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There's a common misconception that science is inherently neutral and objective, absolving it of any responsibility for racist beliefs and practices. However, many of the scientific advancements we celebrate are rooted in racism and sexism. Numerous medical cures and breakthroughs, including the polio vaccine and recent developments towards an HIV vaccine, required HeLa cells. Notably, these HeLa cells were stolen from Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman, without her consent in 1951. Furthermore, within the vast scope of science history, men have continuously taken credit for women's intellectual work in science, a pervasive phenomenon known as the Matilda Effect.
A conversation within UK universities is in order to address the lack of representation of black professors. Nathan Richards discusses his new film which explores the intellectual deficit within academia and how the marginalization of certain groups negatively impacts the university’s role within society. Wider inclusion of experiences in academia will offer frameworks of enquiry that can be utilised to more effectively engage with students and local communities.
Harvard Professor of public policy Iris Bohnet says "I did not find a single study that found that diversity training in fact leads to more diversity”. This is not surprising, as decades of research have shown that diversity training is literally a waste of time and money. It is really hard to change minds and attitudes and harder still to get. People to take positive or avoid negative actions to see these things through. So no matter that $8 billion is spent a year (2016) and that figure increased dramatically in the following years when the unconscious bias movement was sprung upon us. The Black Lives Matter movement has raised awareness of the problem further, on a global scale but we would be ill-advised to see ‘diversity training’ as the solution to such a serious problem.
Virginia Wesleyan University (VWU) is ranked 19th in ethnic diversity among national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report, a distinction held high by the institution. Diversity is a prominent feature of VWU’s strategic plan, and the institution’s core values emphasize inclusion and social responsibility. Given the diverse constituents on campus, librarians at VWU’s Hofheimer Library saw an opportunity to develop library diversity initiatives in an intentional way. What’s more, diversity forms an important component of the library’s strategic plan, thus emphasizing a commitment inclusive of the community being served.
Welcome to Teaching, a free weekly newsletter from The Chronicle of Higher Education. This week: - Beckie describes how some colleges and professors are using Michele Norris’s Race Card Project as a teaching tool.
- Beth shares readers' examples of engaged scholarship.
- We point to some recent articles you may have missed.
It’s well-established that there’s a lack of diversity in the technology sector, regarding both gender and race. In fact, about 83% of tech executives are white males. Although edtech struggles with this problem as well, the good news is that it’s to a lesser extent. According to Forbes, the presence of female founders in edtech is increasing. Edtech incubators and competitions are also attracting higher numbers of women.
Here's a few free online MOOC courses for teachers and educators (provided by someone who doesn't work for these MOOC providers or universities).
Via Becky Roehrs
In late December, I attended an educational technology conference hosted at New York University. Rather than highlighting current research, the goal of the conference was to explore the future of the ed tech landscape through company pitches and think tank panels that focused on different areas of ed tech innovation. While the ed tech landscape isn’t known for its diversity, I was stunned at the lack of diversity in each session I went to. I was also dismayed as I heard the different people pitching and the think tanks discuss their imagined college student.
A child growing up today has unprecedented access to books, from audiobooks played through apps to the seemingly old but always relevant printed book. In this world of easy access to text, there is still something missing: books that represent all children. A student of color must scour the children's aisles to find a book that even in the most remote sense reflects him or her.
Most of us don’t have the luxury of dismissing stock images from our design repertoire. But lack of diversity in stock
photography is part of a larger cultural problem. We need to help people think differently, and one of the biggest
ways to do
that is to change the visuals we’re using so they better reflect the diverse lives we live. Here’s how!
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This blog was kindly contributed by Kirstie-Anne Woodman, a recent International Relations graduate from the University of Birmingham. Kirstie-Anne is currently interning at a diversity and inclusion consultancy agency, Worth of Mouth Services.You can find Kirstie-Anne on LinkedIn. It took me a long time to find a dissertation topic which invigorated me and I felt a true passion for. Then, by chance, I came across Nicola Rollock’s ‘Staying Power’ paper, a report on the career experiences of Black female professors in the UK. While reading, it hit me, I had never had, or even seen a Black professor at my university – let alone a Black female professor. This led me to think of all of my university experiences which had differed to those of my peers due to my Blackness. I read reports regarding the Black attainment gap, the Black drop-out rate and the need to decolonise curriculums. For the first time, feelings of otherness that I had felt throughout my entire university journey, were explained and quantified in academic terms. And so I wrote ‘Black Academic, White Space: The Insidious Legacy of Institutional Racism at Top-tier UK Universities’.
Being culturally responsive is a critical and necessary feature of our interactions with one another. It is also vitally important in the context of education. Culturally responsive teaching is an approach that “empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes” (Ladson-Billings, 2014). The following practices provide five essential strategies for how educators can make their learning environments more culturally responsive.
The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others are forcing the country to reconcile with the injustices that plague our systems. As educators, it’s our responsibility to educate students about systemic racism. It’s also our job to give students a place to talk about how it affects their lives. In response to the murder of George Floyd, my nonprofit, Teaching Matters, organized three webinars for educators to discuss how to talk about racism in the classroom. As an Afro-Cuban education consultant, I wanted to address the varied concerns both white and non-white teachers held. In leading the webinars, I was joined by fellow education consultants at Teaching Matters.
The cybersecurity industry is still failing to attract a diverse workforce. Figures from non-profit organisation techUK show that globally women make up just 11% of the cyber workforce, while in the UK specifically only 15% of the digital tech workforce comes from a Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) background. A recent study by the Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec) – formerly known as the Institute of Information Security Professionals – meanwhile, noted that 89% of respondents were male and the same proportion were over the age of 35.
What is your tolerance for failure in education?
Jess Mitchell, senior manager of research and design at the Inclusive Design Research Centre, posed the question on Wednesday to a group of around 850 educators, librarians and other open-access enthusiasts at the OpenEd conference in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Even as movements like open access gain momentum and increase access to learning materials for more students, Mitchell said, “the so-called playing field is not equal.” Determining where educators draw the line for failure, whether that’s with students of color, low-income students, immigrant students or some other group, determines educational outcomes and equity opportunities for the future.
Margaret Casely-Hayford, Chair of CILIP’s Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards Diversity Review, talks to Rob Mackinlay about her experience of society’s ingrained inequality, how this has informed the review, and why all aspects of language and process need to be implemented carefully by anyone hoping to increase diversity.
Who am I to speak about diversity and inclusion? I am a middle-aged white woman from an upper-middle-class family. I have been afforded numerous opportunities many of my students never have been, and possibly never will be, afforded. I am the picture of privilege.” This is what I told myself at times when the topics of diversity and inclusion came up. However, when you look at the racial/cultural makeup of most college campuses, if faculty “like me” do not broach the sensitive topics of diversity and inclusion, who will?
Years ago, I was sitting in the computer lab with my best friend and she asked, “Why do you make all of your papers about black people or black issues?” As a college student, newly smitten with the…
It can be hard work to break out of a filter bubble, but it's worth it. Here are a few methods that can bring more diversity into your daily media diet.
A person's culture deeply impacts their way of thinking and learning. How can you adapt and demonstrate cultural awareness in your teaching?
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