Community Contribution #3 – Diversity and Inclusion in PLNs

When I reflect on my habits as a student, it is easy to connect mainly with peers who share my exact major and career goals. While this creates a comfortable space, it also risks limiting my worldview. This week’s readings showed me that a learning network needs diverse perspectives to keep us curious and open minded.

Moore (2016) explains that inclusion means valuing the unique strengths each person brings, rather than forcing everyone into a uniform mold. Bringing this mindset to my network helps me value connections outside my main field. Recently, while discussing a project with a computer science student, I focused entirely on financial metrics, while they pointed out backend technical hurdles I had completely overlooked.  

In addition, I wanted to share Margaret Heffernan’s TED talk Dare to Disagree. Heffernan explains why contrasting perspectives matter. She describes how researcher Alice Stewart worked with a statistician who actively sought to disprove her findings to avoid blind spots (TED, 2012). Therefore, I realized that building connections outside my discipline gives me partners who test my thinking and force me to look at problems from a fresh perspective.

This approach aligns with Two Eyed Seeing, a guiding principle brought forward by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall. As Bartlett et al. (2012) explain, Two Eyed Seeing means viewing the world through the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing with one eye and Western ways of knowing with the other, using both together. Applying this to a network reminds me that no single field or methodology is the right way of knowing. I also learnt that it is important to listen actively and ask genuine questions so that different viewpoints are valued in my network.

Who in your learning network looks at problems from a completely different angle than you, and what is one lesson they have taught you? If you are studying a discipline outside business or economics, I would love to connect and hear your perspective!

References

Bartlett, C., Marshall, M., & Marshall, A. (2012). Two-Eyed Seeing and other lessons learned within a co-learning journey of bringing together indigenous and mainstream knowledges and ways of knowing. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2(4), 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-012-0086-8

Moore, S. (2016). One without the other: Stories of unity through diversity and inclusion. Portage & Main Press.

TED. (2012, June). Margaret Heffernan: Dare to disagree [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNBhOtu0D50