- The most interesting and significant information I read in my classmates post is how everyone had their own take on how to define diversity and take what we’ve already learned, and expanded on it. Each article analysis had to do with a different way in which we can define diversity — age, race, ability, education and more. Each post differed in how the lack of diversity was affecting a subset group of people, and further tied it back to the information we had already learned in class. One specific instance that stuck out to me was when I read Mikayla’s article about the gifted education programs and the racial bias within. The graphic she used of a bar chart depicting the percentage of race that made up the gifted program. What shocked me was that those who are of the minority in gifted programs make up a little less than 40% of the program while in districts offering gifted programs, they make up 52% of the student body. This was shocking to me as the gifted program was primarily white students, even though the minority population in schools was larger. With these contributions in mind, my idea of diversity and organizational culture has shifted to believing that change can happen, but it goes farther and deeper than only racial biases in the workplace.
3. The specific passage I am choosing to focus on is the paragraph in which Bogost begins with “Kamau Bobb, the global lead for diversity.” In this passage, Bogost ends with Bobb’s closing thoughts about how in terms of the internet giant Google, they are more focused on bringing more people into the company that changing the rules as of right now. Bogost says that ” In this line of thinking, inclusion is first a problem of economic equity; any resulting social or moral benefits would just be gravy” in which he uses to transition into Charles Isbell’s thoughts. Bogost transitions from one idea of a source to another by analyzing their meaning in their quotes and then further connecting them to enhance his idea. He uses a comparison and contrast as he lays out Bobb’s idea, by then transitioning into the next short paragraph with “But for technical systems to take everyone into account, Isbell contends that representation must shift from an economic imperative to a moral one.” Bogost had previously presented the idea that for Google, the issue that arises with inclusion is one of economic status and any added social or moral benefits would be a bonus. He further develops this idea by using Isbell’s thoughts by transitioning with a solution that Isbell presented. In doing so, Bogost is able to seamlessly connect his ideas he wants to present about diversity, while simultaneously connecting his sources in a useful way.
I agree, I think that it was cool to see everyone’s take on diversity, and to see what our classmates found interesting. I also found Mikayla’s article particularly fascinating. The graph that she used made a lot of sense, and helped me to understand what she was trying to say. It is crazy to think that it is the year 2020, but education is still not equal for all students. I hope that noticing issues is the first step to a more equal education for every student.
I agree I thought it was interesting to see how diversity can be defined in different ways and how it was expanded upon after reading many articles and watching Ted Talks for the unit. The graphic of Mikayla’s article also stood out to me. Even with the minority in schools being larger, more individuals in the gifted program were white. Equal education should be very present and the fact that it is still not is crazy to me.
Agreed–graphs that visually depict data can be a really helpful way of presenting information, especially when it comes to drawing comparisons. Our brains often synthesize that material better in visual form.
Good work walking us through that transition in Bogost, Jackie–carrying one topic forward into the next paragraph by way of problem/solution connects the dots for the reader while keeping each component distinct and significant.