Unraveling failures
of equity and diversity
Topic Overview
● Philosophy
● Feminist Theories
● Positive Psychology
● Societal and individual FAILURE
● Oppression
● Privilege
Creating a safe, constructive space...
● Recognize our common goals
● Value different perspectives
● Take risks
● Take responsibility
● Listen carefully and charitably
Image by Nigel Holmes, from Hill (2010) "Why So Few."
Situated Knowledge
An epistemological theory which suggests that each
person's knowledge and access to knowledge is shaped by
their social location, "their physical and psychological
relations to the world".
(Harding, Haraway, Code, etc.)
(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - go there!!!)
How do we relate this to
privilege?
Standpoint Theory
Members of marginalized groups live outside the
dominant structures of power. They can see the implicit
values and assumptions that are hidden for those who occupy
privileged positions.
(Harding, Haraway, Code, etc.)
(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - go there!!!)
The "Bird cage"
Oppression, as opposed to discrimination, is a
structural, pervasive experience.
● Bird cage analogy
● The double bind
Marilyn Frye (1983) "The Politics of Reality: essays in feminist theory."
Structural vs. Individual
● Underrepresentation of women in computer science
● Programs focused on individual = failed
● Programs focused on structural = more painful, more
successful
Fox, Sonnert, and Nikiforova (2009) "Successful Programs for Undergraduate Women in Science and Engineering: Adapting
versus Adopting the Institutional Environment."
How does society fail at
equity and diversity?
What are the costs of these
failures?
The Cycle of Oppression
The Cycle of Oppression
I am a
woman.
I am a
white,able-bodied,
upper-middle-class, heterosexual,
neuro-typical, cis, literate, universityattending....
woman.
If you want, let me tell you about...
Simone de Beauvoir...
...and the word "we."
“I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize
male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege. I have
come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in
each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless
knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools , and blank checks.”
McIntosh, (1988)
"White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming To See Correspondences through Work in Women's
Studies"
1. I can arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed
or harassed.
3. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my
race widely represented.
4. When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that
people of my colour made it what it is.
5. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the
existence of their race.
7. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin colour not to work
against the appearance of financial responsibility.
8. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing, or body odor
will be taken as a reflection on my race.
9. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.
10. I can take a job or enroll in a college with an affirmative action policy without having my
co-workers or peers assume I got it because of my race.
11. I am never asked to speak for all of the people of my racial group.
12. I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and
children’s magazines featuring people of my race.
13. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” colour and have them more or less
match my skin
14. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
15. I can walk into a classroom and know I will not be the only member of my race.
16. I can enroll in a class at college and be sure that the majority of
my professors will be of my race.
Ann Curry-Stevens "An Educator's Guide to Changing the World."
How are we privileged as
his
e?
attendees of
conferen
Failure to engage in meaningful conversations with people
who are targets, whether in the classroom or the consulting
room, reinforces the invisibility of privilege
for agents…when agents are confronted with the inequity
“
of their unearned privilege and are not engaged in meaningful
dialogue, they may experience cognitive dissonance...They can
conflict between their internalized belief of
having earned their place in a fundamentally just
society, and the realization that they have benefited from
advantages of birth in an essentially
unjust social order.”
experience
Miller, Donner, and Fraser, (2004)
“Talking when talking is rough: Taking on conversations about race, sexual orientation, gender, class, and other aspects of
social identity”
What stops us from
acknowledging
our privilege?
What are the
benefits of acknowledging
our privilege?
How might we address our
failures?
As individuals...
As a group...
As a society...
How might we bring our
discussion to the rest of
C2C?
To our classes...
friends...
communities...
Thank-you very much!