“Now Must Be Different” — So How Can We Help?
We are two women who teach accounting — one black, one white — and we are the greatest of friends. We have very similar professional and personal goals. We celebrate and mourn each other’s triumphs and tragedies and have great empathy for one another. Frustrated and heartsick, we have cried together over events unfolding in this country, recognizing the need for all faculty to work together to actively support calls to effect change and advocate for our minority students. However, despite explicit support from campus leaders, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless to participate in the process of reform, especially in business classes where overt discussion of social issues often feels out of place.
In her recent article The Inclusive Curriculum, Joanna L. Garcia, assistant professor of accountancy at John Carroll University, acknowledges that instructors may find it difficult to incorporate diverse perspectives into the curriculum of business courses. However, Dr. Garcia emphasizes that though the task of diversifying our teaching materials may seem daunting, small changes can have a significant impact on making students from underrepresented groups feel included.
In addition to small-scale suggestions geared specifically toward courses in Accounting and Finance, Management and Human Resources, Economics, and Marketing, Dr. Garcia suggests the following clear, actionable steps that can enhance the inclusiveness of classrooms across the business curriculum:
- Use a random name generator or online lists to select names for people in problems, exams, and cases that suggest broader ethnic origins.
- Require students to write papers or make presentations about individuals from minority groups who have contributed significantly to their profession.
- Make efforts to discuss companies with potentially controversial business models or reputation, focusing on how companies can make meaningful advances in inclusivity in the workplace or highlighting the potential impact of these issues on business risk, CSR, and sustainability.
- When recruiting guest speakers, intentionally seek out individuals from various backgrounds to discuss topics not related to the speakers’ personal identities.
Like Dr. Garcia, we believe that no one faculty member can adequately represent the many dimensions of diversity. However, by working together to implement small changes that make our classrooms more reflective of societal realities, we can expose students to diversity they may not have personally experienced. The Teaching and Learning Center is compiling a list of resources to assist faculty in creating an inclusive classroom environment, so please tell us what you are doing in your classrooms by commenting below, or share your ideas at teach.business@unl.edu. Through these efforts, students will be prepared to interact and build meaningful relationships with people from various backgrounds, so that they may recognize the strength that comes from diversity and work to combat the effects of ignorance, bias, and intolerance.
Herita Akamah and Kelli Saunders
