EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
Since its formation in 1994, CRD has done an excellent job of raising awareness of race relations on campus and sensitizing community members to the value of diversity. This is a necessary first step to improving race relations, but it is not sufficient. To realize the goal of improving relations, we must also build the skills and capabilities needed to translate diversity into positive results for each of us as individuals, and for the groups, teams, and organizations in which we learn and work.
We are not alone in seeing this as the key challenge before us today. Industry leaders recognize that capitalizing on the diversity in their workforce and customer base is critical to business success and social cohesion in today's global marketplace. So, taking on this task is an important part of our educational responsibility—to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to contribute successfully in the labor markets they will be entering and careers they are about to begin.
The research evidence on this topic tells us that this is no easy task. Diversity does not automatically produce positive results. Considerable evidence demonstrates that groups that are managed in ways that draw out and build on the diverse knowledge and experiences of their members, and manage their group dynamics effectively, produce creative results and satisfaction among their members. But, if the diverse knowledge and experiences that different people bring to problems are left untapped, these groups will miss discovering creative and innovative solutions and, instead, will produce frustration and turnover. Or worse, diverse views, styles of thinking and behavior or perceptions of one another that are not surfaced in a constructive fashion often will erupt in highly emotional and unproductive conflicts, thus deepening stereotypes and prejudice. Our challenge, therefore, is to develop the personal skills and institutional capacities needed to use our diversity to support creative and productive interactions, which produce positive rather than negative results and personal experiences.
CRD will focus much of its energy on meeting this challenge. Consistent with the MIT culture, the Committee will do so by drawing heavily on the research and innovative teaching materials developed by MIT community members. By drawing on these resources, we hope to model how a university community can learn and work together and provide its members with the skills needed to be creative and effective in a multicultural society. This is our shared responsibility and commitment for the future.
Thomas A. Kochan
George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management
Former Chair, CRD