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Recognizing Oppression

A Workshop on Cultural Diversity within Intercollegiate Athletics

Dr. Jenny Lind WithycombeWithycombe Consulting

Dr. Jenny Lind Withycombe

BA – Psychology

MA – Teaching

G. Crt – Women’s Studies

PhD – Sport and Exercise Sciences Foci: Cultural Studies,

Africana Studies

Diversity Consultant NCAA and Constituents

4 Year Varsity Rower

3x All-American (First Team)

4 Year National-Scholar Athlete

First Rower to be named Female Athlete of the Year

WU Record Holder

Team Captain

Diversity in US Intercollegiate Sport

Minority student-athletes, coaches, and administrators Gender, Race, Sexual Orientation, and/or Culture

Understanding Sport Experiences

Diversity and Athletic Participation Lead to Empowerment

Diversity Shaping Identities and Experiences

My task

Diversity Education and Sport for Development

Sport for Development and Peace Perspectives of US Intercollegiate Student-Athletes

Encouraging the Use of Sport for Social Change Recognizing the Oppression Defining Your Role Facilitating Change

Learning Objectives for Diversity Education

Understand the dynamics of privilege and how it is manifested in society and within intercollegiate athletics.

Understand the impact that stereotypes, discrimination, and oppression have on the daily lives and performance of all student-athletes and athletic staff.

Recognizing who is the center of power within both the macro- and micro-communities of intercollegiate athletics.

Develop a willingness to interrupt instances of discrimination that occur within intercollegiate athletics.

Encourage behaviors that demonstrate acceptance and respect for all people.

Defining Culture, Diversity, and Inclusion

Culture is… Way of life in a given society passed down from one generation

to the next through learning and experience.

Diversity is… Collection of similarities and differences we carry with us at all

times, based on the characteristics we were born with, the experiences we have had, and the choices we have made.

Inclusion is… Inclusion can be defined as the process of ensuring that people

feel included and valued in an organization or a community.

Quantitative versus Qualitative Equality

Value

If you work hard you will be successful. Meritocracy: The idea that despite “unequally distributed opportunities

and impediments…good choices, effort, and ambition alone are responsible for success” (Harris, 2004, p. 16).

Gender, racial, sexual orientation, and class oppression is a significant problem for student-athletes, coaches, and administrators. “Sport is a contradictory space…the resilience of the notion that sport takes place

on a level playing field, outside the relations of inequality and oppression, is necessary in [prejudicially] inscribed societies that deem themselves not [prejudiced]. However, the persistence of [prejudice] is inextricably tied to claims of the absence of [prejudice].” (Douglas, 2003, p. 9)

It is easy to spot oppression. Overt and Covert Oppression

Making Connections

Why do you think these three statements were grouped together? If you work hard you will be successful. Gender, racial, sexual orientation, and class

oppression is a significant problem for student-athletes, coaches, and administrators.

It is easy to spot oppression.

Current Issues: Race and Culture

Increasing numbers of student-athletes of color

More international student-athletes than ever before

Underrepresentation of student-athletes, coaches, and administrators of color in positions of power both on and off the field

Recruiting and Retention

Stereotyping and oppression

Ambiguous institutional climate with regards to diversity and inclusion

Varied levels of commitment to creating a more inclusive environment

Lack of understanding and appreciation for individual backgrounds and cultures (e.g. communication styles, hiring practices, hierarchies, retention, time orientation, religion, gender, etc.)

Current Issues: Gender and Sexuality

Increasing numbers of female student-athletes

Sexist/Homophobic language and behaviors

Romantic peer and/or coach-athlete involvements Same-sex, cross-sex

Title IX

Gender specific coaching

Variability in standards

Intersex Issues

Pregnancy

Underrepresentation of female student-athletes, coaches, and administrators in positions of power both on and off the field

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Stereotyping

Gender, Sexuality, and Power

Stereotypically Male Characteristics

Stereotypically Female Characteristics

To Control Men…

To Control Women…

Stereotypes: A Social Creation

We must accept that… Stereotypes are socially constructed and

implemented Stereotypes can create both conscious and

unconscious biases Stereotypes have power whether we personally

accept them or not Stereotypes can keep us from having new

experiences

Others Types of Stereotypes

Stereotyping in its many forms: Race

Class

Religion

What is our responsibility with regards to stereotyping?

Institutional/Organizational Culture

What is the culture of your institution/organization?

What is it like to be a member of the majority within your institution/organization?

What is it like to be a member within your institution/organization whose culture lies in part outside the “mainstream”?

What is the institutional/organizational culture of your various departments? How does that compare to the larger organization? Or the community in which you reside?

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Privilege

White Privilege

List some forms of White privilege White Privilege: Advantages, opportunities, or

benefits bestowed upon a person due to their racial classification as White

Try to think of at least one form of White privilege related to sport

McIntosh’s White Privilege

I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.

When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.

I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.

I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.

“White privilege is like an invisible knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps,

guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compasses, emergency gear, and blank checks”

(McIntosh, 1988, p. 1).

Others Types of Privilege

Privilege in its many forms: Gender

Sexual Orientation

Class

What is our responsibility with regards to privilege?

Sport for Social Change

Reflections Oppression is deeply embedded within US culture Oppression and issues of diversity are often denied,

minimized, and justified within US sport Younger generations need help connecting the US’s

history of racism, classism, sexism, and heterosexism to today’s socio-cultural issues

Current athletic personnel want to make a difference using sport, but they need strong leadership and guidance

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It is the collective power of individuals that makes change

happen

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Thank YouQuestions?