Box of delight

These days “diversity” and “inclusion” are all the rage in progressive corporate cultures. As the line goes, “it is not only the right thing to do—it’s also good business.”

Most corporations do need more women, more LGBTQ folk, more people of color, more people with disabilities, and the list goes on. But we need talk about what most of us who have “made it” to that room don’t talk about in public—the cost to getting in the room and and what we have to pay to stay. 

When I was asked to join The Scholarly Kitchen, it gave me pause – what exactly was I taking on, and what would it mean to be the “education chef”?  Literally, I knew I was joining a team responsible for serving the scholarly community; and, that I would be delivering educational content that helps to develop skills and habits necessary for career growth and professional development. However, as I began writing my first post, I realized that if I wanted to facilitate ongoing learning, more than just traditional “101” type articles would be required.  At times, I will also have to openly express my opinions on somewhat controversial topics as a dispassionate critic. Rick Anderson talked about the necessity of being able to separate passion from professional discourse as an obstacle he’d faced in his career. A barrier faced in my own career just so happens to coincide with one of those important but controversial topics in our industry, diversity.

On Wednesday 29 November I will be hosting an LTHE-HEA Twitter chat about degree attainment gaps.  What are the obstacles and challenges that teaching staff face in addressing these gaps, and what things would help staff to make progress in closing statistically significant attainment gaps between different student groups? The Twitter chat will consider three broad areas where universities make efforts to address student attainment: data, practice, and leadership.

From the shortage of black teachers to lowered expectations of our black students and curriculum that all but ignores African American history and culture, there is a crisis in black education. As we grapple with complex issues of race and equity in our schools, these three educators share their candid, concrete, and practical solutions.

All the talk in our industry and the greater world at large about inclusiveness and diversity often leaves me questioning what “diversity” truly means, and where and how can I find my place within it. In all honestly, it took several weeks of back and forth as I asked myself if I should even begin to discuss this issue; Would I have anything to add of value to the conversation? Would doing so make me the ‘Angry Black Woman’? Would starting this discussion make everything I write going forward carry a hint of racial connotation? In the end, I realized that it is this exact hesitation that hinders the movement towards inclusion. And that regardless of whether I wrote this post, the need to understand not only my role, but the role of every publishing professional in diversity and inclusiveness would still exist. In fact, being both a woman and person of color, I believe it is my responsibility to speak about my experiences and bring my perspective to the table of diversity and inclusiveness.