African American Hegemony In Science
Thomas Coleman
Diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (DSTEM)
Hegemony hides under the guise of many names. In his book the seventeen irrefutable laws of teamwork John Maxwell identifies the term “group think”, and warns against its power to blind productivity and narrow the focus of a team(Maxwell, 2001). He suggests that in every meeting there should be someone assigned the task of maintaining a view of opposition to the rest of the group. This form of hegemony is pretty easily identifiable for business majors, however Hegemony in science technology engineering and mathematics, STEM, is hidden. The white male dominated community has stood to maintain the white privilege within the field and fueled the exploitation …show more content…
The system is changing, however change within the system occurs slowly. In the song Mississippi god dam “Go Slow” in reference to societal changes in the civil rights and equal treatment of African American people in the southern U.S. she indicts “going slow” as an acceptance of the atrocities that have occurred. The STEM community cannot afford to “go slow”, this would mean an acceptance of the current system as an acceptable one. African American and Latino students make up 59% of college students, while only 16 % of degrees in STEM went to these groups. “Going slow” would mean an acceptance of the ongoing sterilization of women of color by force or coercion. It would mean the acceptance of the abuse of women of color as scientific tools for study, as in the case of Henrietta lacks. The system is changing, however we cannot continue to accept the current rate of change. Student of STEM need to unite and realize the inequality that lies within their field of study. Students in STEM need to form a community that celebrates embraces and supports diversity. The power of the student group would not be limited by the institutions as faculty might be, they can identify faculty that might, though conscious or unconscious actions, be isolating women of color and form a united community that can empower even the most isolated students to not only feel comfortable in their learning environment, but to excel. We can only really change the system by graduating more women of color in STEM, and the results can only be accomplished through the education of students and staff about the educational difficulties that women of color face, the fastest route for this change lies within the student
Diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (DSTEM)
Hegemony hides under the guise of many names. In his book the seventeen irrefutable laws of teamwork John Maxwell identifies the term “group think”, and warns against its power to blind productivity and narrow the focus of a team(Maxwell, 2001). He suggests that in every meeting there should be someone assigned the task of maintaining a view of opposition to the rest of the group. This form of hegemony is pretty easily identifiable for business majors, however Hegemony in science technology engineering and mathematics, STEM, is hidden. The white male dominated community has stood to maintain the white privilege within the field and fueled the exploitation …show more content…
The system is changing, however change within the system occurs slowly. In the song Mississippi god dam “Go Slow” in reference to societal changes in the civil rights and equal treatment of African American people in the southern U.S. she indicts “going slow” as an acceptance of the atrocities that have occurred. The STEM community cannot afford to “go slow”, this would mean an acceptance of the current system as an acceptable one. African American and Latino students make up 59% of college students, while only 16 % of degrees in STEM went to these groups. “Going slow” would mean an acceptance of the ongoing sterilization of women of color by force or coercion. It would mean the acceptance of the abuse of women of color as scientific tools for study, as in the case of Henrietta lacks. The system is changing, however we cannot continue to accept the current rate of change. Student of STEM need to unite and realize the inequality that lies within their field of study. Students in STEM need to form a community that celebrates embraces and supports diversity. The power of the student group would not be limited by the institutions as faculty might be, they can identify faculty that might, though conscious or unconscious actions, be isolating women of color and form a united community that can empower even the most isolated students to not only feel comfortable in their learning environment, but to excel. We can only really change the system by graduating more women of color in STEM, and the results can only be accomplished through the education of students and staff about the educational difficulties that women of color face, the fastest route for this change lies within the student