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Utilize Diverse Examples
Module 2: Getting DEI into Your Curriculum*
From Ways to Incorporate DEI into Your Courses By David Luke, Chief Diversity Officer, University of Michigan, Flint
Utilize Diverse Examples
Building DEI into your curriculum means that the examples used in class should resonate with a diverse group of students. Often, examples resonate with white, middle-class, cisgender, heterosexual students, who are largely centered in our institutions. Thus, building in more diverse examples will be a significant undertaking, but it will make the course more equitable. Instructors will need to look critically at the examples provided in their textbooks and those they use in their classes and think about the identities and experiences represented. Do they represent the diversity of your student population? If not, seek opportunities to do this. Bias in examples and curricula are often well-known. Take this infamous example of an (at this point, very) old question that demonstrated race and class bias in the SAT:
RUNNER : MARATHON
- envoy : embassy
- martyr : massacre
- oarsman : regatta
- horse : stable
While this type of question no longer is asked in the SAT, critics noted that the correct answer (oarsman : regatta) was class-biased and explained a significantly lower performance on this question for Black respondents relative to white respondents (because wealthier people have more access to rowing as a sport, and white Americans are overrepresented among the wealthy while Black Americans are overrepresented among lower-income communities).
This is a more blatant example of how even the construction of questions for a test can be biased, so it’s crucial to be proactive and seek diverse examples. Sometimes, too, asking colleagues to review materials for DEI can help, as each individual has blind spots and we know the benefits of diverse teams.
This applies to nearly all subjects. One can think of how a biology class, math class, or even a chemistry class might use examples that are based on white American cultural norms or reflect and reinforce themes of patriarchy, heteronormativity, etc. For a more concrete example, one could focus on the chemistry of the Flint water crisis in class, and then talk about the social ramifications of it, who was impacted, etc. When doing this, instructors should be prepared for some resistance from students who might feel that this is not relevant to the course or is the dreaded, “liberal indoctrination,” so having a rationale for providing these types of diverse, real-world examples handy is a great idea. The decision to incorporate DEI in the classroom itself is a political one, and in these times of political polarization, instructors should always be prepared for potential pushback. With that said, the work is as important as ever, and pushing through some productive discomfort for some students will likely pay dividends in the long term.
*Published 07/22. © 2022 Sage Publishing. All rights reserved. All other brand and product names are the property of their respective owners.