Sabrina Uribe

Jessica Otto

Carissa David

Jonathan Rose

**all members contributed equally

From Classroom to Cubicle: How Culturally Responsive 

Classrooms Contribute to Later Workplace Diversity

In workplaces across America, companies are striving to find individuals who will excel and push their corporations towards success. Not only do companies need successful employees, they need a diverse range of individuals as employees. As humans, we all have different influences that form who we are, from our hobbies to our work ethics. These cultures are what spark the innovation and fresh perspective that are coveted by businesses. However, for an employee to be able to use their diversity skills in the workplace they need to have practiced them in the first work environments they ever experience: the classroom. We were taught how to sit still,  professionally communicate with each other, and the ethics of professionalism, in the context of a classroom. Our teachers were our first managers, and our schools were the first corporations we ever worked for. If people are not given an opportunity to celebrate their diversity in the classroom, how can they be expected to celebrate that as adult employees? What is the impact of our classroom experiences on our abilities as employees? Finally, what is currently being done to include diversity in the classroom and in the workforce?

Cultural diversity in the classroom and the workplace is a topic that is not often addressed, but is integral in the lives of every student and employee. In the world of education, the term “cultural responsiveness” has been coined to describe purposeful interactions and actions geared towards including all cultures in the classroom. The National Center for Culturally Responsive Classrooms defines cultural responsiveness as “the ability to learn from and relate respectfully with people of your own culture as well as those from other cultures” (NCCREst, n.d.).  What this looks like in a classroom is planning a curriculum, setting up your classroom, and interacting with your students in a way that their individual cultures are not only represented, but are respected and celebrated. By doing this, students feel empowered in their culture. Teachers have found that this confidence leads to better performance in the classroom (Fuglie, 2014). When considering the correlation between the classroom and workplace, how does cultural responsiveness tie into the workplace? 

The basic principle lies in feeling safe. When students are in a culturally responsive classroom they feel safe enough to grow. The University of Concordia-Portland put it like this: “Students who embrace their role as powerful actors inside the classroom may go on to act as change agents outside of the classroom” (Fuglie, 2014).  In the same manner, if an employee feels that all of their identities are welcome in the workplace, they feel safe enough to reach their full potential. This makes them candidates for advancement within a company, leading to a rise in underrepresented identities in leadership roles. 

From workplaces, to classrooms, the narrative of representation has been on the forefront of conversation for many years now. Currently there is a push to bring more diversity into the classroom, especially focusing on having more same-race teachers for minority students. Increasing the diversity within the school’s faculty could have important real world benefits. According to a paper published by the German IZA Institute of Labor Economics, a black male who is exposed to just one black teacher during elementary school will have a higher chance of completing secondary education in the long run, and will have a nearly 39% decrease in their chances of dropping out (Gershenson, 2017). A huge portion of the diversity dilemma stems from the sheer gap between the number of teachers of color to the amount of students of color. According to an article published by the Urban Institute, the ratio of white students to non-white students was a nearly even split, but white teachers made up nearly 80% of all educators (Lindsay, 2017). These ratios paint a clear picture of the inequity in diversity experiences in American schools. But the question still stands, what forces create these gaps?

These statistics reinforce the obvious benefits of having more diverse leadership in classroom settings. Diverse settings have been proven time and time again to be important to educational development, so why does diversity seem to be lacking in the school system? The Urban Institute’s findings came to the conclusion that the difference is created by a pure lack of non-white college graduates with undergraduate degrees or higher. In their research they found that “while 40% of white adults and 65% of Asian adults had college degrees in 2015, only 21% of black adults and 16% of Hispanic adults had earned such a credential” (Lindsay, 2017). They argue that  problem begins and ends with getting more people of color into college, or other secondary education programs. Think about the correlation between the two, a sort of vicious circle will form in your mind. People of color don’t experience having a same-race teacher, then have a lower likelihood of earning a college degree or teaching certificate, then themselves don’t become teachers, and the cycle repeats again. Increasing the amount of non-white college graduates could help to eliminate this issue.

While cultural diversity in classroom settings correlates with a person’s success in the workforce, it is also imperative that the student’s family inspires their child to pursue a higher education. Statistically, minority students are more likely to drop out of high school to start working than white students. This typically is attributed to lack of academic encouragement between the child and adult (Krogstad & Fry, 2014).  The Journal of Latinos and Education claims that both families and schools are contributing factors to student’s eventual success in a career. Typically, immigrants live in lower income areas and are at a disadvantage to educational and career opportunities. Additionally, it is difficult and creates a bridge for their children between school and home when families don’t speak the language, primarily English, in which curriculum is taught. Typically children go as far, in terms of education, as their parents (Chavira, 2016). However, when a safe school environment and supportive families work together to inspire the child to experiment with all the possibilities life has to offer.  Schools and families together can inspire them to celebrate their diversity and help create a culturally diverse school, and eventual workforce. 

Given that diversity in the classroom, support from families and community, and intrinsic motivation, are all necessary precursors to culturally sensitive work places, some communities are developing curriculum for underrepresented groups in order to facilitate future corporate diversity. One of such programs, Start Out, has been implemented in Seattle, WA. It was designed to provide a path for more minority teenagers to pursue a career in healthcare, as the current healthcare workforce does not reflect the growing diversity of the US population. Yates studied how this program is sustainable and creates career opportunities for minority students by giving participants educational support and partnering with the community. By the end of the eight weeks of classes, twenty-four, diverse teenagers completed the program and earned their CNA certification (Yates, 2003).  The success of this program can be attributed to it’s dedication to creating a learning environment that caters to students who may feel underrepresented in traditional classrooms by integrating life-planning exercises and mentorship into the program. Not only do these students get invaluable experience but the community gets nurses who are reflective of the changing cultural and linguistic needs of the city.

Our earliest educational experiences shape who we are as people and how we will perform for the rest of our lives. Classrooms must be culturally responsive spaces, where cultures can be expressed and shared openly, without fear of rejection. Students of all backgrounds must have leaders to look up to, in order for them to know that they can succeed as well. Children should be supported throughout their education, so that they can grow as learners and eventually as employees. And lastly, programs that strive to create more diversity in a variety of workforces must be funded properly, so that the imbalances which dominate them can be swung back into equilibrium. In short, with diversity comes success. 

Works Cited

Chavira, G., Cooper, C., & Vasquez-Salgado, Y. (2016). Pathways to Achievement: Career and Educational Aspirations and Expectations of Latina/o Immigrant Parents and Early Adolescents. Journal of Latinos and Education, 15(3), 214-228.

Fuglei , M. (2017, November 13). How Does Culturally Responsive Instruction Benefit Students? Retrieved October 31, 2019, from https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/culturally-responsive-teaching-empowering-students-through-respect/.

Gershenson, S., Hart, C. M. D., Lindsay, C. A., & Papageorge, N. W. (2017, May). The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers. Retrieved October 30, 2019, from http://ftp.iza.org/dp10630.pdf

Krogstad, J. M., & Fry, R. (2014, April 24). More Hispanics, blacks enrolling in college, but lag in bachelor’s degrees. Retrieved October 31, 2019, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/24/more-hispanics-blacks-enrolling-in-college-but-lag-in-bachelors-degrees/.

Lindsay, C. A., & Blow, E. (2017, October 5). Diversifying the Classroom: Examining the     Teacher Pipeline. Retrieved October 31, 2019, from https://www.urban.org/features/diversifying-classroom-examining-teacher-pipeline

NCCRESt. (n.d.). Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Classrooms. Retrieved October 31, 2019, from http://www.niusileadscape.org/docs/pl/culturally_responsive_pedagogy_and_practice/activity2/Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Practice Module academy 2 Slides Ver 1.0 FINAL kak.pdf.

Yates, S., (2003). Start Out: Building Healthcare Careers for Minority Teenagers. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 34(3), 116–121. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.wwu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eax&AN=507827697&site=ehost-live