Connections

Humber is a microcosm of the cultural and religious diversity found in the Greater Toronto area:
One-third of Humber students were born outside of Canada and one-third identify a language other
than English as their first language. This diversity means that cultural literacy is a top priority for the
Business School.

"We actually have to issue a special bulletin to help staff and faculty identify all the cultural and religious holidays that we recognize and celebrate at Humber," says John Dickason, Program Coordinator of the Business School's Marketing program. "In September alone, we recognize holy days and festivals for Aboriginal spirituality, the Baha'I faith, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, the Shito religion, Sikhism, followers of Wicca, and Zoroastrianism."

Pamela Dettorre teaches International Trade in the Fashion program. In her course, Pamela focuses on "the differences between cultures and the way in which different cultures do business." She also has students examine the factors which allow communities around the world to be competitive in the international market place. "I ask students to evaluate garment industry obligations to workers around the world and how that has an impact on business."

Diversity is also a big topic in the human resource management classes Brian McAteer teaches in the Business Administration program. Brian, a human resource professional, says that students who learn to succeed in a diverse classroom are better prepared to succeed in a diverse workplace and students at Humber have an especial advantage: "Humber is very good at getting students to tackle diversity and cultural acceptance in the classroom as a stepping-stone to doing so in the workplace."

Sol Kisma was persuaded to join the Business Management Advisory Committee in part because of how Humber embraces diversity. Sol is a director with the Canada Indonesia Business Development Office and met Program Coordinator Guillermo Acosta on a disaster recovery initiative in Banda Aceh. Sol says that "Humber is extremely involved and very effective in helping people around the world. The impact that Humber has had on individual people's lives has been so positive, it's all so good."

In a recent survey of student diversity, half of Business School students said they identified with one of thirty-seven ethnic or cultural groups. The ten most-identified groups were: Canadian (twenty-five percent of total students surveyed); Indian (nine percent); Italian (eight percent); Jamaican (five percent); Polish (four percent); Chinese (four percent); Portuguese (three percent); Pakistani (three percent), Trinidadian (three percent), and Ukrainian (two percent).