9.1: Information Power and Privilege Details

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Why Are We Reading This?

This week's readings are designed to challenge our thinking about the voices in academic spaces. Whose voices are the loudest? Are there voices that aren't being heard and why? What does this mean for you as a student? Are you hearing the voices you need to hear?

These are questions I'd like you to think about as you read selected articles this week. For some, you will find this reading empowering. Others might find it uncomfortable. And some might fall somewhere in between. I think it's important that both students and educators understand the system in which we're working. It's important to have these conversations to push the needle and create a more representative educational system. You'll have a chance to share your thoughts in one of this week's discussion forums.

Makeup of Students, Faculty, Administrators

In 2018, The Campaign for College Opportunity (a non profit organization) released an alarming report describing the makeup of students, faculty, and administrators at California campuses. Alarming because the ethnicities and genders of faculty and administrators in no way mirror those of the students.

The report is titled, Left Out: How Exclusion in California's Colleges and Universities Hurts Our Values, Our Students, and Our Economy. The authors looked at 2016-17 data from databases connected to California colleges and universities as well as federal databases. They found that student populations are increasingly diverse with more than two-thirds of those enrolled identifying as something other than white. However, the data shows that campus faculty and leadership do not match the racial and gender diversity of the student populations.

This is true in all state systems: California State Universities, University of California campuses, and California Community Colleges (CCCs). For CCCs, the data shows that 68% of students identify as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Latinx. However, only 33% of tenured faculty, 31% of non-tenured faculty, and 38% of campus leadership fall into these categories. Tenured and non-tenured faculty and campus administration is overwhelmingly white.

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The authors discuss why these statistics are problematic:

College leaders set the tone, values, and direction of their institutions and when that leadership is not reflective of the diversity of the student population, student success suffers. When campuses are inclusive and reflective of the student population, the culture, practices and policies align with the needs of the students. Students experience a greater sense of belonging and have more role models who understand and validate their experiences (executive summary, 2018, p. 4).

The authors call on the state and college and university leadership to commit to racial equity in higher education, including examining hiring practices and establishing both statewide and campus-wide goals to close equity gaps.

The executive summary was used to write this section and is linked in the citation. The full title at the beginning of this page links to the full report.

Black Students in White Spaces

This article appeared in 2018 on the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) website. It is written from the student's perspective and what it's like to be a Black student in a predominantly white school. She describes her experiences at independent schools, but I'm certain that students at public schools often have similar experiences.

Reading One: From the National Association of Independent Schools Website: Being Black in White Spaces by Kalah Brown

A Call to Change the Tenure System

This essay appeared in 2014 in Inside Higher Education. The author outlines the current measures of promotion in most 4-year institutions, argues what's wrong with the system, and offers some suggestions on how to change it. I've included it this week so that you have a better idea of how professors are hired and promoted at transfer institutions and why some people feel these systems need to be revisited.

Reading Two: From Inside Higher Education Website: Change the Tenure System by KerryAnn O’Meara

Black and Brown Faculty in Predominantly White Spaces

The last reading for this week is a letter published in 2016 on the Huffington Post website. It was written by people of color who were formerly employed by the University of Missouri (known as Mizzou). This is the perspective of one group from one institution. However, some of the experiences they had at this predominately white school (especially related to relationships with fellow faculty and administrators), are experiences that are well documented at many colleges and universities.

This letter hits at the concept of white privilege, a phrase that can often stir emotions or confusion. Emotions because some equate the phrase, white privilege, with racism; it is not the same. Confusion because some equate the phrase solely with socioeconomic status - "I'm white, but live in poverty - how can I be privileged?" But, it is about more than socioeconomic status. It is about what activist, Peggy McIntosh calls "unearned advantage." If you are not familiar with the nuances of white privilege or the phrase is stirring emotion or confusion, I encourage you to read McIntosh's short 1989 essay, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" before you dive into this final reading.

The faculty of four-year colleges and universities tend to be even less diverse than community colleges. This letter outlines some major problems and offers some suggestions to make higher education more inclusive and diverse.

Reading Three: From Huffington Post Website: As People of Color Formerly Employed by Mizzou, We Demand Change by Bryana H. French, Ph.D., Dr. Zakiya R. Adair, and Kevin Cokley, Ph.D.

Whiteness of Librarianship

I think it's important for me to acknowledge that my own profession struggles with this issue; librarians across the country are overwhelming middle-aged white females.

The articles I've listed below are not part of your required reading this week, but I'm including them here for the curious and to show that I am aware of this issue. I take this information very seriously and am trying to do my part to create a more inclusive world of information experts.