Abstract:

Creativity has multiple definitions, but most frequently used one refers to it as creating novel and useful products or ideas. Creativity is vital to the modern education. We live in the age of a fast-paced, ever changing society, where old ways of doing things get quickly outdated, and new, creative approaches are required to solve new challenges that humanity faces every day, let it be global warming, pandemic threat, groundbreaking ways of operating a business, or innovative ways of delivering instructions. To be successful in their education and future careers, students need to be creative in figuring out ways to learn new skills, acquire information, and solve problems while often working in multicultural teams. Research on diverse experiences and creativity has been picking up speed over the last few years. Studies found that being exposed to diverse cultures through either travelling or living abroad markedly increases creativity. Encountering differing cultural ideas though communication with various cultural/racial/ethnic groups also promotes creativity. Our study examined how diverse experiences affect creativity in the undergraduate students. We found that students who experienced more diverse events that pushed them father outside of their “comfort zone” showed greater overall creativity.

Keywords:

Diversity, creativity, multiculturalism, multilingualism.