Inerview question...sensitivity to racial, cultrual,...?

Question

How do you answer the question: Describe how you will promote sensitivity to racial, cultural, religious, and ethnic differences in your position.

Answer 1

This is actually a profound question that should be asked of everyone -from those vying for the office of President of the US to those applying for a drivers license.

It seems reasonable to believe that before any of us can go about promoting sensitivity to anything -let along the myriad facets of diversity- we first need to reflect on our inherent biases and learned prejudices.  And that task alone is probably the single greatest reason why it's so difficult to encourage or "promote sensitivity to racial, cultural, religious, and ethnic differences."

If I were ansering this question, I'd frame my response from two inter-related positions, i) personal beliefs and values, and ii) professional roles and responsibilities.

The core of our value system -the beliefs, axioms, and other concepts and attendant factors that influence our behavior- is akin to a compass that allows us to live life according to a relatively prescribed path and, when needed, check with our compass if we feel we're off that path or lost.  

For most, the combination of racial, cultural, religious, and ethnic experiences are the underpinnings of that value system and, once in place, are difficult to erode or replace.  That's neither good nor bad -if not taken to an extreme.  It simply is ... and a recognition and understanding of those powerful underpinnings -typically via introspection and reflection -is key for articulating any relevance toward diversity.

As such, prior to you responding to this specific interview question, it simply makes sense for you to conduct the proverbial "gut check" to determine where you -as an individual among 6.6 billion individuals- reside on the diversity continuum.

The second part, your professional perspective, is a bit more ardous and complex in that you must first know the roles and responsibilities of the "position."  From that (the position) point-of-view, you're then able to ascertain the relative importance of the "degree of sensitivity" needed to be promoted toward racial, cultural, religious, and ethnic differences.  

I'm not trying to minimize the "thinking" that should go into your answer, I'm simply saying that, without knowing the demands of the "position" you may over-step the pre-assigned organizational role and, in doing so, exclude your candidacy for that position from further consideration.

Of course, a basic rule-of-thumb (for most of us, anyway) is to be aware and attentive to both similarities and differences as we experience each other across the globe.  Indeed, the human species -regardless of geography and cultural- is remarkably alike/similar in more ways than we are different.  

As such, more balance is needed when encountering and discussing diversity so that the weight of any difference does not significantly reduce the importance of our similarities.