Dominant Voices

The shortcomings of the idea that everyone can achieve by working hard is explored in the resources on this page. It looks at why some voices dominate and can help you reflect on the role of the teacher in addressing this imbalance.

Questions to consider as you review the resources on this page:

Where you have spent more time with some students over others, how confident are you that they needed extra help? What indications did you have that they required extra explanation?
Which obstacles do some students have to overcome to reach university which other students don't? How might this affect their approach to education and university life?
How do you challenge the dynamics of a group where one student is dominating the discussion and their ideas are always the ones taken forward without much interrogation?

Who is doing all the talking?

Mansplaining is the over explanation of something by a man to a women or gender minority. The other way around it would merely be patronising, but the reason that mansplaining is more of an issue for ED&I is because it reinforces an historic and current power imbalance between the sexes. In subjects which are largely male dominated such as STEM, this can be particularly detrimental as it undermines the confidence and sense of belonging of women and gender minorities as it reinforces a negative stereotype of their intellectual abilities.

What is Mansplaining and Are You Unintentionally Doing It | Next Pivot PointWhat does mansplaining mean, what are examples of mansplaining, and how do you address mansplaining?

Is the term ‘mansplaining’ sexist? You asked Google – here’s the answer | Erynn BrookEvery day millions of people ask Google life’s most difficult questions. Freelance writer Erynn Brook answers this common query

How 'white fragility' reinforces racism – video explainerAuthor Robin DiAngelo explains why white people should stop avoiding conversations about race because of their own discomfort, and how 'white fragility' plays a key role in upholding systemic racism

"Analyses using a large national level dataset of STEM professionals found that WAHM (White, Able-bodies, Heterosexual, Males) were more likely on average to experience social inclusion, respect, and rewards and were more likely to intend to stay in their STEM professions long term, compared with members of 31 other intersectional gender, race, LGBTQ status, and disability status groups. Decomposition analysis with a robust set of explanatory predictors showed that these privileges could not be accounted for by differences between WAHM and others in human capital, work effort and attitudes, job characteristics, background characteristics, or family responsibilities. Rather, substantial portions of these advantages remained as premiums attached to WAHM status itself.....Thus, these privileges cannot be dismissed as merely meritocratic rewards for more training, greater work devotion, or divergent employment circumstances among WAHM compared with their peers."

Cech, 2022

There have been a few times where I’ve felt a bit uneasy, and that’s mostly during tutorials where we attempt problems in small groups. There are a few individuals who seem quite superior and condescending, which leads to awkward, unproductive atmospheres and it sometimes comes close to insulting other classmates. I’ve told my personal tutor about this, and he’s said that unfortunately the world of work is just sometimes like that and that it's unfair, but I should get used to it.

Quotation from a student in Engineering at the University of Sheffield (Taken from the DiCE project 2023)

Why hard work does not lead to success for everyone

This section talks about the myth of meritocracy. A meritocracy is a system, organization, or society in which people are chosen and moved into positions of success, power, and influence on the basis of their demonstrated abilities and merit.

Criado-Perez, C. (2019) Invisible women : exposing data bias in a world designed for men. London: Chatto & Windus. Chapter 4 The myth of meritocracy

In this excerpt, Criado-Perez looks at gender in Computer Science

COM

Taken from https://www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/work-with-us/equality-diversity-inclusion/anti-racism-working-group/diversity-in-a-meritocracy

How the 'meritocracy' feeds inequality | CNNA new book says that meritocracy creates an unwinnable competition that prevents working- and middle-class adults from ever getting ahead, and makes elites miserable.