Diverse Issues in Higher Education
August 25, 2011, 9:30 pm
By Marybeth Gasman
A couple days ago I went to see the film The Help with a good friend. My friend is African-American and is originally from the South. Prior to seeing the movie, I read a lot of commentary written by historians, critics, and friends of all racial backgrounds on the film. Some people loved the film, regardless of their race, while others were disgusted by its portrayal of a white heroine telling the story of black women, and still others refused to see the film.
As someone who studies the history of race in the United States, I thought it would be interesting to see how Hollywood portrayed racism in Mississippi in the 1960s. I asked an African-American friend, who had mentioned wanting to see the movie, to go with me so that we could talk about it afterward.
Full Story: http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/the-strength-of-african-american-women-and-american-racism/30130?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Showing posts with label African-American women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label African-American women. Show all posts
Monday, August 29, 2011
Monday, November 23, 2009
Changing workplace culture on the waterfront stalled by lack of women workers
The Vancouver Sun
By Kim Pemberton, Vancouver Sun
November 22, 2009
VANCOUVER - Attempts to deal with complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination against female workers appear to be stalled, the head of the BC Maritime Employers Association has indicated.
BCMEA president and CEO Andy Smith said a management proposal to deal with the problems can’t proceed until a union demand to clear up a backlog of job applicants is dealt with.
But since only 132 of the nearly 2,000 applicants are women and jobs on the waterfront are scarce, it would be a long time before any real gender equity would be achieved at the port. Only 4.7 per cent of Vancouver longshore workers are women now, and only some of them are union members.
“This is an issue of under-representation,” Smith said in an interview. “We won’t get the culture changed with the tiny fragment of women working on the waterfront.”
Smith also said that the union — the International Longshore Warehouse Union Canada — wants the benefits of existing longshore workers to be improved before proceeding with affirmative action.
Full Story: http://www.vancouversun.com/Changing+workplace+culture+waterfront+stalled+lack+women+workers/2254063/story.html
By Kim Pemberton, Vancouver Sun
November 22, 2009
VANCOUVER - Attempts to deal with complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination against female workers appear to be stalled, the head of the BC Maritime Employers Association has indicated.
BCMEA president and CEO Andy Smith said a management proposal to deal with the problems can’t proceed until a union demand to clear up a backlog of job applicants is dealt with.
But since only 132 of the nearly 2,000 applicants are women and jobs on the waterfront are scarce, it would be a long time before any real gender equity would be achieved at the port. Only 4.7 per cent of Vancouver longshore workers are women now, and only some of them are union members.
“This is an issue of under-representation,” Smith said in an interview. “We won’t get the culture changed with the tiny fragment of women working on the waterfront.”
Smith also said that the union — the International Longshore Warehouse Union Canada — wants the benefits of existing longshore workers to be improved before proceeding with affirmative action.
Full Story: http://www.vancouversun.com/Changing+workplace+culture+waterfront+stalled+lack+women+workers/2254063/story.html
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Ursula Burns to head Xerox, will be first black woman to be CEO of Fortune 500 company
Daily News - Money
BY Heidi Evans
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, May 23rd 2009, 4:00 AM
Betts/Bloomberg
Ursula Burns, president of Xerox Corp., will become the company's CEO this summer.
The new head of Xerox Corp. is a native New Yorker who grew up in a lower East Side housing project.
Xerox will be the first Fortune 500 company headed by a black woman when Ursula Burns, 50, takes the reigns this summer.
Burns replaces Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy, 56, who told shareholders Thursday she would be retiring in July and had picked her lieutenant as her successor.
Burns climbed the corporate ladder at Xerox, beginning as a summer engineering intern in 1980 and rising to president of the printing giant in 2002.
As president, Burns oversaw a large chunk of the company's operations including overseas research and development, engineering, manufacturing and marketing.
She helped to build Xerox into the world's largest maker of high-speed color printers.
Last year, Burns ranked 10th on Fortune magazine's top 50 Most Powerful Women in America. She's the second-highest placed African-American woman behind only Oprah Winfrey, who was ranked No. 8.
Reached at their Rochester home Friday, Burns' teenaged daughter, Melissa, 16, called her mom "a great person, a wonderful inspiration."
"She has taken us back to the old neighborhood a few times," said Melissa, a reference to Delancey St. on Manhattan's lower East Side. "Apparently it's a lot better now than it was when she was growing up."
Burns, who attended Cathedral High School, was the middle of three children from two different absentee fathers.
In a 2003 interview with the New York Times, she described growing up poor in "the projects" - with "lots of Jewish immigrants, fewer Hispanics and African-Americans, but the common denominator and great equalizer was poverty."
Burns' mother took in ironing and ran a home day care center so she could send her kids to Catholic schools.
Burns, a math whiz, graduated from Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn with an engineering degree. She got a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1981 from Columbia University.
Full Story: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/05/23/2009-05-23_1st_black_woman_xerox_ceo.html
BY Heidi Evans
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, May 23rd 2009, 4:00 AM
Betts/Bloomberg
Ursula Burns, president of Xerox Corp., will become the company's CEO this summer.
The new head of Xerox Corp. is a native New Yorker who grew up in a lower East Side housing project.
Xerox will be the first Fortune 500 company headed by a black woman when Ursula Burns, 50, takes the reigns this summer.
Burns replaces Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy, 56, who told shareholders Thursday she would be retiring in July and had picked her lieutenant as her successor.
Burns climbed the corporate ladder at Xerox, beginning as a summer engineering intern in 1980 and rising to president of the printing giant in 2002.
As president, Burns oversaw a large chunk of the company's operations including overseas research and development, engineering, manufacturing and marketing.
She helped to build Xerox into the world's largest maker of high-speed color printers.
Last year, Burns ranked 10th on Fortune magazine's top 50 Most Powerful Women in America. She's the second-highest placed African-American woman behind only Oprah Winfrey, who was ranked No. 8.
Reached at their Rochester home Friday, Burns' teenaged daughter, Melissa, 16, called her mom "a great person, a wonderful inspiration."
"She has taken us back to the old neighborhood a few times," said Melissa, a reference to Delancey St. on Manhattan's lower East Side. "Apparently it's a lot better now than it was when she was growing up."
Burns, who attended Cathedral High School, was the middle of three children from two different absentee fathers.
In a 2003 interview with the New York Times, she described growing up poor in "the projects" - with "lots of Jewish immigrants, fewer Hispanics and African-Americans, but the common denominator and great equalizer was poverty."
Burns' mother took in ironing and ran a home day care center so she could send her kids to Catholic schools.
Burns, a math whiz, graduated from Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn with an engineering degree. She got a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1981 from Columbia University.
Full Story: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/05/23/2009-05-23_1st_black_woman_xerox_ceo.html
Monday, February 2, 2009
‘Swimming Against the Tide’
Inside Higher Ed
Feb. 2
‘Swimming Against the Tide’
Many educators worry that the ability of the United States to produce enough scientists will fall short unless a more diverse group of students are recruited to science study — and thrive. Despite the odds, some black females do succeed in science. Swimming Against the Tide: African American Girls and Science Education (Temple University Press) looks at why some students succeed, and the roadblocks they face along the way. The book is based on a combination of statistics, surveys and interviews. Sandra L. Hanson, the author and professor of sociology at Catholic University, responded via e-mail to questions about the book.
Q: Many educators say they worry about lack of diversity in the STEM student body, but that there is a lack of interest or preparation among members of certain groups. Your work suggests otherwise — why do so many people assume that the problem is a lack of available talent?
A: Part of the problem is the response that young people have when they see that the science education system does not view them as a source of science talent. One of the young African American women in my survey put it this way, “They looked at us like we weren’t supposed to be scientists.” These low expectations for them in science are very clear to young minority students. My research shows that African American students (especially female) have a great love of science and hope to have science jobs. But when they enter the white male science system, they have to literally “swim against the tide.” It is important to note that minority students are very aware of the low expectations and race discrimination that they encounter in science.
Research showing the impact of race-biased education systems reveals negative consequences for self-confidence, attitudes, and achievement. Thus, the stereotypes really do act as a threat to these young people and the self-fulfilling prophecy creates young minority students who do not do well in science, as expected. The process starts with the science education structure but has an impact on minority student interest and achievement. Some look at the end-product of interest and achievement without considering how this came about. The fact that many young minority students, most notably the young African American women that I focus on in this research, continue to love science and want to have science occupations IN SPITE OF THESE NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES, is a remarkable testament to their strength and agency. One wonders what the expectations and achievements of these young women would be if they actually experienced a positive and supportive science education experience.
Additionally, it is important to note that school resources affect all students. If minority students are more likely to end up in low-resource schools, then they will have lower achievement. Some of the African American women in my study talked about their lack of preparation in math and science in addition to limited resources in their science classrooms. One young African American woman in my survey noted, “Science is in our heart as black people. We just need to be given the help in school. The right tools like everyone else.” Another young African American woman in the survey noted that the problem is that schools that are predominantly African American are “not as equipped as those in other areas.” Thus, this issue of poor preparation and resources in predominantly minority, inner-city schools has nothing to do with the interest and talent of the young people. The end-result however is a group of minority youth that is less prepared and interested in science because of economic inequality, residential segregation, and often inadequate urban school (and science education) systems. Again, the fact that so many young African American women remain interested in science is surprising and unexpected to many who are aware of the discrimination that these young women face in multiple areas (race, gender, and social class). My research suggests that many of these young women persevere because of the strength and unique history of the African American family and community. Thus, I suggest that we expect the unexpected when we look at the talent base here.
Full Story: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/02/02/hanson
Feb. 2
‘Swimming Against the Tide’
Many educators worry that the ability of the United States to produce enough scientists will fall short unless a more diverse group of students are recruited to science study — and thrive. Despite the odds, some black females do succeed in science. Swimming Against the Tide: African American Girls and Science Education (Temple University Press) looks at why some students succeed, and the roadblocks they face along the way. The book is based on a combination of statistics, surveys and interviews. Sandra L. Hanson, the author and professor of sociology at Catholic University, responded via e-mail to questions about the book.
Q: Many educators say they worry about lack of diversity in the STEM student body, but that there is a lack of interest or preparation among members of certain groups. Your work suggests otherwise — why do so many people assume that the problem is a lack of available talent?
A: Part of the problem is the response that young people have when they see that the science education system does not view them as a source of science talent. One of the young African American women in my survey put it this way, “They looked at us like we weren’t supposed to be scientists.” These low expectations for them in science are very clear to young minority students. My research shows that African American students (especially female) have a great love of science and hope to have science jobs. But when they enter the white male science system, they have to literally “swim against the tide.” It is important to note that minority students are very aware of the low expectations and race discrimination that they encounter in science.
Research showing the impact of race-biased education systems reveals negative consequences for self-confidence, attitudes, and achievement. Thus, the stereotypes really do act as a threat to these young people and the self-fulfilling prophecy creates young minority students who do not do well in science, as expected. The process starts with the science education structure but has an impact on minority student interest and achievement. Some look at the end-product of interest and achievement without considering how this came about. The fact that many young minority students, most notably the young African American women that I focus on in this research, continue to love science and want to have science occupations IN SPITE OF THESE NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES, is a remarkable testament to their strength and agency. One wonders what the expectations and achievements of these young women would be if they actually experienced a positive and supportive science education experience.
Additionally, it is important to note that school resources affect all students. If minority students are more likely to end up in low-resource schools, then they will have lower achievement. Some of the African American women in my study talked about their lack of preparation in math and science in addition to limited resources in their science classrooms. One young African American woman in my survey noted, “Science is in our heart as black people. We just need to be given the help in school. The right tools like everyone else.” Another young African American woman in the survey noted that the problem is that schools that are predominantly African American are “not as equipped as those in other areas.” Thus, this issue of poor preparation and resources in predominantly minority, inner-city schools has nothing to do with the interest and talent of the young people. The end-result however is a group of minority youth that is less prepared and interested in science because of economic inequality, residential segregation, and often inadequate urban school (and science education) systems. Again, the fact that so many young African American women remain interested in science is surprising and unexpected to many who are aware of the discrimination that these young women face in multiple areas (race, gender, and social class). My research suggests that many of these young women persevere because of the strength and unique history of the African American family and community. Thus, I suggest that we expect the unexpected when we look at the talent base here.
Full Story: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/02/02/hanson
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