2012 PEERs Seminar
Presenters: Kelly Fissel, Quoc-Anh Vu, D’Artagnon
Womack, Natalie Larson
• (1) Structural Bias Background
• (2) Biology and Socialization Background
• (3) Tying (1) and (2) Together
[1]
Background Information
• Values that society places on traits that people do not choose
• Inherent values that society uses to allocate resources
• Disproportionate allocation of resources based on social
identity
Harvard Professor Asks: How many of you were first born?
75-80% of Students raised their hands [1]
“The natural distribution is
neither just nor unjust; nor is it
unjust that persons are born
into society at some
particular position. These are
simply natural facts. What is
just and unjust is the way that
institutions deal with these
facts.”
-John Rawls
[1]
Economic Diversity at 146 Top Colleges [1]
“The education system is an
increasingly powerful
mechanism for the
intergenerational
reproduction of privilege.”Anthony Carnevale [2]
SAT Scores vs. Family Income [2]
• Parents don't own land, moved a lot
• By highschool parents were in deep debt: medical and other
• Good grades, good SAT score, no money = no chance of
entering college system
• Difference Principle makes college possible: government grants
bring me closer to "starting line" of "typical" college student
• Difference principle: Those
who excel in a structure can
help those without access or
who are underprivileged
within the structure.
• Eg: Government taxing very
wealthy to pay for programs
to help poor.
“A candle loses nothing by lighting
another candle.” – James Keller
Image From: https://marpat2000.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/a-candle-can-never-loose-its-light-by-lighting-another-candle/
Background Information
• Conflicting explanations that differences in interests are natural
expressions of gender differences vs. a product of
environmental upbringing
• Biology is unchanging, Socialization we have more impact
• Larry Summers – “Women in STEM”
[4]
[5]
Gender based toys that demonstrate differences in different career expectations.
• uneven distribution of women recruitment to areas of science
• 60% undergrads in Biology are women
• 21% undergrads in Physics are women [6]
• Differences can be from:
• personal interest to subject matter (Biology)
• influence of teachers and parents (Socialization)
• girls are more likely to consider science careers when they have science
role models and given encouragement (Socialization)
• Exclusionary climate
Tying them together
• These problems proliferate because of a lack of attention
• This harms everyone
• Biology and Socialization influences your “starting line” in the
race of life
• Socialization is part of what allows people to combat structural
biases
[3]
• Step 1) Acknowledge the problem may even come from you.
• Step 2) Actively think about these biases
• Step 3) Engage in conversations about inequality in society.
• [1] Sandel, M. (2009 September 8). Justice: What’s the right thing to do?
Episode 08: “What’s a fair start?”[Video file]. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.justiceharvard.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=articl
e&id=45&Itemid=16
• [2] Edsall, T. (2012). The Reproduction of Privilege. New York Times. Retrieved
from http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/the-reproductionof-privilege/
• [3] http://suite101.com/article/can-an-american-win-the-boston-marathona365341
• [4] http://blog.parents-choice.org/2012/08/what-to-do-in-the-age-of-pinkand-blue/
• [5] http://theconsciousman.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/real-boys-play-withtrucks/toys-r-us-1/
• [6] Shanahan, M.C. (2011, March 29) Can We Declare Victory for Women in
Their Participation in Science? Not Yet. Scientific America. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=can-we-declarevictory-in-the-parti-2011-03-29#comments