The Rooney Rule
The Value of Diversity in Birds, Bees, and People
BY TODD M. FREEBERG
DAN ROONEY PASSED AWAY IN APRIL OF 2017 AT THE age of 84. An Ambassador to Ireland under the Obama Administration, he was perhaps best known for being President and Chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers National Football League team. He was also known for the “Rooney Rule” that required each NFL team to interview at least one underrepresented minority candidate in the process of searching for a new head coach. The rationale was simple: the rule would help create a fairer and more representative coaching structure in the league. For Rooney, increasing the diversity of coaches was the morally correct path to take. Many organizations beyond the NFL have made, and continue to make, similar arguments for diversity, grounded in the uplifting sense of equity and justice. Are there also scientific reasons for increasing diversity in our schools, workplaces, and communities? There are.
We are inundated with calls for increasing diversity and inclusion in schools, agencies, and workplaces. Although these calls often are built upon moral arguments, there are also practical bottom line benefits of diversity to human groups. Might such benefits of diversity exist in non-human animal groups as well? Although research into this question is in its infancy, a number of recently published studies suggest that animals gain fitness benefits from diversity in their groups. We can use this research to further reinforce the scientific reasons for encouraging greater diversity in society.
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THE RISE OF THE NONES
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