Diversity in Education

Throughout my college career I have learned more into environmental studies or research of specific animal species. However, I have also studied cases involving people in marginalized communities or people that the United States culture does not place a lot of emphasis on. This had started when I focused more on local tribes and their impact on environmental policy. Native tribes showed that, despite often being ignored by the majority population, everyone has a right to voice their opinion. This is a sad fact to understand since native tribe citizens are often seen as criminals or degenerates. I offer two artifacts where I better understood the story of people who are not the same as me.

In 2020 I started to branch out to different ways of mapping out data, one of these was using data to show education among students going into COIL, Exploring Educational Acceptance. Collaborative online international learning was an idea that was put in place after schools were hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Schools needed to find a way to teach children without them going into the classes every day. I used Tableau along with a research paper to show the impacts of this experiment and discovered how it affected marginalized communities. To study effectively online the students, obviously, need a stable internet connection and not many distractions at home. Data had shown that students who were not white\Caucasian struggled much more than their fellow students. My theory at the time was that a Hispanic or black child’s families were less privileged so having a stable internet connection was harder to achieve. However, from this paper I never fully explored this theory as it was not the main focus of the COIL data. This was the springboard that led me to my most successful study of a diverse community as I wanted to learn more about communities that I was not a part of– I especially wanted to understand a different community so I would not make generic judgements or statements like my COIL theory.

In 2022 I came back to my study of communities that are often ignored and focused on the sex worker industry. Study for the Rights of Sex Workers was my dive into learning more about a community I had no knowledge of and how they are impacted by the majority group’s view of them. This paper was an analysis of surveys that were sent out to sex workers asking about how shutting down websites impacted their way of life. As sex workers are often seen as criminals the justice system has been harder on them then other people. One major point I found from this paper was that sex workers were afraid to answer questions to surveys for fear of being outed to law enforcement. I realized that law enforcement is meant to protect everyone, not just people who are seen as “normal”.  Surveys that were answered anonymously showed that most sex workers see their job as normal— they use it to pay for family or general living requirements just like everyone else. From writing this paper I learned how important it is to fully understand a different group’s opinions, everyone has their own side of the story. This paper also helped shift my viewpoint as well. I always did see sex workers as exploited or underprivileged; while some of course are, many in reality are people just like me. Surrounding yourself with individuals of the same mindset creates a space of judgment and ridicule for people who don't share the same views.