Race and Gender in Culturally Situated Design Tools

2011 ◽  
pp. 1054-1061
Author(s):  
Ron Eglash
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Student ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Design Tools ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
And Gender

In theer study of equity issues in information technology (IT), researchers concerned with workforce diversity often utilize the metaphor of a “career pipeline.” In this metaphor a population full of gender and race diversity enters the pipeline in kindergarten, but its delivery at the pipeline outflow in the form of software engineers and other IT workers is disproportionately white and male. While we might question the metaphor—its lack of attention to economic class or social construction, its illusion of rigid boundaries, etc.—the phenomenon it describes is well established by a broad number of statistical measures. For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Surveys shows that between 1996 and 2002 the percentage of women in the overall IT workforce fell from 41% to 34.9%; during the same period the percentage of African Americans fell from 9.1% to 8.2%. Not only are women and certain minority groups under-represented, but the gap is in some cases getting worse. Returning to the pipeline, we might ask what barriers are encountered by women and minorities that act as impediments to this flow. Some of these barriers can be attributed to economic status; in particular the impact that poor educational resources have on low-income minority student academic success (Payne & Biddle, 1999). But other barriers appear to be more about cultural identity, including both race and gender identity. This essay describes Culturally Situated Design Tools (CSDTs), a suite of Web-based interactive applets that allow students and teachers to explore mathematics through the simulation of cultural artifacts, including Native American beadwork, African American cornrows, ancient Mayan temples, urban Graffiti, and Latin percussion rhythms (see http://www.rpi.edu/~eglash/csdt.html). Our preliminary evaluation indicates that some of the identity barriers preventing women and minorities from participating in IT careers can be mitigated by the use CSDTs in classroom and out of class learning environments.

Black on Red: Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth-Century New World Black Interpretative Uses of Native American Political Experience

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Anna Gordon ◽  
Keisha Lindsay
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
New World ◽  
Black Writers ◽  
The Political ◽  
Shared Experience ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Political Experience ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
And Gender

AbstractIn an effort to address the dearth of literature regarding how African American political theorists have historically interpreted the meaning of Native political experience to make sense of their own, we chart what four influential New World Black writers, from the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, say about Native Americans. While there is some diversity among the particular interpretive foci of these historical works, each generally invokes Native Americans as having a shared experience of oppression with Blacks that warrants resistance; being crushed by circumstances in which African-descended people have survived and thrived; exemplifying oppression that has no redemptive power; providing evidence of the ongoing possibility of Black extinction; and as racially inferior to Blacks and thus in need of Black ladies’ supposedly civilizing qualities. This paper uses these historical Africana perspectives on Indigenous and Black relations to explore the political implications of forging individual and shared identities at the intersection of race and gender.

scholarly journals Beyond Symptoms: Race and Gender Predict Anxiety Disorder Diagnosis

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Vanderminden ◽  
Jennifer J. Esala
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Adult Health ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Sociology Of Diagnosis ◽  
And Gender ◽  
To Receive

Research shows an unequal distribution of anxiety disorder symptoms and diagnoses across social groups. Bridging stress process theory and the sociology of diagnosis and drawing on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we examine inequity in the prevalence of anxiety symptoms versus diagnosis across social groups (the “symptom-to-diagnoses gap”). Bivariate findings suggest that while several disadvantaged groups are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety, they are not more likely to receive a diagnosis. Multivariate results indicate that after controlling for anxiety symptoms: (1) Being female still predicts an anxiety disorder diagnosis, and (2) Native American, white, and Hispanic/Latino respondents are more likely than black respondents to receive an anxiety disorder diagnosis. We conclude by reflecting on the implications of race and gender bias in diagnosis and the health trajectories for persons with undiagnosed anxiety disorders.

cSELF (Computer Science Education from Life)

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 34-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey Bennett ◽  
Ron Eglash
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Native American ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Computer Science Education ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Broadening Participation ◽  
And Gender

The phrase “broadening participation” is often used to describe efforts to decrease the race and gender gap in science and engineering education, and in this paper the authors describe an educational program focused on addressing the lower achievement rates and career interests of underrepresented ethnic groups (African American, Native American, and Latino students). However “broadening participation” can also describe the more general problem of a narrow, decontextualized form of education that can alienate all demographics. Broadening the scope of computing education can not only help address disparities in different social groups, but also make technical education more attractive to all individuals, and help us create a generation of science and engineering professionals who can better incorporate an understanding of the world into their technical work. The program the authors report on, Computer Science Education from Life (cSELF) takes a modest step in this direction. Using the concept of “design agency” the authors describe how this merging of abstract formal structures, material creative practice, and cultural knowledge can improve underrepresented student engagement, and foster learning practices in computing that offer broader forms of social expression for all students.

We Know about Reagan, but Was there a Clinton Effect? Earnings by Race, Gender, Marital and Family Status, 1993 and 2000

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-117
Author(s):  
Richard Hogan ◽  
Carolyn Cummings Perrucci
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Gender Effects ◽  
Great Society ◽  
Family Status ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Black Single Mothers ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Opportunity Programs

Radical and mainstream social scientists still speak of the effect of President Ronald Reagan’s administration on the welfare state and the legacy of Great Society and Equal Opportunity programs, but, as indicated in a search of the American Sociological Review and Critical Sociology, there is less research focused on President Bill Clinton’s plan to end welfare as we knew it. Here we begin with an historical perspective on race and gender gaps, 1955–2016, including a consideration of macro-economic processes associated with postmodernism. Then we compare the effects of marital and family status on earnings, focusing on race and gender effects, at the beginning (1993) and end (2000) of the Clinton era. We find considerable support for the concerns raised by early radical critics, notably, evidence of an influx of low-income black single mothers. We consider the possibility that these are institutional rather than regime effects, in conclusion.

Culture, Contraception, and Colorblindess: Youth Sexual Health Promotion as a Gendered Racial Project

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Barcelos
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Reproductive Justice ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Latino Culture ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Long Acting

Feminist scholars have identified how race and gender discourses influence the creation and implementation of school-based sexual health education and the provision of health care, yet there are few studies that examine how race and gender work in sexual health promotion as it occurs through community-based public health efforts. Drawing on three years of ethnographic research in a low-income Puerto Rican community, this article demonstrates how a gendered racial project of essentializing Latinx culture surrounding young women’s sexuality and reproduction works to both obscure and reinforce race and racism in sexual health promotion. Professional stakeholders mobilize culture as an explanation for high birth rates among young Latinas in the city and reproduce a “Latino culture narrative” in which Latina gender and sexuality is understood as deterministic and homogenous. Simultaneously, an ideology of colorblindness enables the uncritical promotion of long-acting reversible contraception and obscures the history of reproductive oppression experienced by women of color. I consider how colorblindness and culture narratives allow stakeholders to abdicate responsibility for gendered racial inequality and conclude by advocating for the incorporation of racial and reproductive justice frameworks in sexual health promotion.

Selection of Postgraduate Students in a South African Management Programme

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-149
Author(s):  
Fatima Abrahams ◽  
Christian Friedrich ◽  
Nanette Tredoux
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
South African ◽  
Test Battery ◽  
Student Group ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Mean Differences ◽  
Gender Groups

South African higher education institutions are experiencing challenges regarding access, redress and the successful completion of programmes in an environment where there are still imbalances in the schooling system. Tools are needed that will assist with the process of selecting students. The aim of this study is to determine whether a test battery predicts academic success for postgraduate students at a historically disadvantaged university, and whether there are differences relating to gender and racial and language groups. The test battery considered, GRT2, was designed to measure three areas of ability – verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning. The sample consisted of an applicant group (774 candidates) and a student group (178 candidates). The internal consistency of the three subtests on the total applicant group was sufficiently reliable (above 0.8). Significant mean differences were found between the language groups and the race group for all three subtests, but only significant differences were found between the gender groups, with males obtaining higher scores. For the student group as a whole, correlations of all three subtests with both academic total and academic average marks were highly significant. In addition, the test exhibits predictive bias with regard to language, race and gender in the prediction of the academic total, and particularly for the numeric subtest. The results suggest that the test battery can help in identifying potentially successful students. However, cognisance must be taken of the differences between language groups and gender when interpreting test results. The paper contributes to the presently limited research on the validity of selection tools used in postgraduate programmes in African universities.

Metrics of the glass ceiling at the intersection of race and gender

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 110-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Buck Gee ◽  
Denise Peck
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Glass Ceiling ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
San Francisco Bay ◽  
San Francisco Bay Area ◽  
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
And Gender

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the composition of the executive pipeline in the San Francisco Bay Area technology sector and measure the effects of race and gender in management and executive representation. The authors’ report spotlights the evolving challenges for Asians, Blacks, Hispanics and minority women in climbing the professional ladder to success in San Francisco Bay Area technology companies. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyze the aggregate EEOC tech workforce 2007-2015 data and find scant progress in improving upward management mobility for minority men and women. Findings Race was a more significant factor than gender as an impediment to climbing the management ladder. Asians were the most likely to be hired but least likely to be promoted. Blacks and the Hispanics had declined in their representation of the professional workforce. Originality/value Using historical data sets from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the authors introduce a new metric, the Executive Parity Index™, to measure the effects of gender and race on executive representation in the San Francisco Bay Area workforce in technology sectors. By analyzing the intersection of race, gender in the leadership pipeline, the authors are able to uncover new and surprising insights about the glass ceiling for racial minority groups from 2007-2015.

scholarly journals Disproportionate Impacts of Wildfires among Elderly and Low-Income Communities in California from 2000–2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 3921
Author(s):  
Shahir Masri ◽  
Erica Scaduto ◽  
Yufang Jin ◽  
Jun Wu
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Socioeconomic Indicators ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Area Burned

Wildfires can be detrimental to urban and rural communities, causing impacts in the form of psychological stress, direct physical injury, and smoke-related morbidity and mortality. This study examined the area burned by wildfires over the entire state of California from the years 2000 to 2020 in order to quantify and identify whether burned area and fire frequency differed across Census tracts according to socioeconomic indicators over time. Wildfire data were obtained from the California Fire and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP) and National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), while demographic data were obtained from the American Community Survey. Results showed a doubling in the number of Census tracts that experienced major wildfires and a near doubling in the number of people residing in wildfire-impacted Census tracts, mostly due to an over 23,000 acre/year increase in the area burned by wildfires over the last two decades. Census tracts with a higher fire frequency and burned area had lower proportions of minority groups on average. However, when considering Native American populations, a greater proportion resided in highly impacted Census tracts. Such Census tracts also had higher proportions of older residents. In general, high-impact Census tracts tended to have higher proportions of low-income residents and lower proportions of high-income residents, as well as lower median household incomes and home values. These findings are important to policymakers and state agencies as it relates to environmental justice and the allocation of resources before, during, and after wildfires in the state of California.

scholarly journals “Not That You’re a Savage”

1969 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-62
Author(s):  
Michelle Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
American Woman ◽  
Movement Analysis ◽  
Visual Anthropology ◽  
Dance Studies ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Historical Figure ◽  
Feature Based ◽  
And Gender

In 1995, Disney Studios released Pocahontas, its first animated feature based on a historical figure and featuring Indigenous characters. Amongst mixed reviews, the film provoked criticism regarding historical inaccuracy, cultural disrespect, and the sexualization of the titular Pocahontas as a Native American woman. Over the following years the studio has released a handful of films centered around Indigenous cultures, rooted in varying degrees of reality and fantasy. The metanarrative of these films suggests the company’s struggle with how to approach Indigenous storylines, with attempts that often read as appropriation more than representation. In response to overt and frequently hostile criticism, Disney over-compensates by creating fictional hybridized cultures that cannot definitively be attributed to any one people, so as to avoid backlash that tarnishes their reputation. Focusing on Pocahontas but also considering other Disney representations of Indigenous peoples, this paper incorporates Laban Movement Analysis to explore how the characters in these films serve as palimpsests for Disney ideologies of race and gender. The studio inscribes meanings onto animated bodies and movement, erasing and rewriting (or drawing) history to create a story with just enough Disney “sparkle.” Spanning the fields of popular culture, visual anthropology, and dance studies, this paper examines how Pocahontas and other characters are animated to absorb and embody popular understandings and misunderstandings of Indigeneity, native history, and transcultural exchange, and how subsequent films continue to add new layers to Disney’s attempts at negotiating diversity.

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