IMPROVING THE CLIMATE FOR DIVERSE STUDENTS IN THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CLASSROOMS

CHECKLIST FOR CAMPUS AND CLASSROOM CLIMATE FOR DIVERSITY

Understanding “Microinequities”

Microinequities are those everyday inequities through which individuals are treated differently because of their gender, race, sexual identity, or other “outsider” status. Taken by itself, a microinequity may have little effect. Yet when these behaviors occur again and again, they often have a damaging cumulative effect, creating an environment that is chilly.

Bernice R. Sandler

A Few Examples of Microinequities

Referring to males as “men” and females as “girls.” Calling women “honey,” “baby,” “sweetheart,” etc. Talking about groups or people in ways that reinforce stereotypes. Focusing on women’s appearance rather than accomplishments or

describing women by their appearance. Assigning tasks according to stereotyped roles (e.g. women as note-

takers). Interrupting, talking over, or ignoring women or people of color. Attributing achievements to good luck, affirmative action, attractiveness. Calling on males and whites more frequently. Giving women and people of color easier tasks, easier questions. Asking someone to speak for her/his group (e.g. “What do Latinos think

about this?” or “What do gay men and lesbians feel about this?”). Making sexist, racist, or heterosexist comments or jokes. Ridiculing or denigrating women’s issues, issues for people of color, LGBT

issues. Refraining from offering helpful critique and challenge.

What do we know about the experiences of women, people of color, and LGBT students in science and engineering classrooms?

One study found that about two-fifths of women in engineering programs consider leaving.

First and second years are most likely for women to leave engineering.

Inability to make it grade-wise is not usually the primary factor for women to choose to leave science or engineering.

Women students are discouraged by: lack of women faculty members; competition in science and engineering classes; class environments; and faculty members. as well as grades, the amount of time required for science

and engineering coursework, uneven teaching quality, lack of interest in the subject, heavy workload, lack of time for other activities, restrictive curriculum, and grading on a curve.

In the classroom . . .

Women are discouraged when material is taught in isolation from its socio-cultural context and when interpersonal factors are ignored.

Women are discouraged by large lecture classes, which tend to encourage passivity in learning.

Intellectual curiosity may be squelched in courses in which the emphasis is on “how” rather than “why.”

Faculty members may be less likely to consider seriously women as scientists or engineers.

Professors are less likely to cite examples of notable achievements by women scientists or engineers.

Professors are likely to make or tolerate comments or jokes that are offensive to women.

Women students often feel left out of peer interactions. Women students are often placed into the role of note-take in

groups/teams. Women students often feel a need to prove themselves

constantly. The presence of women faculty members alone is not an

effective challenge to the chilly climate if those faculty members have simply adapted themselves to the “old boy” system and have not worked to make systemic changes to improve the climate for women.

Women with the most positive perceptions of the climate in engineering departments and classes are the most likely to stay in engineering.

The Final Report of the Women’s Experiences in College Engineering Project

Gendered Science: the problem with assuming that science is objective and value neutral . . .

By failing to recognize the context of the supposed value-free, neutral science, feminist scholars have argued, the scientific community continues to subordinate women and other minority groups. As long as white, upper-class men define science and scientific institutions, they create a system where their own values are equated with power and prestige. This ideology inhibits change, as scientific institutions look for evidence of gender equality only in terms of “equal opportunities to learn, equal treatment by professors, and equal grading practices.”

How do you see science/engineering as a gendered discipline? How is gendered embedded in the content and practices of science/engineering and science/engineering education?

Doing science as a feminist . . .

For some scholars, doing science as a feminist, means changing the practice of science and engineering from one of hierarchy to one of collectivity, where many voices are welcomed.

Feminist scholars of science have argued that science should not be viewed as “aperspectival”; their work underscores the biases in science.

What needs to be articulated, feminists have said, is that different perspectives collectively examining science strengthens the science’s objectivity.

Engineering faculty . . .

Engineering faculty generally believed that female students’ academic skills were comparable to those of male students, except for a slight disadvantage in the laboratory.

Female engineering faculty were more likely than male faculty to say that the academic climate in engineering favored male students, and they reported hearing more complaints of unfair treatment of females.

A majority of both genders advocated actively recruiting female students into engineering programs, but there was less consensus on whether more ought to be done to retain women once they were there, and there was no consensus at all, among faculty of either gender, on the desirability of support programs for women students. Doubts included whether “special” status hurt women more than it helped, and whether the programs actually achieved their objectives of attracting and retaining females in engineering.

Female faculty generally perceived conditions in the engineering workplace as more difficult for females than did male faculty, and they gave accounts of gender-specific pressures in their own careers as engineering faculty members.

Reasons underrepresented minority students leave engineering

other majors are more interesting engineering was selected for the wrong reason theoretical and conceptual difficulties lack of interest in science and engineering lack of confidence based upon low grades curriculum overload and a fast pace ethnic isolation and perceptions of racism differences in cultural values and socialization inadequate program support poor teaching by STEM faculty lack of welcoming environment lack of faculty interest absence of faculty role models

Seymour, E., and Hewitt, N.M., Talking About Leaving, 1997, Westview Press. May, G.S., and Chubin, D.E., “A retrospective on undergraduate engineering success for underrepresented

minority students”, Journal of Engineering Education, January 2003, pp. 27 – 39.

Research about underrepresented minority students in science and engineering

Underrepresented minorities may have different learning styles. These students may not learn with traditional lecture styles but require different teaching techniques. Traditional lecture styles may only work well for majority students because they have been socialized to anticipate and adapt to learning with it. Students from minority high schools may be more accustomed to high levels of teacher interaction, motivation, and support.

The students may be learning to become self-reliant and to look for peer support for the first time in their academic career.

Many faculties believe that only high-performing math and science high school students may be capable of achieving success in engineering and science. These faculties use standards of success that may not be appropriate to measure minority students.

There is a perception that minority students may be inadequate, lack confidence and have poor preparation, or lack of intelligence.

Faculty members teach courses in an effort to separate students based upon perceived abilities and this atmosphere does not cultivate interpersonal skills, encourage scientific inquiry or develop camaraderie.

Same race or cross cultural mentoring is extremely important in retaining students at risk.

www.rose-hulman.edu/~berry123/pub_files/ASEE_final

LGBT Students

LGBT students often remain closeted because of the hostile climate they perceive on college campuses.

Many experience threats, verbal harassment, and physical violence.

While occasionally LGBT students experience an overtly hostile environment in the classroom, usually their experiences of discrimination in class are more subtle and indirect. These microinequities include assumptions of heterosexuality, language that maintains heteronormativity, invisibility in the curriculum, disparaging comments about LGBT issues or people.

Classroom environment has an impact on students' coming-out experiences.

Developing an individual sexual identity is often linked to becoming politically active in support of gender and sexuality issues.

How can your classroom become more welcoming for all students?

Thinking about Your Classroom

Benefits of Diversity Initiatives in Higher Education

Research indicates that diversity initiatives in higher education actually benefit all students and facilitate the achievement of a number of the goals of higher education:Improved student relationshipsGreater student satisfaction with their college experienceImproved access and retention of underrepresented studentsDecreased prejudicial attitudes and biasGreater acceptance of people who differ from themselvesIncreased commitments to improving racial understandingEstablished norms of respectDevelopment of multicultural competenciesGreater cognitive developmentIncreased academic success

Course Content

In what ways can diverse people be represented in your content?

Issues that concern diverse groups Readings by diverse writers Contextual questions that locate the

material in the matrix of social justice and diversity

Examples that draw from diverse groups Guest speakers from diverse groups

Pedagogical Practices

Classroom practices Examine your own teaching behavior to see which students get the

most and best responses from you. Be cognizant of the variety of learning styles and teach to all of the

styles Use cooperative learning activities Don’t allow students to interrupt each other and intervene when

students show disrespect for one another. Connect theories to real-world applications, particularly if those

applications can be used toward the betterment of society Create cohorts, structured study groups, and/or a study center to

develop peer support Provide contact with faculty outside of class Recruit women to work as teaching and research assistants

Dealing with Diversity Develop guidelines to distribute and discuss the first day of

class. Include a statement of respect for diversity on the syllabus. Help students understand why attentiveness to issues of

diversity is important in an engineering course. Deal with inappropriate classroom behavior as soon as

possible, if not immediately (put-downs, inappropriate humor).

Rely on humor when appropriate. Model acceptance of diversity and interest in diversity

issues. Be sensitive to terminology. Be aware of campus resources for women, students of

color, and LGBT students.

Things faculty members can do to help LGBT students feel welcome

Learn about LGBT concerns and issues. Don’t assume your students or anyone else is heterosexual.

Don’t make assumptions about students’ family backgrounds—ask.

Use inclusive language (for example, "parent" rather than "mother" or "father"; "spouse" rather than "wife" or "husband"; "date" rather than "boyfriend" or "girlfriend").

Challenge name-calling and harassment. Include LGBT people in your statement of support for

diversity. Consider LGBT people when inviting guest speakers. Don’t “out” LGBT students. If you are LGBT, consider coming out.

Questions a teacher might ask to examine his or her own racial or cultural biases in preparation for teaching:

1. How do your own experiences, values, beliefs, and stereotypes influence your knowledge and understanding of groups that are racially different from your own? What assumptions do I make about different student groups? Do I expect students of color to need extra help? When students of color answer questions, am I afraid their answers will

not be correct, or that their method of answering will be inappropriate? Do I expect students of color to participate less than others? Do I imagine that Latinos or African Americans will express their opinions

in non-academic language? Do I anticipate that students of color will be under-prepared or less

qualified? Do I expect that Asian students will do better than most others? Do I assume that students of color are all alike? Do I assume that when students of color disagree that they are too

emotional? Do I assume that Asian women are likely to be quiet?

2. How do your own experiences, values, beliefs and stereotypes inform the way you interact with individuals whose racial background is different from your own? Am I comfortable around students of color? Am I afraid of students whose background differs markedly from my

own? Am I uncomfortable when students of color become emotional in the

classroom? Do I rationalize or tolerate lack of participation from minority students

more than I would for other students? Do I think their silence means ignorance? Do I believe it is culturally based?

If an issue involving race comes up, do I assume a student of color will know most about it? Or will not mind acting as the class expert concerning it?

Am I afraid students of color might not be fully competitive with the other students? What is my definition of "fully competitive"?

3. How do your own experiences, values, beliefs, and stereotypes influence the way you behave in the classroom? Do I call on students of color as often as others? Do I think that there is one correct or appropriate mode of

argument or discussion in class? How open am I to multiple modes of discourse?

Do I tend to shelve or "make time later" for minority points of view?

How do I behave with students of color who are under-prepared?

Does the logic of my classroom hypotheticals or test answers depend upon stereotypical views of students of color?

Do I respond to a white student's voice as if it had more intellectual weight?

http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58474/TFTrace.html

Personal Behavior

Examine your teaching behavior . . . What’s on your syllabus?

Do you have a statement of support for diversity? Do you have guidelines for class discussion and behavior? Do you include topics and/or readings that reflect the contributions

and/or interests of diverse groups? Which students get the best and most responses from you? Whom do you praise? Whom do you criticize? Whom do you

ignore? Whom do you call by name? What kinds of questions do you ask particular kinds of students? To whom do you listen closely? To whom do you respond

passively? With whom do you spend office hours? With whom do you work on

projects? What kind of jokes and stories do you tell? What kinds of terminology do you use? What stereotypes affect how you see students?

A Checklist

Think of at least one thing you can do in your classroom to create a more welcoming environment for all students.

What Can You Do?