accepted standards by practitioners world-wide: “Diversity is any collective mixture characterized by differences, similarities, and related tensions and complexities. Managing Diversity is the process of creating and maintaining an environment that naturally enables all participants to contribute to their full potential in focused pursuit of organizational objectives.”
According to the IPMA/NASPE* Benchmarking Committee, “Diversity efforts in the workplace facilitate the exchange of new perspectives, improve problem solving by inviting different ideas, and create a respectful, accepting work environment, all of which make good business sense.” In the book Beyond Race and Gender, R. Roosevelt Thomas defined managing diversity as “a comprehensive managerial process for developing an environment that works for all employees.” IPMA/NASPE findings state: “The key for employers is to make diversity an asset within the organization. Diversity is different from affirmative action since affirmative action is the framework for a diversity management program. Diversity management has been described as looking at: 1) the mind set of an organization; 2) the climate of an organization; and 3) the different perspectives people bring to an organization due to race, workplace styles, disabilities, and other differences.”
*The International Personnel Management Association (IPMA) has undertaken a human resource benchmarking project with the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE). IPMA is an organization representing over 1,700 organizations and 2,500 individuals involved in public sector human resource management. The Association’s mission is to optimize organizational and individual performance in the public service by providing human resource leadership, professional development, information and services. IPMA has established an International Human Resource Advisory Board to facilitate the exchange of information on international human resource developments. The International Human Resource Advisory Board has 37 members from 35 countries and international organizations. Additional information about IPMA can be obtained at http://www.ipma-hr.org.
E
Ebonics: See Black English.
Endogamy: Marriage in which partners must be in the same ethnic group, class, or social group. A Presbyterian endogamist would require that a family member’s marriage be only with another Presbyterian, so such endogamy could be considered a form of social and cultural segregation. Endogamy is common in many cultures and ethnic groups. Globalization counters endogamy by exposing isolated ethnic groups to a wider variety of people and cultures. See exogamy.
English as a second language: ESL (English as a second language), ESOL (English for speakers of other languages), and EFL (English as a foreign language) all refer to the use or study of English by speakers with a different native language. These programs typically combine literacy and language instruction. There are many differences between English and other major languages making it difficult to become language fluent very quickly. Here is just one example: Spanish speakers are used to employing a simple tense instead of a future one in casual conversation: The Spanish used for She goes to a party also translates to She is going to a party: Ella va a un fiesta. Spanish is said to be a high context language, while English is low context. See High Context.
Esperanto: Universal language developed in 1887 based on Latin grammar and European vocabulary. It is the only artificial language claiming widespread acceptance, while it is not the only language used for solving the international language problem. Esperanto’s chief benefit is that it is much easier to learn than national, ethnic languages. In Esperanto, how are you? translates to Kiel vi?
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO): Right to have the same chance for hire, promotion, and all terms and conditions of employment without regard to seven prohibited factors: race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age (40 and older), and disability
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC): Agency of the United States Government that enforces the federal employment discrimination laws
Equality: Being alike or of the same rank, ability, quantity; dealing fairly with all concerned without bias or favoritism
Ethnic: Referring to national, cultural, racial indigenous or tribal; the term ethnic identity refers to identification with and understood or perceived acceptance into an ethnic group.
Ethnic Group: Two or more humans who interact with one another, and identify with each other through a common ancestral heritage including common language, a common culture (often including a shared religion) and a tradition of common ancestry
The CIA Factbook lists the following Ethnic Groups in the United States: white 79.96%, black 12.85%, Asian 4.43%, Amerindian and Alaska native 0.97%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.18%, two or more races 1.61% (July 2007 estimate). A separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the US Census Bureau considers Hispanic to mean persons of Spanish/Hispanic/Latino origin including those of Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican Republic, Spanish, and Central or South American origin living in the US who may be of any race or ethnic group (white, black, Asian, etc.); about 15.1% of the total US population is Hispanic.
Ethnocentrism: Belief one’s own race/ethnicity or culture is exceptional; leads to pride, vanity, beliefs of one's own group's superiority, and contempt of outsiders. See Ethnic.
Exogamy: Custom or an act of marrying a person belonging to another tribe, clan, or similar social unit; often this practice is used to open trade routes. See Endogamy.
Extended Family: Parents and their married children; an expansion of the nuclear family. The extended family system often occurs in regions where economic conditions make it difficult for the nuclear family to be self-sufficient.
F
Face: In collectivist cultures where there is a great emphasize on groups and more thinking in terms of “we,” such as in China, the public image or reputation that one has achieved; to lose face is to lose status, to become less respectable. “Fakima is more afraid of losing face than losing money.”
Feedback: Verbal or nonverbal message (or a set of messages) sent (or looped) to the sender by the receiver. It is response. People may adapt their messages based on the feedback they receive.
Feng Shui: Chinese art of manipulating or influencing the physical environment to establish harmony with nature. This is assumed to lead to happiness, prosperity and health. Homes and offices can be “Feng shui’d.”
Folktale: Traditional story often told orally. There are many Native American folktales concerning a legendary character known as "the Trickster," a hypnotizing and charming teacher of human beings who usually appears in the guise of an animal. See Legends and Myths.
G
Gaijin: Japanese for “outsider” or foreigner
Gay: A term used to identify those who are homosexual in their sexual orientation or preference; used positively or negatively, often used exclusively to describe males when using the term lesbian to describe females; see LGBT.
Gender Identity: Learned attitudes and behaviors associated with the words masculine and feminine or somewhere in-between; in many cultures, playing with dolls is associated with femininity. Most people develop a gender identity that corresponds to their biological sex but many do not.
Ghutrah: Cloth worn over the heads of men in Saudi Arabia and some other Arabian countries
Global Communication: Transfomation of information and values across borders; also refers to technology used in transfer (global communications) and issues arising from the transfer
Globalization: Worldwide spread of market economies and democracy
Grammar: Rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language; gestures in sign language; syntax of a language
Gregorian: Solar calendar now in general use; introduced by Gregory XIII in 1582 to correct an error in the Julian calendar by suppressing 10 days. This replaced the Julian Calendar and is used in Europe and America. It is not universally accepted. Different calendar systems are often used in Japan, China, and the Middle East.
Group: Collection of two or more individuals who have regular contact and work together for a common goal. Members of a group may have shared interests that include values, representations, ethnic or social background or kinship ties. A true group exhibits some sort of social cohesion, sticking together tightly. Society can be viewed as a large group, though most social groups are considerably smaller. Some types of groups include peer, with members of approximately the same age, social status, and interests; Clique, an informal, tight-knit group that shares common interests and exhibit an established but shifting power structure; Club, which usually requires application for membership and dedication to particular activities like golf or reading Great Books. Also see Ingroup, Kinship,Team, Outgroup, Subgroup.
H
Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca that a Muslim is expected to take during his or her lifetime
Haptics: Study of using touch to communicate
Hate Crimes: Crimes of hatred and prejudice—from lynching to cross burnings to vandalism of synagogues. Hate crimes are intended to harm or intimidate people because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or other minority group status; also referred to as bias crimes; see Hate speech
Hate Speech: Threats, verbal or physical, made against specific groups of people; burning crosses, placing swastikas on public or private property.
Hegemony: Predominance or influence over others; political, economic, ideological or cultural power exerted by a dominant group over other groups. In the cotton South, planters were seen to have a hegemony over sharecroppers, in that white planters were in control of the entire system, from the politics and economy to the private lives of the African American men and women who picked the cotton.
Heroes: Real or imaginary man or woman noted for courageous action; serves as a model of behavior within a culture. One of the most famous Western examples comes from the fictional story of Alonso Quijano (known in English as Don Quixote), the hero in a novel written by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes. A retired country gentleman living in a section of La Mancha, Quijano becomes obsessed with chivalry, and appears to have lost his mind from little sleep and food while reading volumes on the topic. So he decides goes on a quest. Quijano dons an old suit of armor and renames himself "Don Quijote de la Mancha," and his skinny horse "Rocinante". Quijote appoints a neighboring farm girl, Aldonza Lorenzo, as his lady love, giving her the name of Dulcinea del Toboso. Published in two volumes a decade apart (in 1605 and 1615), tales of Quijote’s quests finally end after a course of eventful encounters with innkeepers, prostitutes, goatherds, soldiers, priests, escaped convicts and others. Quijote, the good guy, renounces all chivalry but dies a broken man. Bronze statues of Quijote and his fictional squire, Sancho Panza, are displayed at the Plaza de España in Madrid. Cervantes work is the most significant piece of literature from the Spanish Golden Age. As a founding work of modern Western literature, it regularly appears high on lists of greatest fiction masterpieces ever published.
Heterosexual: Person who is only attracted to members of the opposite sex; also called Straight
High Context: A culture where meaning is decided by the environment or context. China and most Latin America cultures would be described as high context culture and North American, including the United States, would be low context. In a high context culture, less has to be said or written because the meaning is in the physical environment or already shared by people. Researcher Fred Jandt says to imagine meeting a stranger. Your verbal communication with this person is typically highly explicit (or low context) because you have no shared experiences. You can’t assume anything. But if you communicate with a family member – someone with whom you’ve communicated for a lifetime – your verbal communication is less explicit (or high context) because you make use of your shared context. With a family member, the mention of a certain word can lead to laughter but with a stranger, you would have to explain in words the story that the specific word represented. See English as a Second Language.
Hijab: Arab word that literally means a curtain or cover; refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general. Many Muslim women, including Asian Muslims, do not wear the Hijab. Cases of Hijab discrimination against Muslim females in the United States and parts of the world are not uncommon, particularly in employment, public facilities such as airports, and education. Salahudin Shakir, Civil Rights Coordinator for the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) (similar to Toronto, Canada-based Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association (CMCLA) offers this advice on Hijab employment discrimination in the United States: In most cases you have the legal right to wear Hijab on the job. The only exception would be if the Hijab becomes a health or safety issue. The employee has to inform the employer either at the beginning of the job, during the job interview or once they've been questioned about the Hijab that they wear the Hijab for religious reasons. It is preferable that this be done in writing.
Hijrah: From Latin Hegira, the Prophet Muhammad’s migration (AD 622) from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution; the date represents the starting point of the Muslim era. The Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar is based on the moon’s cycles consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries (concurrently with the Gregorian calendar), and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic holy days and festivals.
Hindu: See Islam.
Hispanic: People who speak and comprehend the Spanish language whose ancestry is based on a Spanish-speaking country and who identify with the subculture. See Chicano, Latino, Mexican American.
Hmong: The Hmong people are a minority ethnic group in several countries, believed by some researchers to originate from the Yellow Basin area in China. Often designates persons living in Laos who sided with the United States during the Vietnam War and later resettled in the United States.
Homophobia: Irrational fear of lesbians and gay men
Homosexual: Sexual activity with members of one’s own sex; a clinical term that some gay men and lesbians find offensive
Honorific: Form of direct address used in some languages to show respect; in English, titles such as Ma'am, Doctor, or Lord; Ms. or Professor are also honorifics since they can stand alone.
Hostile environment: One type of sexual harassment legal claim; frequent, nontrivial acts of a sexual nature that create the effect of a hostile, offensive, or intimidating work environment. An employer, teacher, co-worker, vendor, or fellow student can create a hostile environment. Employers are responsible for ensuring that employees or students do not create a hostile environment.
Hyperindividualism: Disregard for others; drawing into individual private shells
I
Icon: From the Greek word eikon, meaning a religious work of art. In popular culture icons can represent a name, face, picture, edifice or even a person readily recognized as having some well-known significance or embodying certain qualities – from a screen graphic on a computer to a professional wrestler.
Idiom: A peculiar style of expression whose meaning may not be predictable, such as “kick the bucket” (in English, meaning to die). A Chinese idiom, or Chengyu, is a short phrase, usually consisting of four characters. A Chinese idiom gives the meaning of a phrase and also explains more about ancient Chinese culture. One such popular phrase, “to draw a cake to satisfy hunger,” comes from this story: A 10-year-old orphan, Lu Yu, supported his sister-in-law and nephew through a period of extreme hardship. He also was known for studying hard and was praised by many for his noble deeds and depth of knowledge. Later he became an official who advised the emperor. Choosing government officials depended on the recommendation of powerful and influential men. But these men always recommended famous persons who were “all mouth and no action” which displeased the emperor. When the emperor once asked Lu Yu to recommend an official, he advised, "The selection of government officials should not rely solely on one's fame which is just like a cake drawn on the ground, while it may be good to look at it does not satisfy one's hunger." Hence, to "draw a cake to satisfy hunger,” describes someone who uses fantasy for self-satisfaction; the idiom also means that an empty reputation is of no practical value.
Illegal aliens: Foreign nationals violating U.S. immigration policies and national laws by entering or remaining in the United States without proper permission from the United States government. Often considered a derogatory term. See Undocumented workers.
Imam: Islamic leader, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. See Islam.
Immigrant: A newcomer or someone settling into a new country, a settler. An emigrant or émigré is someone who moves away to another country permanently, usually for political reasons.
Individualism: A belief or principle that the interests of the individual are or ought to be ethically dominant or supreme. Collectivism, on the other hand, makes some sort of group rather than the individual the central unit of political, social, and economic concern.
Ingroup: Cohesive collection of two or more individuals that offers protection and a sense of identity in exchange for loyalty; a group to which we do belong. See Group.
Integration: Maintaining important parts of one’s original culture as well as becoming an integral part of the new culture. One difference between integration and assimilation is that under assimilation, groups disappear through intermarriage but in integration, groups continue to exist. The words biculturalism and pluralism are also used to describe integration.
Intercultural communication: Interaction between people and groups of people of diverse cultures, cocultures (subcultures) or cogroup (subgroup) identifications. In today’s multicultural world, communicating with people from other cultures can be challenging and highly important to business success. It helps to be aware of cultural differences such as decision making customs: not all people like to make quick decisions. Other differences might include concepts of time and personal space: not all people like to see time as money and people from different cultures have different 'comfort zones'.
Interpretation: Determining the intended meaning of communication, whether the communication is written, spoken, nonverbal or symbolic in some other form
Islam: An Abrahamic religion that is monotheistic and emphasizes and traces its origin to Abraham. The three major Abrahamic religions are, in order of appearance, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; all three conceive God to be a supreme creator and the source of moral law. All the major Abrahamic religions claim a direct lineage to Abraham and speak of a choice between good and evil and have other commonalities, as well.
There are an estimated 3.8 billion followers of these three religions today, accounting for around half of the world's population. The Bahá'í Faith is sometimes listed as Abrahamic. According to a 2009 study by the Pew Research Center, Islam has 1.57 billion members, making up 23% of the world population, accounting for roughly 1 in 4 people. The study found more Muslims in Germany than in Lebanon and more in China than in Syria. Today, Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the United States.
Most Muslims are Sunni, while an estimated 10 – 13% are Shi'a. Sunni believe that Muslim leadership in the early years passed to a series of caliphs or leaders who governed as successors to Muhammad. Shiite Muslims later split off because they believe that leadership should be passed down only through Muhammad’s bloodline, starting with his martyred cousin and his descendants.
Wahhabi or Wahhabism refers to a Sunni Islamic sect based on the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, an 18th century scholar from what is now Saudi Arabia who advocated eliminating “impurities” from Islam. Today Wahhabism is the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia. While it is often called a sect or branch of Islam, its followers and some opponents reject these labels and see themselves as true Muslims. Wahhabism dominates the Islamic tradition on the Arabian peninsula, but its influence is minor in the rest of the Middle East. Osama bin Laden comes from Saudi Arabia and is Wahhabi himself. While Wahhabism holds a minority position overall in the Muslim world, it has been influential for other extremist movements throughout the Middle East.
Muslims (literally, “submitters” to the will of God or Allah) as followers of Islam believe every person is born free of sin and the purpose of human life is to worship God by knowing, loving and obedience. Rights and responsibilities of women are equal to those of men but not identical with them. The Koran (Quran, Qur'an) is a spiritual guide or system of law and way of lay that was revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad, Moslems believe. There is no separation of church and state, as in the United States.
Jandt writes that major barrier to intercultural communication between U.S. and followers of Islam appears to be the stereotypes each holds of the other, especially following the September 11 attacks. “Arabs tend to stereotype Western women as loose or immoral…the British as obnoxious…the Germans like a mechanized tank division...and the Americans as cowboys – not all that different from how some in the United States stereotype the Arabs as Bedouins who roam the desert.”
The major non-Abrahamic world religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Confucianism and Taoism. These Eastern religions include "Dharmic" religions of India and the "Taoic" religions of East Asia.
Hinduism has grown to become the world's third largest religion, after Christianity (2.1 billion) and Islam (1.5 billion), claiming about 950 million followers or about 14% of the world's population. Hinduism differs from Christianity and other monotheistic religions in that it does not have a single founder, a single holy text, a central religious authority or the concept of a prophet.
Hinduism is not a religion in the same sense as Christianity is; it is more like an all-encompassing way of life -- much as is Native American spirituality. Hinduism is generally regarded as the world's oldest organized religion and consists of "thousands of different religious groups that have evolved in India since 1500 BCE."
J
Jargon: Technical language used by a professional subgroup. Accountants, for example, talk about “balancing the books” when they want to make sure the money spent is not more than the money earned or that debits and credits are equal, or accounted for.
K
Kinship: Connection by blood, marriage, or adoption; family relationship; relationship by nature or having common characteristics. Hundreds of terms are actually used in the description and analysis of kinship by anthropologists.
Kinesics: Gestures, body movements, facial expressions, eye contact. See Nonverbal Messages.
Koran; (Quran, Qur'an). See Islam.
L
Language: Set of shared symbols used to communicate meaning. The ten most spoken languages in the world, in order of use, are Mandarin, English, Spanish, Hindi, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, Bengali, French, Malay, Indonesian. Sign languages are used to communicate meaning in the world of those who are members of the deaf community. Braille codes are used to communicate those who are blind or visually impaired.
Languages vary in learning difficulty, according to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California that classifies Russian, for instance, as a level III language in terms of learning difficulty for native English speakers, requiring about 780 hours of immersion instruction to achieve intermediate fluency.
Latino: Spanish speaking individuals who themselves or whose ancestors came from anywhere in Latin American (countries located in the Caribbean, Central, South or North America). Females are Latinas, as in “wise Latina.” See Chicano, Mexican-American.
Legends: Stories or tales of human actions that are understood as taking place within human history and possessing certain qualities that give the tale credibility or plausibility, whether or not it is true. The African legend of how the crocodile got its “knobbly” textured skin is found in a book called "The Secret of the Crocodile", a Namibia Oral Tradition Project, published by New Namibia Books. The first crocodiles had a smooth golden skin, staying that way because the crocodile would spend all day in the muddy waters and only come out at night. Other animals admired it's golden skin and becoming very proud of its skin, crocs started coming out of the water and into the sun to bask in front of the other animals. They soon became self-absorbed and started bossing around the other animals. But the others became bored with the Crocs’s change in attitude and fewer started showing up to look at his skin. Each day that the crocodile exposed his skin to the sun it would get uglier and bumpier and thicker, and he was soon transformed into what looked like bulging armor. The crocodile never recovered from the humiliating shame and even today will disappear from view when others approach, with only his eyes and nostrils rising above the water’s surface. See Folktales, Myths and Urban Legends.
Lesbian: Woman who is only attracted to other women. See LGBT.
LGBT: Acronym for "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.” Sometimes this is extended to “LGBTQ” when adding “queer.”
Literacy rate: Percentage of people age 15 and older who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on everyday life. Literacy involves a range of learning that enables individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.
Long-term orientation: Promoting the benefits of perseverance and thrift; fostering behaviors that lead to future reward
Low context: Culture dimension that holds little of the meaning of messages is decided by the environment; see High Context
M
Managing diversity: Creating an environment that values differences. Diversity is encouraged and leveraged to aid the business. A strategically driven approach to recognizing, valuing, and fully utilizing all employees’ talents, skills, backgrounds, life experiences, and perspectives to achieve business related objectives. MVD or managing and valuing diversity sees diversity as an asset, rather than a problem. MVD employs a pragmatic approach where the organization benefits, and morale, profit, and productivity naturally increase. See Diversity.
Mandarin: Traditional Chinese language that is actually a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and south-western China. Chinese people in different provinces of China speak 56 official minority languages in mainland China, and there are over a hundred dialects (varieties) of Chinese. These dialects are closely related and come from a common parent language. See Dialect, Language.
Marginalization: Losing one’s identity and not having any psychological contact with society; occurs at individual, community, and global levels, with women and children the frequent victim. “Marginalization of women and girls goes on. It is one of humankind’s oldest problems.” (U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, speaking at Barnard College in a challenge to use social networking tools to better the lives of girls and women.”)
Materialism: Emphasizing physical objects, needs and considerations over spiritual or ethical values; desiring wealth over anything else
Melting pot: A traditional orientation in the U.S. assuming that “foreigners” should totally integrate or adjust into the mainstream culture and noticeable differences should be minimized. This description has largely been replaced by terms such as “stew” “salad bowl,” “quilt,” “orchestra,” or “mosaic,” showing that people’s individual differences are valued as they add to the richness of the mix. Also called “going native.” See Acculturation, Assimilation, Integration.
Mental Illness: About 6 percent, or 1 in 17 Americans live with various disorders in which a person's thoughts, emotions, or behavior are so abnormal as to cause suffering to himself, herself, or other people. The World Health Organization reports that four of the 10 leading causes of disability in the US and other developed countries are mental disorders. By 2020, Major Depressive illness will be the leading cause of disability in the world for women and children.
What is mental illness? There are numerous definitions, from angering the “wrong” person to what the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) describes as “medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions from what often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.”
Persons of any age, race, religion, or income are affected by mental illnesses; these conditions are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character or poor upbringing. Mental illnesses are treatable; most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan.
Serious mental illnesses include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder. The good news about mental illness is that recovery is possible.
Besides treatment with medication, many patients choose psychosocial treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, peer support groups and other community services. Availability of transportation, diet, exercise, sleep, friends and meaningful paid or volunteer activities contribute to overall health and wellness, including mental illness recovery, according to NAMI: The best treatments for serious mental illnesses today are highly effective. “Between 70 and 90 percent of individuals have significant reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life with a combination of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments and supports.”
Stigma – a prejudicial attitude attributed to people who have a mental illness that may result in discriminatory practices – erodes confidence that mental disorders are real, treatable health conditions. In fact, stigma is so pervasive and the consequences so profound, international organizations such as the World Health Organization and the World Psychiatric Association have identified stigma related to mental illness as the most significant challenge facing the field of mental health today. This is according to a recent major report, “Mental Illness and Employment Discrimination,” by Heather Stuart (Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2006;19(5):522-526).
Under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), private employers with 15 or more employees must provide "reasonable accommodations" for people with a disabling mental illness.
Mexican-American: A person from Mexico who is in the assimilation process; see
Chicano, Hispanic Latino.
Monochronic Time: Perception of how time is perceived in cultures or groups that emphasize following schedules; characteristic of Northern Europe and the United States where the emphasis is on planning the order of the use of time. See Chronemics, Polychronic Time.
Multi-cultural organization: An organization whose employees are of different backgrounds, races, ages, genders, and other dimensions of diversity
Muslim: See Islam.
Myths: Stories handed down through generations representing a culture’s values; a myth may give a religious explanation for something: how the world or a particular custom began. The Norse (Viking Age) creation myth begins: In the beginning there was the void. And the void was called Ginnungagap. Along with the void existed Niflheim the land of fog and ice in the north and Muspelheim the land of fire in the south. Myths are related to, but not the same as, legends and folktales; see Legends and Folktales.
N
New Order Amish: Moderate group of Amish that accepts some modernizations; see Amish and Old Order Amish.
Noise: An internal or external barrier to effective communication; anything that interferes with a message being transmitted from a sender to a receiver. See Communication.
Nonverbal messages: Unspoken communication. Actions with a social shared meaning intentionally sent and received. Clothing can be a powerful nonverbal message. My husband and I cared for a teenage foster child. One evening “Tommy” came to dinner wearing a silk tie, tied correctly but over his bare chest. “I’ll comply with the letter of the law but not the spirit,” is how my husband, a psychologist, later translated Tommy’s message for my benefit.
Norms: Standards or customs; rules
Nuclear family: A social unit living together made up only of parents and children.
O
Old Order Amish: The most strict and conservative of the Amish
Oleh (olem, pl.): A Jew immigrating into Israel under the Law of Return
Oolfactics: Communication by smell
One-child campaign: China’s birth control campaign meant to encourage families to have no more than one child; introduced in 1979
Othering: Creating false divisions between one’s own group or culture and “others.” Labeling that emphasizes power relations and domination (“You people –Those people – just don’t understand…”)
Outgroup: A group to which we do not belong. Organizations promoting diversity may create support networks and mentoring programs to integrate outgroup employees. Typically non Anglo-Euro employees are defined as the out-group
P
Paralanguage: Nonverbal parts or features of the voice. Sounds that sometimes do not have a written form (e.g., uh-huh means Yes or I'm listening to you).
Perception: Sensing, being aware of, knowing
Pidgin: See Creole
Platinum Standard: Valuing diversity involves going beyond the Golden Rule of treating others as you wish to be treated yourself. This term developed by R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., invokes a higher behavior, one that is receiver-centered rather than self-centered. Sometimes called the "platinum rule," it involves treating others as they wish to be treated. For instance, people who are members of the deaf community typically do not want to be referred to as “hearing impaired.” Or, as my sister who recently noticed a sign in our local post office referring to service dogs as “pets” noted, most people who rely on service dogs do not see them as “pets” and would probably be offended by this sign. The key is acknowledgement of others and their wishes.
Pluralism: An organization or state in which members of diverse racial, ethnic, or social groups maintain their own culture and traditions and differences are valued.
Polychronic Time. Image of how time is viewed in some cultures as flexible and fluid; where deadlines are not adhered to and many things can be done at the same time. See Chronemics, Monochronic Time.
Power distance: Measures the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) realize and expect that power is not distributed equally
Prejudice: To pre-judge, to form an opinion without knowing the facts. A feeling, unfavorable or favorable, toward a person or thing prior to, or not based on, actual experience. A prejudice, unlike a simple misconception, is actively resistant to all new evidence. (My mind is made up; don’t confuse me with the facts.)
Profiling: To examine or inspect closely certain people based on features or characteristics thought to indicate likelihood of criminality
Primary diversity: Characteristics that differentiate people that cannot be changed such as race, ethnicity, age, sex, physical abilities/qualities, or sexual orientation.
Q
Queer: More recent use relates to gay or LGBT people. The word has undergone considerable changes in recent years with some LGBT people re-claiming it as a means of self-empowerment. Queer remains offensive to some because it has traditionally been used as a derogatory reference to homosexuals or gays. See LGBT.
Quid pro quo: A type of sexual harassment claim; unwelcome activity of a sexual nature in exchange for something (if you do this for me, I’ll do this for you).
R
Race: First, know that controversies surround this word. For most purposes, it refers to a human population that is believed to be physically distinct in some way from other humans based on real or imagined differences including skin color, facial characteristics, cranial profile and size, and texture and color of hair. Usually other people such as census bureaus decide the other person’s racial category rather than the individual choosing where they belong. Debates continue as to how race should be understood. Most sociologists and biologists currently believe race does not have a basis in the natural world but is simply an artificial distinction created by humans. Rather than using race, they speak of populations or ethnicity to refer to groups based on shared religion, nationality, or culture. Further, some researchers and historians propose that the intent of the differing criteria for racial designations was to concentrate power, wealth, privilege, and land in the hands of European-Americans.
For comparison, The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics classifies the Brazilian population in five categories: white, black, pardo or (brown), yellow, and Indigenous, based on skin color as given by the individual being interviewed in the census.
Racial segregation: Separating different kinds of humans into racial groups applying to activities ranging from drinking from a public water fountain and using a public washroom to attending school, joining a country club, going to the movies, or renting or purchasing a home. Segregation of this type is generally outlawed, but may exist through social norms. Segregation is maintained through illegal discrimination in hiring and in the rental and sale of housing to certain races to vigilante violence such as burning crosses on lawns or even lynching. Generally, when members of different races mutually prefer to associate and do business with members of their own race this is described as separation or de facto separation of the races rather than segregation. There were laws passed against segregation in the USA in the 1960s. See Civil Rights Act of 1964, Discrimination, Racism, Segregation.
Racism: The suppression or subordination of a person or group of persons based on what is considered their “race” (or their ethnicity); belief that one group of people are superior to another and have the right to dominate others by enforcing their prejudices and discriminatory practices on those they deem inferior.
Ramadan: Ninth month of the Islamic calendar; the month of fasting; the holiest period for the Islamic faith. See Islam.
Rationale: Mental capacity to form fundamental, sound conclusions and judgments, dispassionate thought; agreeable to reason
Reasonable person: Mythical individual who thinks and responds the way an ordinary, logical, and careful person would under the same conditions; a standard for behavior used in courts of law.
Receiver: Person who is the initial focus of a communication message. A receiver may filter or not hear certain aspects of a message for many reasons -- the message may seem unimportant or too difficult or the receiver may be selective in his or her attention. See Communication.
Reference group: Category of people to which individuals believe they belong, whether or not they actually do; used as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own behavior
Refuge: Person living outside of the country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return because of persecution or a grounded fear of persecution. See Asylee, Immigrant.
Reverse discrimination: Backlash against affirmative action. The system represented a zero-sum game that opened the door for jobs, promotions, or education to minorities while it shut the door on whites. The Supreme Court in the 1978 Bakke case outlawed inflexible quota systems in affirmative action programs, which in this case had unfairly discriminated against a white applicant. In the same ruling, however, the Court upheld the legality of affirmative action per se.
Ritual: Ceremonial act or a series of such acts; collective activity within a culture
S
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: Argument that language defines or shapes the way a person behaves and thinks; good way of showing we do not all think alike. Benjamin Lee Whorf announced back in 1940 that Native American languages impose on their speakers a picture of reality that is totally different from ours, so their speakers would simply not be able to understand some of our most basic concepts, like the flow of time or the distinction between objects (like “stone”) and actions (like “fall”). Whorf’s hypothesis named language as the carrier of the culture. In 2010, Guy Deutscher of the New York Times reported that recent demonstrations suggest this theory (that had later fallen into scientific disfavor) was once again scientifically popular, after a number of new findings, such as “in a series of ingenious experiments that we even perceive colors through the lens of our mother tongue.” From additional new studies, Deutscher placed even more important on Whorf’s hypothesis, noting, “The habits of mind that our culture has instilled in us from infancy shape our orientation to the world and our emotional responses to the objects we encounter, and their consequences probably go far beyond what has been experimentally demonstrated so far; they may also have a marked impact on our beliefs, values and ideologies.” See hypothesis, Scientific Method, Theory.
Scarf: See Hijab
Scientific method: Gathering data, formulating and testing a hypothesis (proposed explanation of the fact or occurrence that can be observed). See Hypothesis, Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, Theory.
Secondary diversity: Characteristics that differentiate people that can be changed such as work background, education, marital status, religious beliefs, geographic location, or income
Segregation: See Racial Segregation.
Separatist: Person who withdraws or secedes; a member of a group that has seceded from a larger group; dissenter. For example, ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom), an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization founded in 1959, is banned as a terrorist organization by the Spanish and French authorities, as well as the European Union as a whole, and the United States. On September 5, 2010, ETA declared a new ceasefire, its third, after two previous ceasefires were ended by the group, calling for "peaceful, democratic means" to achieve its aims, though it was not specified whether the ceasefire was considered permanent by the group.
Sex: System of categorizing persons according to their reproductive organs and chromosomal composition; often confused with the term gender, which refers to the characteristics defined as “masculine” or “feminine”
Sexism: The subjugation or subordination of a person or group of persons based on their sex, especially women; a
Sexual harassment: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that tends to create a hostile or offensive work environment. Sexual harassment is a legally prohibited form of Sex Discrimination that occurs in the workplace.
Shiite: See Islam
Short-term/long term orientation: An outlook towards life based on the teachings of Confucius, a Chinese thinker and social philosopher who lived from the second half of the 8th century BC to the first half of the 5th century BC (known as the Spring and Autumn period). Short-term orientation defers to personal steadiness and stability, protecting your face, respect for tradition, and reciprocation of greetings, favors, and gifts. Long-term orientation emphasizes persistence or perseverance, ordering relationships by status, thrift and having a sense of shame with an orientation toward future rather than the short-term rewards.
Slang: Refers to specialized language of cogroups. A “buck three eighty” is American urban slang that translates to the price for anything (as in, Do all guitars in this store cost a buck three-eighty?) In Mexican slang “a poco” translates to really (as in, ¿A poco crees que voy a salir contigo? Or in English, Do you really think I'm going to go out with you?)
Social similarity: The widespread tendency for people to hire and promote persons similar to themselves along sex, racial, ethnic, or religious dimensions; one of many kinds of biases causing problems for organizations looking to achieve diversity and multiculturalism. See Discrimination, Racism, Racial Segregation.
Spanglish: Mixing Spanish and English words in one sentence. For example, Voy visitar my girlfriend (I am going to visit my girlfriend). See code switching.
Standard Chinese: See Mandarin.
Stereotype: A somewhat rigid and oversimplified idea expressed about a group of people in which all individuals in the group are labeled and often treated based on perceived group characteristics. There are hosts of stereotypes of U.S. citizens (Americans) including the following: Americans feel compelled to comment about everything, and in the absence of anything useful to say, Americans spout sheer non-sense. In Russia, even after the fall of the Soviet Union, it is common for Russians to be labeled by outsiders as Communists, even though there are not many of them left.
Storytelling: Using expressive language and gestures before a live audience to give an account of a real or imagined event. Through this sharing of experience, stories are used to pass on accumulated wisdom, beliefs, and values; they connect us with our humanness and teach us to anticipate the possible consequences of our actions.
Subculture: See coculture
Subgroup: Also cogroup. Two or more humans who interact with one another, accept responsibilities as members of the group, and share a common identity. The group might share interests, values, ethnic or social background, and kinship ties.
Sunni: See Islam
Symbol: Communication intended to represent or stand for a person, object, group, process, or idea. Symbols like the red cross graphically represent a specific worldwide humanitarian agency, the Red Cross. Any representation of a coyote brings to mind a trickster to many Native Americans.
Syntax: Grammatical rules directing the way that words combine to form sentences. Syntax varies in all languages and is one of several technical reasons why it can be difficult to learn a new language very quickly. See English as a Second Language.
T
Team: Temporary or ongoing task group whose members work together to identify and solve problems. Teams might be formed to develop new products or act as go-betweens among different departments within a corporation. See Diversity.
Tibet: Country in South Asia north of the Himalayas under the rule of the Chinese Communist government since 1950. The plight of Tibetan refugees drew international attention when the Dalai Lama, spiritual and religious leader of the Tibetan government in exile, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his commitment to peaceful protest against the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He was given the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush in 2007, and in 2006 he was one of only three people to ever receive an honorary Canadian citizenship.
Taoism: A principal philosophy and religion of China based on the teachings of philosopher Lao-tzu in the sixth century BC that advocates a simple honest life and noninterference with the course of natural events. See Islam.
Tejano: Spanish for "Texan"; used to identify a Texan of Mexican and/or Latin-American descent; style of music originating in southern Texas and combining influences from country music, rhythm and blues, and popular Latin
Telemundo: Spanish language television network
Territoriality: How space is used to communicate a message of ownership of areas and belongings or occupancy. Animals often mark their territories, dogs by urination and feces, and cats by rubbing objects with their bodies. Lions defend their territories by patrolling the territorial borders, roaring to let other prides know of their presence, and also marking with urine and feces. After years of field observations in Uganda's Kibale National Park, researchers concluded that chimps wage war to conquer new territory. Human territorial and dominance behaviors are so universal and common, they are simply taken for granted, as in home ownership, or in waging war.
Thawb: Long, loose fitting, long white shirt worn by men in Saudi Arabia and some other Arab countries
Theory: Tentative solution to problems; logically linked generalizations about how or why something happens; sometimes called the best available information at hand. The scientific method attempts to minimize the influence of bias or prejudice in the experimenter when testing a hypothesis or theory. See Hypothesis, Scientific Method.
Transgender: Person whose gender identity does not correspond to their biological sex; wishing to be considered as, appearing as, or having undergone specialized surgery to become a member of the opposite sex
U
Uncertainty avoidance: Extent in a culture that people are made nervous by unstructured and unpredictable situations or events; indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. For example, Germans are not too keen on uncertainty, compared to their neighbors in Denmark. They could be described in general as trying to avoid uncertainty through heavier reliance on rules, laws and regulations. The United States scores a 46 compared to the 65 of the German culture. Hence, uncertainty avoidance in the US is relatively low.
Undocumented workers: There are an estimated 6.5 million undocumented immigrant workers in the U.S., representing a vital workforce in manufacturing, service, construction, restaurant, and agriculture sectors. They are among the most vulnerable and exploited workers in the United States, as frequent victims of unpaid wages, dangerous conditions and uncompensated workplace injuries, discrimination, and other labor law violations. Workers who attempt to remedy the abuse routinely face physical and immigration-related threats and retaliation.There have been proposals by some congressional members to grant temporary legal status to undocumented immigrant workers currently residing in the United States.
Estimates based on the March 2002 Current Population Survey and other data sources placed 9.3 million undocumented immigrants in the country, representing 26 percent of the total foreign-born population.
Mexicans make up over half of undocumented immigrants—57 percent of the total, or about 5.3 million. Another 2.2 million (23 percent) are from other Latin American countries. About 10 percent are from Asia, 5 percent from Europe and Canada, and 5 percent from the rest of the world.
Almost two-thirds of the undocumented population lives in just six states: California (26 percent), Texas (12 percent), Florida (10 percent) New York (8 percent), Illinois (4 percent), and New Jersey (4 percent). But, the most rapid growth in the undocumented population since the mid-1990s has been outside these states. High-growth regions are the Rocky Mountains, the Midwest, and the Southeast. The undocumented populations of Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina have grown so rapidly that they may already have surpassed New Jersey's.
Urban Legends: Popular stories that spread from person to person via oral or written communication (fax or email) and are supposedly true, but usually are not. Typically, these stories concern outlandish, humiliating, humorous, terrifying, or supernatural events that happened to someone such as a friend or friend of a relative to strengthen the story’s credibility. Sometimes there's an implied moral message such as “this could happen to you.” A popular urban legend goes that “Mr. Rogers was a Navy Seal.”
V
Values: A central belief or belief system that shapes a person’s goals and motivation. A list of values might include such behaviors as acceptance, accomplishment, achievement, acknowledgement, adventure and affection – and those are just the “A’s”! See Attitudes, Beliefs.
W
White Privilege: Advantages that Whites have living in a White culture; rights or immunity attached specifically to people of white European descent.
"Andrew Hacker, in his 1992 book Two Nations questions the value of whiteness according to the perception of whites. His study asks a group of white students how much money they would seek if they were changed from white to black. Most seemed to feel that it would not be out of place to ask for $50 million or $1 million for each coming black year, and regardless of whether this figure represents an accurate amortization of the societal cost of being black in the U.S., it is clear that whiteness is still perceived to be valuable (regardless of class position)." (Crenshaw et.al, 1995).
“I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious.” Peggy McIntosh (White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. 1988).
Workplace Violence: Any act of physical violence, threats of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening, disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site. Workplace violence can affect or involve employees, visitors, contractors, and other Federal or non-Federal employees.
Worldview: A set of assumptions which we hold, and may or may not be aware of, about the basic makeup of our world; a culture’s beliefs about its place in the Cosmos (an orderly or harmonious system).
World Religions: See Islam
X
Xenophobia: Unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners
