Equity through Diversity @equitythroughdiversity - Tumblr Blog

How diverse are we?

The Universities of California are very prestigious schools that are well known for their research in the sciences. Although they pride themselves on advances in the science programs, they also pride themselves on how diverse each campus is. If you have ever been on any campus, you notice that a lot people look similar. But what do they mean by diversity? The way that the UC Board of Regents identifies diversity as different personal experiences. Race, gender, and religious beliefs come second. In that case every school is diverse because no two people could live the same life. The issue with the definition of diversity given by the UC Board of Regents is the cultural differences are not taken into account. This results in very small populations of students of color. This counts as a social problem. A social problem is the weakening of the "well-being of some or all members of society" as mentioned by Joel Best in his reading Social Problems (2008, p. 4). In the case of the UC system, students are not given enough opportunities to show their potential because how much money is being looked at rather than what race, culture or ethnicity.

#issues and problems in the UC system

"The variety of personal experiences, values and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance. Such differences include race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, language, abilities/disabilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and geographic region, and more."

UC Board of Regents

#Definition #diversity

“1. The quality or state of having many different forms, types, ideas, etc.

2. The state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization”

Merriam-Webster

#Definition #diversity

WHAT DOES DIVERSITY LOOK LIKE!

#the effects

We asked students how they defined diversity, what group they associate themselves with, and if their school represented diversity.

I perceive diversity to be something that differentiates everyone from one another; whether being someone’s ethnicity, race, social class, gender, age, and/or religious belief. I feel like UCSD portrays a definition of diversity that only focuses on race and ethnicity. As a student of color, I often feel ostracized on campus because now my academic performance is judged based on how well of a Latin@ student I am.

Gloria Millan, UCSD

#UC student

My own definition: condition/instance of having people of different race/ethnicity, gender, sex, socioeconomic status, etc in one common place. I identify as Hispanic. No, Berkeley markets itself as a diverse institution with a diverse student population and staff, but in reality the numbers of those being hired/admitted by the university are quite low. Identifying as a person of color, I notice the low numbers when attending lecture or discussion and realizing I’m one of a handful of students with different backgrounds from the majority white/Asian student body (though you could argue that Asians are a minority because of the glass ceiling perplexity).

Pedro Loeza, UCB

#UC student

Diversity is the coming together of different ethnic and social backgrounds to make our environment a more accepting place. I’m Black. I feel that while we are getting there we still have a long ways to go before getting to a place of “diversity”.

Hanan Worku, UCLA

#UC student

“I define diversity as having variety of races. I identify as an Asian person. I do not think UC Santa Cruz defines diversity because the school has an overwhelming number of the majority group.”

Tony Le, UCSC

#UC student

The Black Bruins [Spoken Word] - Sy Stokes

#UC student

Racial Paranoia

According to the reading by Joe Jackson, racial paranoia is a form of language that society has come up with in order for us to talk about race comfortably. However, that so called language is what makes people uncomfortable to talk about race in the first place. People fear talking about race for fear of offending a person that belongs to a certain racial group, which is what racial paranoia is. There have been so many social issues where the United States has treated a certain racial group as less than human and fears repeating it, which has led people to be paranoid to even talk about it race. Some people don’t talk about race because they claim racism doesn’t exist, but it does, and it is deeply expressed in universities.

After interviewing various students from different universities in California, it was proven that students do not feel that their UC fulfills their definition of diversity. According to one student from UC Berkeley, to them, diversity meant: having qualities that are different from the generic or socially accepted individual. I feel like diversity allows different cultures to coexist and learn about what makes each individual unique. It promotes tolerance and acceptance. When asked if they feel that UCB satisfies the claims of being diverse, the student responded, “I can honestly say that Cal appears diverse when you walk through the campus but in terms of who is the most represented, no. Minority groups remain underrepresented in comparison to the majority, white people. Cal is not diverse enough. As a person of color, I feel like I have to navigate through this university to claim our space as opposed to white people who already own this space.”

Students know that white people continue to be the favored and privileged race, and this is affecting students both socially and academically. One student from UC San Diego responded to the second question saying,” I feel like UCSD portrays a definition of diversity that only focuses on race and ethnicity. As a student of color, I often feel ostracized on campus because now my academic performance is judged based on how well of a Latin@ student I am.”

Here we see how racial paranoia makes students of color feel as if they are still an outcast in their so called “diverse university”. Students of color know they are racially profiled and are underrepresented because they are a minority.

#racial paranoia #the effects

Who Did You Find First?

African American Filipino Pacific Islander

Asian Hispanic White

Black Latino Chicano

Other

Affirmative Action

In 1961, President John Kennedy signed executive order 10925, thereby mandating a Civil Rights Issue be addressed. The order called for affirmative action in all workplaces and professional institutions in order to stave off discrimination in education and the work force in regards to sex, religion, and race.

How did it work in schools? A point system is used when determining acceptance of a student to the University of California. Students of color, and thereby diversity, were given an advantage: more points were awarded and therefore, a larger student population of color existed, until certain quotas were reached.

Why did it change? In 1996, Proposition 209 passed in California, thus rendering affirmative action unconstitutional. Argued as a form of reverse discrimination, the extra points in the point system and quotas were done away with, leading to a massive drop in school diversity. Proponents of Prop 209 argued that it created a more academically ready student body, but critics argue that the price was paid by students of color.

As Joel Best claims, “A social problem is a condition that undermines the well-being of some or all members of a society and that is usually a matter of public controversy.” (4) Affirmative action then, is a social problem; who is in the right, and who is in the wrong? For what reasons?

#Affirmative Action #Prop 209 #the effects

#Prop 209 #the effects

How Did We Get Here?

Unmaking the Public University

By Christopher Newfield

With lack of funding public research universities like UC’s turned to private funding, this transition is called privatization

The public research university “sought to combine nearly universal access” and the “highest quality in research” (Newfield, 2003: 3).

When privatization took over most public universities, throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s, tried to keep to their own admission policy’s to accept students based on their academic achievement.

“But as cost pressures increased in the 1970s and 1980s, throughout this period admissions practice evolved toward the money” (2003: 178).

The universities began to accept students not based on their academic achievement but on whether or not they could afford the tuition.

They accepted students who had “legacy preference” which are students that were children of “… wealthy alumni with a history of philanthropy.” And students who had wealthy families that could be contributors to the university. (Newfield 2003: 178).

Since most students of color are not children of alumni and are not wealthy universities began to see a decline in the acceptance of minority students especially after the abolishment of affirmative action.

#the effects

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Equity through Diversity