Diverse environments afford more opportunities for students to develop cultural competencies and learn how to interact effectively in a wider variety of social contexts, and to expand their repertoire of interpersonal skills. Of course, such skills are more likely to be developed when learning environments and the general campus cultures are characterized by an ethic of mutual respect and civility. In diverse environments, students can more readily learn to appreciate different perspectives because they have more opportunities to gain first-hand exposure to others' experiences, to see how background experiences affect people's perspectives, and to come to understand the reasoning behind others' perspectives. Seeing issues from more than one's own perspective is a major component of many models of intellectual development, and is a common learning objective in many college courses. The significance of this benefit lies in its potential to shape a student's approach to learning and problem solving in a variety of contexts so that she or he comes to expect and value different perspectives and ways of interpreting information and experiences.
Diverse environments enhance preparation for the workplace .
Our country is becoming more ethnically diverse, and we live and work in an increasingly global community. Accordingly, our workplaces are becoming more diverse and our economies more globally interdependent. Students who are knowledgeable, skilled and comfortable working in diverse environments will be both better prepared for such workplaces and more marketable as well. Diverse educational institutions provide a wider variety of opportunities to create culturally sensitive leaders because they have gained first-hand experience addressing multicultural issues. Further, such leaders can be expected to exemplify the ethical dimensions of leadership and better understand the roles and responsibilities that accompany their privileged status to work for the betterment of society.