Near three-decades ago, law scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” to describe how race, class, gender, and other individual characteristics “intersect” and the compounding ways forms of discrimination like racism, sexism, ableism, and classism overlap and affect individuals and communities. Scholars argue that deconstruction and disruption of these oppressive systems demand a foundation and framework that acknowledges the intersection. As health sciences institutions and educators, our responsibilities to our students, our patients, and our community require recognizing of privileges and the dismantling of systemic and structural oppressions in our curriculum and our institutions.
Our 2021 theme will focus on intersectionality in health sciences education — how faculty, staff, students, and practitioners can be organizational change agents in dismantling privilege in the classroom and beyond.
