So the EU Referendum is over and the result is certainly not what UK universities were hoping for. On a personal level, it saddens me that one of the outcomes of this referendum is that hard-working EU citizens and students in the UK are now feeling unwelcome and unwanted.
I feel enormously privileged that I had the opportunity to work in Germany for two years: for a pharmaceutical company (Boehringer Ingelheim) and as an English teacher. Neither of those opportunities would have existed without the right to free movement and work that the EU provides to its citizens.
Those jobs gave me an insight into the subtle yet important ways that national culture affects work life, and an appreciation of the difficulties of working in a language other than your mother tongue. I was also left with a lasting feeling of gratitude for the way I, as a ‘foreigner’, was welcomed, supported and valued by my German colleagues. I learnt so much from them and I can honestly say that those two years were a real highlight of my working life.
The psychological research on diversity at work recognises that it is a complex issue. For example, this excellent meta-analysis looked at the gains and losses due to diversity in work teams. As you might expect, having people from different cultures in a team can reduce social integration and increase conflict. Our culture is a kind of ‘short cut’ to understanding each other and sets up our expectations for how we work together, so we have to work harder to understand people with different approaches. But the review also clearly demonstrated that people are more satisfied and creative in diverse teams.
It is nonsensical to believe that the UK can compete in an international marketplace by turning in on itself and rejecting the diversity of knowledge, experience and creativity that comes from an international workforce.
Like many things in life, managing diversity is not ‘easy’ but it is an essential feature of the modern workplace and the rewards more than make it worthwhile. So let’s hope the UK politicians can find a way forward that promotes a healthy unity: dealing with the underlying issues that have divided our country and finding a way to maintain the strong relationships we Europeans have built with each other over the past decades.