Behind the vibrant facades of our communities lies a silent yet powerful shift in leadership. This change isn’t heralded with grand declarations but is found in the quiet resolve of individuals dedicated to understanding and embracing the diversity surrounding them. These leaders are redefining what it means to be at the forefront of social change, […]

View Full Article - Embracing Change: The Evolving Landscape of Diverse Community Leadership

Diversity is big business in the academy. Foundations such as Ford, Carnegie, and Robert Wood Johnson support academic efforts to diversify the professoriate; and colleges and universities across the country are investing significant resources in diversity efforts. Furthermore, the academy has begun hiring chief diversity officers, following corporate sector trends — 60% of Fortune 500 companies […]

View Full Article - Why Political Science Can and Should Lead Diversity Efforts in Higher Education

The 116th Congress, the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, is the most racially and ethnically diverse in history. Black, Latinx, Asian/ Pacific Islander, or Indigenous members now account for 22% of Congress, a record-breaking trend on Capitol Hill. This represents an 84% increase over the 107th Congress of […]

View Full Article - The Impact of Institutional Racism on Capitol Hill

Predominantly white institutions of higher education in the United States routinely point to rising enrollments of students of color as evidence of their commitment to racial diversity and inclusion. Indeed, from 1996 to 2012, college enrollments of minority students have increased exponentially. Across all types of institutions, the percentage of white college students enrolled in […]

View Full Article - How to Create Inclusive Environments for Black Students on Predominantly White College Campuses

Picture a small office with three employees: Jake, a white man; Anita, a Latina woman whose husband lost his job a year ago; and Crystal, a black single mother. Even though all three have similar duties, Jake takes home $1000 per paycheck, while Crystal gets $700 and Anita earns $600. The office also used to employ Anne, another […]

View Full Article - Why America’s Women Of Color Have Lost Ground Since The Great Recession

Dickinson student Leda Fisher asks the question “Should White Boys Still be Allowed to Talk?” in her opinion piece in the college’s daily news publication, The Dickinsonian.  Reportedly, Ms. Fisher indicates that she has received overwhelming support in response to her piece.  However, the backlash and negative comments have been swift and brutal, including calls […]

View Full Article - Examining White Privilege: What’s the Fear?

  For ages, special education has been developing on its own, together with the development of ordinary education. It emphasizes disorders and the ways special education students are lacking compared to an average student. Those who have a noticeable dysfunction have even been mocked for their lack of focus or skill to learn something – […]

View Full Article - Four Ways Neurodiversity Holds the Key to the Future of Special Education

When I was a kid, there were girls and boys, men and women. My sister was a bit of a tomboy which was hardly surprising perhaps given she had two older brothers. Truth be known, I was a bit of a sissy – not as acceptable as my sister’s gender-non-stereotypical behavior. However, apart from ‘big boys don’t cry’, […]

View Full Article - Let’s Have Some New Gender Stories–Please

Geek culture has a rocky history with women. But now, women are rocking geek culture. Historically, women have faced invisibility (not the superpowered kind), exclusion, active hostility, violence, and sexualisation. This is across video games (the communities surrounding video games), films, TV, and comic books – from sci-fi, superhero and fantasy genres. Geek culture does […]

View Full Article - Girls Who Run the World at London ComicCon 2018

Amsterdam, The Netherlands – 25 APRIL 2018 – Booking.com, one of the world’s largest travel e-commerce companies and a digital technology leader, announced a global partnership with Web Summit. Together they will host a dedicated ‘Women in Tech’ networking and mentoring program at the flagship Web Summit event, as well as initiatives at affiliated events […]

View Full Article - Booking.com and Web Summit Expand Commitment to Women in Tech

A beneficial, yet challenging, factor of education today involves the increasing diversity in our schools. Because of the ever-growing demographics, teaching cultural competency has become a major focus in the classroom, especially for a public school system as vast and diverse as Montgomery County. It’s not only students that are getting instruction on cultural competency. […]

View Full Article - Cultural Competency in the Classroom

General education teachers are tasked with keeping many balls in the air, which is half the fun of working in a classroom—there are so many constantly moving and evolving pieces for which to account. One of these essential pieces to ensure equitable learning for every student is inclusion. Of course, this term is nothing new […]

View Full Article - Teaching Inclusion in the Classroom

African-American men report an average of eight depressive symptoms in a month, with family support, mastery, self-esteem, chronic stressors and discrimination among the factors that are significant to their psychological health, according to a new study led by researchers at Georgia State University. Although African-Americans are less likely than whites to meet the criteria for […]

View Full Article - Study Identifies Risk And Protective Factors For Depressive Symptoms In African-American Men

The relationship between teachers and students is a critical factor for academic success. However, a new study by NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development finds that teachers report weaker relationships with children of immigrants and adolescents of color. “Teachers’ relationships are hugely important for all students, but particularly so for groups that […]

View Full Article - Teachers Report Weaker Relationships with Students of Color, Children of Immigrants

Blatant racism is easy to identify — a shouted racial slur, a white supremacist rally, or the open discrimination, segregation and violence of the pre-civil rights era. But more subtle forms of bias, called microaggressions, emerge in the everyday exchanges among friends and strangers alike and can offend racial and ethnic minorities. Such statements, uttered intentionally […]

View Full Article - Offhand Comments Can Expose Underlying Racism, UW Study Finds

Many assume that most workplaces are meritocracies where effort is rewarded by advancement and success. But as companies in the United States strive to accommodate greater racial and ethnic diversity, this premise has proved questionable for women and non-white men. Broadly-designed efforts to incorporate black workers into positions where they are underrepresented, particularly in professional […]

View Full Article - Increasing Workplace Diversity: The Glass Escalator Phenomenon in Female Dominated Professions

Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the United States has used the force of nationwide laws to prohibit discriminatory treatment in the job and housing markets, in government and educational institutions, and at stores and facilities serving the general public. Many legally proscribed forms of exclusion and ill treatment are directed against people because […]

View Full Article - How Discrimination Hurts Health and Personal Wellbeing

People who claim they “don’t see race” when they evaluate others may think they all have similar beliefs about racial justice – but they’re very wrong, according to a new book. In fact, the belief in “racial colorblindness” unites people who range from liberal to conservative and hardened racists to egalitarians, according to Philip Mazzocco, author […]

View Full Article - What are the Implications Behind Racial Colorblindness?

I am currently teaching a course on social work practice with people with disabilities.  The course uses an intersectional lens, acknowledging the fact that people have many intersecting social identities that can result in varying types of privilege and oppression.  As such, I had to provide some venue for my students to address the Charlottesville […]

View Full Article - A Teacher’s Response to Charlottesville for Social Workers in Practice with People with Disabilities

Right-wing extremist groups are increasingly using the internet to spread their messages, and more and more it’s young adults they’re reaching in the process, according to a Virginia Tech expert who studies the topic. James Hawdon, a professor of sociology and the director of the Virginia Tech Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention, notes that […]

View Full Article - By the Numbers: American Youth Increasingly Exposed to Extremist Messages Online, Virginia Tech Expert Says