I am not against the use of specific pronouns in the classroom (which I am not picking on, but instead using as an example since it seems to be synonymous with inclusivity lately), but I am against mandates that force social action within the classroom. In my response to the comment above, you’ll see that my field is plant biology. I understand the need for these actions within disciplines such as counseling or gender studies, but it is not important in my field. Welcoming students and respecting them is of course, but to enact any social mandates amongst the other students or detract from the subject matter at hand is not within the scope of university administration. What worries me is not that any of this change is happening from a personal perspective. Instead, it worries me to see the university becoming an agent of social change and hyper-policy.

I have experienced amazing learning environments that never got personal. I have experienced those that have. All of it happened at the grass-roots level and was never contrived.

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Thanks for your comment! I definitely agree that the walls are starting to come down, and that progress will probably be a little bit slower in some of the disciplines. But I do think we have more work to do in both engineering education and the engineering workforce.

And thanks for the link to the program designed to get girls in rural Appalachia interested in IT. I love that it starts with a game! I had to try it out and found out that my results indicate that I could have considered careers such as Network Admin, Web Developer, or Software Developer. This was really cool! Thanks!

I am in absolute agreement in terms of society at large, but within the classroom, social mandates have no place in its administration apart from protecting students from physical, emotional and sexual violence. My subject matter is biology, not gender studies, and when I teach a plant propagation class, my curriculum does not need have these constructs woven throughout it. I understand where this comes into play with counseling or gender studies, for instance, but it should not be institutionalized across the university. There are various ways to alternatively facilitate learning that I have been involved in.

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This is a very insightful post. You, yourself, add diversity to this classroom because you have had experiences that many of us have never had. Better yet, in writing this blog post, you have demonstrated how diversity can foster learning. I have never been in the Navy, so I could never use experiences in the Navy as a teaching point.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is that you have demonstrated that you don’t have to be a minority race, gender, etc to add diversity (sorry, I guess I didn’t speak directly to your actual post.)

Thank you for your post and a great metaphor! I think that knowing we have these biases, even though we have them from a very young age as discussed in “The Hidden Brain,” is important step in not acting on them and continuing the cycle of oppression, as you mentioned. As discussed by others above, I also think academia has a ways to go in achieving a truly inclusive environment, but at least many universities (including Tech!) have recognized that there are biases present and are actively working to improve the academic environment.

This reminded me of a discussion we had in class regarding home-schooling versus the public school system. In that discussion, I think someone mentioned that one of the major benefits of public schooling is socialization, allowing students to learn how to act around and work with their peers. I don’t think that the socialization that the education system provides ends with grade school. Rather, the university setting, with its generally increased diversity from grade school, is a great place to continue this important training in how to treat and work with others different from ourselves. Thanks again!

Your story overall and this specific piece of insight are so helpful to hear. Thank you so much for sharing.

Your perspective has helped inspire me to take the extra effort to make everyone feel comfortable in my future classrooms.

Our experiences in life are made better when we hear one another’s experiences. Thank you for being you. Thank you for sharing your story.

You are absolutely right! Diversity in a classroom can be beneficial for the professor and the student. I had a similar experience here in Virginia Tech, where I have been expose to different cultures, religions and languages. In my country we don’t have such diversity in college, but in here I feel that due to such interactions I learned so much from everybody else and I feel that already traveled almost the whole world. Considering this diversity in a classroom helped me understand how one thing can have more than one meaning due to the different point of views.

Thank you for such a great post! I only took one economics course in my undergraduate career and I think I would have been far more interested in it if multiple viewpoints on the theories and applications were discussed. I also think that this type of discussion could be included in many different disciplines and would be very engaging to students as well as a way to create a more inclusive environment. I know that in my own courses in biomedical engineering, my favorite classes were those in which disagreements between experts on how certain systems in the body worked were discussed. I agree that a diversity of personal experiences and perspectives is a powerful thing and the key to solving some of the world’s biggest problems moving forward.

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Nice job! Yes we do need to do a better job preparing our students for the real world workplaces. I have had jobs working with people all over the country and from all over the world. Educators, I think, do have a responsibility to help model and teach students for being ready for the working environment.

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I really appreciated your post, Cody. I am a white, Christian male and am married, aside from that though, we are two very different people (especially considering I drive a dodge). Kidding aside, I agree with Dr. Nelson in that diversity comes in many different forms. In my opinion, how we are shaped throughout our upbringing is just as important as gender, race or sexual orientation, in terms of diversity. One advantage of having a diverse classroom is that each student can offer a unique perspective on any given topic. I would say that you don’t have to appear different to be able to bring something new to the table…if that makes sense.

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