Teaching equitably
We asked a dozen women and minority graduate students and faculty at UC Berkeley (ARE, Econ, and Haas) about their experiences and suggestions for wannabe allies. Here, we've compiled their suggestions for teaching equitably and inclusively.
Please note that these resources do not necessarily reflect the views of WEB. The intention is to hold an inclusive space for ongoing discourse. We thank the authors for sharing suggestions gathered from their interactions with students and faculty who have had identity-specific experiences in academia that obstruct their productivity. We welcome any feedback, additional contributions, comments, or questions on these issues. Please feel free to e-mail the authors or WEB directly.
- Reflect on your own biases—it’s impossible to create an inclusive classroom if you as the instructor don't believe every student is of equal value. Do you assume that an athlete won’t take your class seriously, and then give less thought to answering the athlete’s questions?
- Tell your students that your goal is to create an inclusive classroom and that you welcome feedback on how to improve. Communicate that you are open to having conversations with them around diversity and inclusion.
- Use a 3-second pause between asking a question and asking people to raise hands. The pause gives everyone the chance to raise their hands at once.
- Students can vote for the correct answer using clickers or a mandatory show of hands. This will ensure that all students are participating.
- If any student is dominating the classroom discussion, simply say as the teacher that you’d “like to hear from someone else.” Encourage others who haven’t spoken yet to speak.
- Random cold calling guarantees approximately equal participation.
- Inform your students that women instructors receive lower teaching evaluations because of gender bias, encouraging them to examine their own biases as well.
