| Element | Description | Did you know? |
|---|---|---|
| Race | A way to classify people into groups according to physical characteristics such as skin color, hair color, facial features, and body build. | Guessing someone’s race based on physical features is risky because appearances may be deceiving. Further, many people are multiracial, which may not be clear from physical appearance alone. |
| Ethnicity | A way to identify a group of people with a common ancestral heritage and, often, a shared history and culture (language, traditions, food, clothing styles, values, beliefs, art, literature). | In the United States, people who identify as Hispanic or Latino (from places such as Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba) are the largest and fastest-growing ethnic group.10 |
| Gender | Refers to characteristics that a society or culture defines as masculine or feminine. Gender is different than sex, which refers to biological rather than cultural differences.11 | Gender can also refer to one’s own experience of being a man or a woman (gender identity), how a person presents him- or herself to the world (gender expression), or expectations others have for an individual based on their perception of the person’s gender (gender roles).12 |
| Sexual orientation | Refers to an enduring pattern of attraction to others, such as persons of the opposite sex (heterosexuality), the same sex (homosexuality), or both sexes (bisexuality).13 | You may never know someone’s sexual orientation unless the person tells you. If someone shares his or her sexual orientation with you, don’t assume that it’s been shared with everyone else. |
| Mental and physical ability | Refers to a person’s ability to perform one or more major life activities, such as caring for oneself, walking, speaking, breathing, and thinking. | Mental or physical impairments, or disabilities, can limit someone’s ability to perform major life activities. Sometimes it’s clear that someone has a disability (such as when a person uses a wheelchair). Other times, the disability isn’t so visible (such as when a person has dyslexia). |
| Religion | An organized system of spiritual beliefs, traditions, and practices agreed upon by a group of individuals. | Many colleges offer classes on world religions. These classes can be a great way to learn more about different belief systems. |
| Socioeconomic status | Refers to social standing or prestige based on income, occupation, or education.14 | Visible status symbols, such as the way a person dresses, don’t always accurately reveal socioeconomic status. Some wealthy people spend modestly, for instance, while some people in financial straits spend lavishly to build their image. |
| Age | Indicates how old a person is, which determines the social, political, economic, and technological events the individual is exposed to in his or her lifetime. | Terms such as Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964), Generation X (born early 1960s to early 1980s), and Millennials (born early 1980s to early 2000s) are used to classify people who were born during different time periods. |