What question is guiding your research?
The main question that I am focusing on for my research is why there is a lack of observable diversity in the field of historical education, both the educators themselves and the content taught in classes. My research will look into how historical education and the employment of ethnic minorities in said field will change based on current information.
Why this question?
There are a few reasons I picked this specific topic, given that I am very interested in the field of history and have already begun creating content which aim to increase general interest in this field and expand the availability of niche parts of history to a larger audience through media. And having experience attending both secondary school and university-level courses related to historical education, I realized that the representation of minorities in that field is not very visible and that there needs to be an improvement in the diversity of topics (especially related to history outside of the West, e.g. Africa, Asia and Oceania).
How will your professional/internship/organizational/course work inform your inquiry?
Certainly my experience within the field of history allowed me to see for myself the lack of ethnic minorities within the field. Although I have spent most of my life in Hong Kong and it is only natural that most of the other students are of Chinese descent, but it was during my trip to Virginia for an international history bowl competition where I discovered that the vast majority of participants in the US were white, and not indicative of the statistics of the ethnic makeup of the country. While I am not blaming academia or anyone for this reality, I do hope that more of the ethnic minority population of the states can become interested in the wider scale of history, and not be limited by the narrative of a nationalistic viewpoint that began in 1776.
What fields matter most in your inquiry?
Almost definitely the field of history. However, I will also like to look into fields related to that such as archeology and museum studies. In a wider view of things, I will also like to touch upon the diversity of educators in academia since it will certainly be related to my area of interest.
I would also encourage you to take a look at conversations that are happening in the education field around these issues–their perspectives on curriculum and pedagogy might be valuable.
This sounds like a really intriguing inquiry, and I look forward to seeing how it develops.