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It's time to talk about intersectionality in FE - FEWeek

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It's time to talk about intersectionality in FE - FEWeek

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Joyce I-Hui Chen FE teacher educator and PhD student 14 Mar 2022, 6:00

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It’s time to talk about intersectionality in FE

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The intersection of different identities is barely mentioned or discussed in FE, writes Joyce I-Hui Chen

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Intersectionality matters with Kimberlé Crenshaw

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Intersectionality matters with Kimberlé Crenshaw

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Wheel of Power and Privilege by Silvia Duckworth

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Wheel of Power and Privilege by Silvia Duckworth

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Intersectionality 101: what is it and why is it important?

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Intersectionality is a term that’s caught on in the last few years, but what does it even mean and what’s it got to do with women’s rights? This year for 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Womankind Worldwide is focusing its activities on intersectionality. So before you start seeing…

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Intersectionality: A pathway towards inclusive education?

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Intersectionality: A pathway towards inclusive education?

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Intersectionality: A pathway towards inclusive education? - PROSPECTS

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This article aligns with recent international approaches to inclusive education and argues for a broadened understanding of the term, specifically in the context of Austria, which currently focuses only on children with disabilities. The article not only sets out the thesis of intersectionality, but…

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Intersectionality in Education: Toward More Equitable Policy, Research, and Practice (book out in April 2022)

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Intersectionality in Education: Toward More Equitable Policy, Research, and Practice (book out in April 2022)

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This book presents a framework for addressing intersectionality within educational spaces to combat the cumulative effects of systemic marginalization due to race, gender, disability, class, sexual orientation, and other identity-based labels. Readers can use the framework to consider the impact of identities that individuals adopt or are assigned, move beyond discrete subgroup labels, and fully consider how such markers impact how education policy and research are developed, enacted, and experienced. The text presents examples of existing systems (education, law, medicine, and juvenile justice) as experienced by individuals with intersectional social identities. Each chapter provides an innovative framework that highlights diverse ways of knowing, generating insights that can inform more equitable policy analysis, research, and practice. Book Features:

A protocol for applying an intersectionality-based analytic (IBA) approach to education policy, research, and practice.

Case study examples of how IBA can be implemented to improve decision making across disciplines and by various stakeholders.

Guiding questions that can be used to develop complex research questions and methods that interrupt power differentials within research and policymaking processes.

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Intersectionality in Education: Toward More Equitable Policy, Research, and Practice (Disability, Culture, and Equity Series)

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Buy Intersectionality in Education: Toward More Equitable Policy, Research, and Practice (Disability, Culture, and Equity Series) by Artiles, Alfredo J., Nieto, Sonia, Cavendish, Wendy, Samson, Jennifer F. (ISBN: 9780807765128) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

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Intersectionality in Education: A Conceptual Aspiration and Research Imperative

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Intersectionality in Education: A Conceptual Aspiration and Research Imperative

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University of Edinburgh student learning resources

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University of Edinburgh student learning resources

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At the University, we know that students from less privileged backgrounds, black students, trans and non-binary students, amongst others, have not always been made to feel welcome by their peers.

It affects their mental and emotional wellbeing, confidence and ability to study. This is not only sad but unacceptable. Taking responsibility for your own part in the experience of others can be uncomfortable, but also enlightening. By thinking about your own priviledges and how those intersect with others you can overcome some of the barriers to building a welcoming community and prepare yourself for living and working successfully in an increasingly globalised and international world.

What is 'privilege'?

You've probably heard the term 'white privilege', which has been talked about recently in the context of the Black Lives Matter protests. It refers to the idea that skin colour can affect your lived experience such that it can either give you an advantage or be a barrier to almost all areas of life. Therefore, if you are 'white', whatever situation you are in, it is almost always the case that the outcome has not been affected by your skin colour. 'Privilege', in this case, doesn't mean that you have special advantages, it simply means that don't have the disadvantages associated with having a darker skin tone. If you are white, it also means you may not even be aware of the disadvantages that black and minority ethnic people experience.

What is Intersectionality?

Intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American academic, in the late 1980's. It describes how race, class, gender and other personal characteristics 'intersect' with one another and overlap. She wanted to remind people that when thinking about equality, we need to think beyond unique attributes like skin colour and gender and recognise that humans often have more than one characteristic that is subject to discrimination or hostility. While a woman may experience sexism, a black lesbian will be at risk of experiencing sexism, racism and homophobia. For this reason, it's important not to fall into the trap of thinking that you can fully understand the lived experience of someone else. However, what you can do is to listen to and respect people when they share their lives with you.

Why does this matter?

Sometimes people complain that this is all about 'identity politics' and that these ideas are about creating hierarchies of victimisation and demonising (in particular) young, white men. This is absolutely not the intention of engaging with ideas of privilege and intersectionality. However, it does mean that before you voice your opinion on another person, you should stop to think about whether you have the right to speak about them from a position of no direct expertise, and you could stop before acting and consider whether your behaviour is contributing to or alleviating their existing disadvantage.

Privilege isn't limited to skin colour. There are many other attributes that can confer privilege like class, gender and sexuality. But where does this privilege come from? Unlike your accomplishments and achievements which can give you an advantage, privilege is not really something personal. Instead, it's the way that the wider society has developed through time to create advantage for certain groups of people - usually those in power and their allies and friends. Some of these structures have existed for so long that we don't even notice them. That's the case for sexuality, for example. Unless we are queer, we probably don't realise how strong the idea that heterosexuality is 'normal' is and how most of the messages and structures of society are aimed at heterosexual people. Same-sex marriage and other changes in the law have raised our awareness in recent times, of course.

There are two main ways you can engage with the idea of 'privilege'. The first is to become aware of the ways that you might be advantaged through the way society is set up, essentially, the things that make life a little easier for you like skin colour (being paler), gender (being male) or being able-bodied. The second is to become sensitive to the fact that other people may not have these advantages, especially when you share a space with them. Once you do this, then you can take personal responsibility for reducing the disadvantage they may face, through no fault of their own. This might be simple things like holding back so a black student can answer a question or act as spokesperson rather than you or more difficult things like challenging another student who has made a homophobic remark. In this way you are using your privilege for the good of others.

Find out more

Professor Ann Phoenix, professor of Education at the University of London blog for The British Academy   5 min read
NUS Resources on Intersectionality
On intersectionality: essential writings, Crenshaw, Kimberlé, New York: The New Press; 2017

ISBN : 9781620972700 (pbk.)
Find the book On intersectionality in the University library
Kalwant Bhopal (2020) Confronting White privilege: the importance of intersectionality in the sociology of education, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 41:6, 807-816, DOI: 10.1080/01425692.2020.1755224
Online article copy from British Journal of Sociology of Education
McCall, L. (2005). The Complexity of Intersectionality. Signs, 30(3), 1771-1800.
Online version on The Complexity of Intersectionlity

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At the University, we know that students from less privileged backgrounds, black students, trans and non-binary students, amongst others, have not always been made to feel welcome by their peers. It affects their mental and emotional wellbeing, confidence and ability to study. This is not only sad but unacceptable.

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Using intersectionality in policymaking and analysis: Summary findings

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Using intersectionality in policymaking and analysis: Summary findings

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Using intersectionality in policymaking and analysis: Summary findings

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A summary report which looks at what the concept of intersectionality concept means, and how it can be applied to policymaking and analysis, as well as providing a spotlight example.

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Intersectionality and School Psychology: Implications for Practice

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Intersectionality and School Psychology: Implications for Practice

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National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)

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The term intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in relation to how antidiscrimination laws did not protect Black women given that those laws treated race and gender as mutually exclusive categories of experience and analysis (Cooper, 2016; Crenshaw, 1989). Crenshaw (1989) challenged the use of a single-axis framework (i.e., one that considers single, rather than multiple categories of identity) as a basis for rendering legal decisions in employment discrimination cases involving Black women because such a framework did not account for the multiple ways Black women experienced discrimination. Crenshaw (1989) argued that individuals, especially those with multiple minoritized (which refers to a person being forced into a group that is mistreated, faces prejudices, or is discriminated against because of situations outside of one's personal control) identities, should be viewed through a lens that takes into account how their identities intersect to influence their experience of the world, particularly experiences that lead to discrimination. Intersectionality, therefore, refers to the simultaneous experience of social categories such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation and the ways in which these categories interact to create systems of oppression, domination, and discrimination.

This article was written in reference to the recently released National Association of School Psychologists (2017) infographic, Understanding Intersectionality. The article explores how intersectionality can be used as a lens to aid in school psychologists' understanding of their own intersecting identities as well as those of the students they serve, particularly in relation to how the intersection of identities interact with privilege or oppression. The article briefly reviews research on Black girls' disproportionate representation in school-based discipline to illustrate how the intersection of gender and race can interact with school-based disciplinary systems, resulting in inequitable outcomes for Black girls. The article concludes with recommendations for how school psychologists can use intersectionality as a practice lens to encourage social justice for those students whose chances of experiencing marginalization and discrimination are increased based on their identities.

Intersectionality and Social Justice: Understanding the Role of Privilege and Oppression

Intersectionality can serve as a powerful practice lens that focuses school psychologists on students' intersecting identities and how these intersections contribute to students' experiences of discrimination and oppression. This lens directs school psychologists to take into account students' multiple identities when considering how their academic and social worlds are constructed. For example, a male student of immigrant status who is learning how to speak English and identifies as gay may have different school experiences than his peers who do not share the same identities. His immigrant status, limited English proficiency, and sexual orientation can place him at higher risk of discrimination or oppression due to others' (e.g., administrators, teachers, peers) personal biases and preconceived notions about aspects of his identity (NASP, 2017).

Because the concept of intersectionality is concerned with creating more equitable and socially just outcomes for those with minoritized identities, it is important for school psychologists to not only understand the intersecting identities that place students at higher risk for discrimination and oppression, but to also understand how students' intersecting identities relate to systems of privilege. This is important because, often, privileges for one group are directly linked to disadvantages or oppressions for other groups (NASP, 2016). The use of intersectionality is social justice work that aims to interrogate and challenge inequality and exclusion (Case, 2016). This aim mirrors Speight and Vera's (2009) assertion that social justice includes the examination and transformation of the processes that initially contributed to unequal outcomes and marginalization of certain groups. To ensure that the concept of intersectionality serves as a mechanism for social justice, school psychologists must have an understanding of privilege and oppression because, as noted, school psychologists must understand how students' intersecting identities interact with systems that serve to privilege some while oppressing others. Additionally, when school psychologists understand and acknowledge the privileges they hold themselves, they can leverage those privileges to advocate for the diverse students and families they serve.

Privilege. Privilege refers to unearned access to resources and social power that are only available to some as a result of their advantaged social group membership (Adams, Bell, & Griffin, 2007). There are many types of privilege (e.g., ability, Christian, socioeconomic, male, heterosexual). Recently, there has been much discussion of White privilege (see NASP, 2016). This type of privilege is relevant to address in school psychology given that the majority of school psychologists identify racially as White (Walcott, Charvat, McNamara, & Hyson, 2016). Many White school psychologists may reject the idea that they benefit from unearned advantages in American society (Shriberg, 2016). This may result from the assumption that White privilege means that a White person has not worked hard to obtain success. However, one can experience unearned benefits of being White while also working hard to achieve success. White students, for example, can work hard to make honor roll, while still benefitting from unearned access to resources and social power such as attending schools where most teachers look and speak like them; being instructed in curricula that reflect their culture, history, and background; and being exposed to national heroes who share their racial background (Holladay, 2000). From a systemic perspective, many White students also benefit from White privilege in terms of attending schools with more experienced teachers, having access to more Advanced Placement (AP) courses and higher quality instructional materials, as well as better facilities compared to Black and Latinx (Latinx is a term inclusive of gender diversity among individuals with Latin American heritage) students (U.S. Department of Education, 2015). Indeed, ample evidence illustrates Black and Latinx students do not benefit from many of the privileges White students access daily (Ford, Wright, Washington, & Henfield, 2016; Proctor, 2016). In fact, many Black and Latinx students experience oppressions which are intensified when one accounts for how their race intersects with other identities they hold such as socioeconomic status, gender, and sexual orientation (Koswic, Greytak, Giga, Villenas, & Danischewski, 2016; NASP, 2017; Singh, 2017).

Oppression. Oppression is defined as a system that maintains advantage and disadvantage based on social group memberships and operates, intentionally and unintentionally, on individual, institutional, and cultural levels (Adams et al., 2007). Attitudes and actions that reflect prejudice against a group are examples of how oppression manifests at the individual level. Policies, laws, rules, norms, and customs that disadvantage some groups, while advantaging other groups, serve as mechanisms of oppression at the institutional level. At the cultural level, norms, roles, rituals, language, and behaviors that reflect and reinforce the belief that one group is superior to another represent oppression (Adams et al., 2007). Importantly, one can hold multiple, intersecting identities that lead to privilege in some instances, and oppression in other instances. For example, a White cisgender (term for people whose gender identity matches the sex that they were assigned at birth) female student who has physical and cognitive disAbilities can experience the privileges associated with having White skin in America, as well as oppressions that can result from being female and having multiple disAbilities. To connect with students' intersectional identities, it is important for school psychologists to understand their own intersecting identities and how those identities can lead to their own experiences of privilege or oppression. The following discussion aims to move school psychologists toward understanding how becoming aware, acknowledging, and understanding their own intersecting identities can impact service delivery to diverse students.

Intersectionality and School Psychologists

The increasingly diverse U.S. school-age population, contrasted against the predominantly White and female demographics of school psychologists, necessitates a need for attention to intersectionality in school psychology (Proctor, Kyle, Fefer, & Lau, 2017). This need includes school psychologists' understanding of themselves and the students they serve as intersectional beings. To be more specific, the most recent NASP demographic data reported that 83% of school psychologists surveyed were female, 87% White, and 86% spoke English only (Walcott et al., 2016). These demographics are in contrast to almost 50% of U.S. public school students who are identified as being members of racial or ethnic "minority" groups (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2017). Furthermore, approximately 9.4% of students are identified as English language learners (NCES, 2017).

Due to the demographics of the profession compared to U.S. public school students, most school psychologists work with students from backgrounds different from their own (Proctor, Simpson, Levin, & Hackimer, 2014). This is not inherently problematic if they possess the multicultural competency to serve all students. Unfortunately, studies have suggested that school psychologists may lack the skills needed to competently serve diverse student populations (Scherr, 2011). Fortunately, scholars have identified the skills school psychologists need to develop multicultural competency. A first step is self-awareness (Carroll, 2009; NASP, 2016; Proctor & Meyers, 2015). In terms of intersectionality, it is important for school psychologists to become aware of identities that serve to privilege them. Although recognizing one's own privilege can be uncomfortable, it is necessary for multiculturally competent school psychology practice that promotes social justice for all students. In a recent article related to understanding race and privilege, NASP (2016) noted that "privilege is problematic (a) when it skews our personal interactions and judgments and (b) when it contributes to or blinds us to systemic barriers for those who do not possess a certain privilege, thereby creating or perpetuating inequity" (p. 24). Take for example a school psychologist who identifies as White, female, and lesbian. If this school psychologist has not worked to recognize her privilege as a White person in the United States, she may struggle to recognize how educational and social systems perpetuate bias, discrimination, and inequities that can affect the diverse students and families she serves.

Using an intersectional lens, it is likely that the aforementioned school psychologist has also experienced some oppressions based on her sexual orientation, including being on the receiving end of prejudice and discrimination. If the school psychologist can recognize how her sexual orientation, as one aspect of her identity, links to experiences of oppression, then she may be more likely to understand and empathize with the students she serves who also have oppressive and marginalizing experiences based on one or more of their intersecting identities. School psychologists' awareness, acknowledgement, and understanding of their own intersecting identities represent first steps to facilitating understanding of their students' intersecting identities. These first steps can lead to further exploration of how systems of privilege and oppression impact diverse student populations.

Intersectionality in Schools: Black Girls and Discipline Disproportionality

Use of intersectionality as a practice lens can help school psychologists unpack the ways in which students' intersecting identities contribute to increased risk for discrimination and oppression that can lead to marginalizing educational experiences. As indicated in Understanding Intersectionality (NASP, 2017), one example of the impact of intersectionality in schools is the disproportionate representation of Black girls in school-based discipline. In Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, and Underprotected, Crenshaw, Ocen, and Nanda (2015) highlighted the excessive disciplinary actions used with Black girls attending elementary and secondary schools in Boston and New York City. Findings suggested that, compared to girls of other races, Black girls face a higher risk of suspension and expulsion for subjective behavioral violations. Crenshaw et al. (2015) noted that Black girls may be subjected to harsher punishment because they are perceived as loud, unruly, or unmanageable. In many cases, implicit bias and stereotyping contribute to educators' perceptions that Black girls' behaviors are in opposition to institutional norms (Crenshaw et al., 2015). This results in systemic discrimination that leads to negative outcomes for Black girls, including underachievement, school dropout, and increased marginalization within the school setting via suspensions, expulsions, and involvement with the criminal justice system (Crenshaw et al., 2015).

The intersectional role that gender and race plays in the school experiences of Black girls is very important to acknowledge, particularly given evidence that systemic bias and disparities in school-based discipline practices and outcomes begin as early as preschool and continue throughout Black girls' educational experiences. For example, while Black girls represent only 20% of female preschool enrollment, they represent 54% of female preschool children who receive one or more out-of-school suspensions (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Research also documents that Black girls in K-12 settings are overrepresented in exclusionary disciplinary punishments compared to their Hispanic and White female peers (Blake, Butler, Lewis, & Darensbourg, 2011; U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Similar to Crenshaw et al.'s (2015) findings, Blake and colleagues (2011) found that, unlike Hispanic and White girls, Black girls were most often punished for behaviors perceived to be in opposition to institutional standards of femininity. These types of discriminatory discipline practices led Black girls to feel that their schools were neither safe nor supportive learning environments (Crenshaw et al., 2015).

Using an intersectional lens, school psychologists can better understand Black girls and how the intersections of their race and gender inform disciplinary experiences along their educational pathways (Morris, 2012). This same intersectional lens can be used to examine inequitable, discriminatory, and unjust educational experiences in relation to diverse students regarding special education referral and placement practices (Sullivan & Proctor, 2016), referral and access to gifted education and AP classes (Ford et al., 2016), and academic achievement (Chavous, Rivas-Drake, Smalls, Griffin, & Cogburn, 2008). Indeed, use of intersectionality provides a lens to facilitate school psychologists' examination of systemic and structural forces that often contribute to the marginalization of students whose intersecting identities place them at greater risk for experiencing discrimination. Yet, to fully embrace the intent of intersectionality, it is not enough for school psychologists to just examine systems and structures that oppress some students, while privileging others. School psychologists must use their positionality and privileges to interrogate, challenge, and dismantle biased systems and structures (Proctor et al., 2017). The following discussion provides practice recommendations to aid school psychologists in using intersectionality to effect social justice for diverse student populations.

Implications for Practice

Know thyself. As indicated, self-awareness is the first step required to facilitate use of an intersectional practice lens. Carroll (2009) noted that awareness has four components: (a) awareness of self and one's own personal values and beliefs; (b) awareness of others and their multiple identities; (c) awareness of systemic issues such as privilege; and (d) awareness of the implications that professional decisions have on students today, tomorrow, and in the future. In terms of intersectionality, school psychologists should develop awareness of their own intersecting identities and how these identities may have privileged or oppressed them in their personal and professional lives. This is important because school psychologists who are not aware of their own intersecting identities and how those identities shape how they experience the world may have difficulty understanding how diverse students' identities can influence their educational and social experiences and outcomes. One activity that can facilitate school psychologists' awareness of their identities is the Identity Wheel Activity (Adams et al., 2007; Hernandez, 2017). Using a worksheet format, this activity requires participants to reflect on various identities they hold (e.g., race, sex, gender, religion, class, ability, sexual orientation, age) and identify which of those identities are most conscious. The worksheet includes a circle in which the size of the slice of the circle reflects participants' awareness of their membership in the corresponding social group. To help participants connect their various identities to experiences of oppression or privilege, participants are instructed to place a T (Targeted) or A (Advantaged) in each slice, signifying if that identity results in being advantaged or targeted (Hernandez, 2017).

Knowledge development and education. Similar to models for multicultural competency development (e.g., Carroll, 2009; Proctor & Meyers, 2015), knowledge acquisition is a second step to engaging an intersectional practice lens. This requires school psychologists to gain knowledge about the diverse populations they serve, giving special attention to how diverse students' intersecting identities can place them at greater risk for discrimination and marginalizing experiences. The NASP (2017) infographic, Understanding Intersectionality, offers excellent resources related to diverse student populations and intersectionality.

Once school psychologists have developed their own knowledge base related to diverse student populations and how intersectionality can affect social, emotional, academic, and behavioral outcomes, they should share this knowledge with colleagues, including teachers, administrators, and other educational stakeholders. Leading discussions about historical and current educational practices and policies that have worked to disadvantage and discriminate against marginalized groups is a starting point. One way to share knowledge about Black girls' disproportionate representation in school-based discipline is to organize a group reading of Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique Morris (2016) coupled with a viewing of Kimberlé Crenshaw's TED Talk about intersectionality. Introduction of these two resources can offer educators foundational knowledge related to disparate discipline practices using an intersectional lens. Once knowledge is obtained and staff are engaged in critically examining processes that maintain disparate discipline practices for Black girls, then school psychologists can lead systematic efforts to dismantle the biased policies, practices, and structures that maintain such unjust practices.

Encourage systems change. Changing systems that privilege some, while oppressing others, is essential to using an intersectional practice lens. School psychologists should advocate at the school, district, state, and national levels for laws, policies, and practices that support social justice for students who experience oppressions based on their intersecting identities (NASP, 2012). NASP offers a number of resources that support advocacy, knowledge building, and skills development related to diverse student populations (see http://www.nasponline.org/research-and-policy/advocacy-tools-and-resources). Furthermore, school psychologists' skills in collaborative problem solving, data-based decision making, and research can be used to effect systems change. For instance, skills in data-based decision-making can be used to decrease Black girls' overrepresentation in exclusionary discipline practices. Rollenhagen, Goodman, and Barnes (2017) addressed school psychologists' participation in decreasing racial disparities in discipline, noting: the role of the school psychologists includes "facilitation or support of the process, data dialogue to ensure accuracy of data collection, proper analysis of data, and assistance with the creation of potential solutions or action plans to address the identified problem" (p. 10). Rollenhagen et al. (2017) provide an informative discussion about how a school psychologist worked in tandem with other educators to decrease discipline disparities for Black boys and girls in a K-7 grade school in the Midwest. Indeed, NASP (2012) advocated that a key role for school psychologists is to promote systems change by assisting administrators in evaluating practices, policies, and procedures that lead to potential disparities in access, participation, or outcomes for students based on demographic group membership.

Be a social justice advocate. NASP's definition of social justice underscored that social justice is both a process and a goal that requires action to facilitate equity and fairness for all students (Barrett & A'Vant, 2017). School psychologists who embrace an intersectionality practice lens commit to understanding the educational processes, systems, structures, policies, and practices that put students, based on their intersecting identities, at increased risk for discrimination, prejudices, and oppression. Shriberg (2016) outlined steps for social justice advocates in the profession, including: (a) acknowledge White privilege, (b) listen and learn from others, (c) think, and (d) act. In relation to addressing discipline disproportionality, Shriberg (2016) noted the power of having skills to analyze school-based discipline data and understand the larger school discipline research. However, he noted that school psychologists must act on this knowledge to make a positive impact on outcomes for those students who are most affected by discipline disproportionality based on their intersecting identities. Although we have used the example of Black girls and discipline disproportionality throughout this article as an example of intersectionality in schools, Shriberg's (2016) proposed steps for social justice advocacy can be applied to issues that impact many student populations when using an intersectionality practice lens.

Conclusion

Speight and Vera (2009) noted that school psychologists can advance social justice by examining and challenging practices, policies, and institutional structures that contribute to inequity. Intersectionality provides a lens through which we can examine the processes, practices, policies, and structures that increase the risk of students experiencing disadvantage or discrimination because of their intersecting identities. However, to truly embrace intersectionality, school psychologists must be willing to engage in everyday actions that advocate for equity and fairness for all students, particularly those at risk for the most marginalization based on their identities.

References

Adams, M., Bell, L. A., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (2007). Teaching for diversity and social justice, 2nd Edition. New York, NY: Routledge.

Barrett, C., & A'Vant, L. (2017). Social justice: Historical perspective and the next frontier of school psychology. Communiqué, 45 (8), 4-6.

Blake, J. J., Butler, B. R., Lewis, C. W., & Darensbourg, A. (2011). Unmasking the inequitable discipline experiences of urban Black girls: Implications for urban educational stakeholders. The Urban Review, 43, 90-106. doi.10.1007/s11256-009-0148-8

Carroll, D. W. (2009). Toward multicultural competence: A practice model for implementation in the schools. In J. M. Jones (Ed.), The psychology of multiculturalism in schools: A primer for practice, training, and research (pp. 1-16). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Case, K. A. (2016). Toward an intersectional pedagogy model. In K. A. Case (Ed.), Intersectional pedagogy: Complicating identity and social justice (pp. 1-24). New York, NY: Routledge.

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Morris, M. W. (2016). Pushout: The criminalization of Black girls in schools. New York, NY: The New Press.

Morris, M. W. (2012). Race, gender, and the school-to-prison pipeline: Expanding our discussion to include Black girls. New York, NY: The African American Policy Forum.

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Proctor, S. L. (2016). Introduction to the special issue: Encouraging racial and social justice throughout the pre-k to graduate school pipeline. School Psychology Forum, 10, 233-236.

Proctor, S. L., Kyle, J., Fefer, K., & Lau, C. (2017). Examining racial microaggressions, race/ethnicity, gender, and bilingual status with school psychology students: The role of intersectionality. Contemporary School Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1007/s40688-017-0156-8

Proctor, S. L., & Meyers, J. (2015). Best practices in primary prevention in diverse schools and communities. In P. L. Harrison & A. Thomas (Eds.)., Best practices in school psychology: Foundations. (pp. 33-47). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Proctor, S. L., Simpson, C. M., Levin, J., & Hackimer, L. (2014). Recruitment of diverse students in school psychology programs: Direction for future research and practice. Contemporary School Psychology, 18, 117-126. doi:10.1007/s40688-014-0012-z

Rollenhagen, J., Goodman, S., & Barnes, A. C. (2017). Using data to address racial disproportionality in discipline practices. Communiqué, 46 (1), 10-13.

Scherr, T. G. (2011). Addressing the needs of marginalized youth at school. In S. R. Jimerson, A. B. Nickerson, M. J. Mayer, & M. J. Furlong (Eds). The handbook of school violence and safety: International research and practice. New York, NY: Routledge.

Shriberg, D. (2016). Commentary: School psychologists as advocates for racial and social justice: Some proposed steps. School Psychology Forum, 10, 337-339.

Singh, A. A. (2017). Counseling lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth of color. In E. C. Lopez, S. G. Nahari, & S. L. Proctor (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural school psychology: An interdisciplinary perspective (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Speight, S. L., & Vera, E. M. (2009). The challenge of social justice for school psychology. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 19, 82-92. doi:10.1080/10474410802463338

Sullivan, A. L., & Proctor, S. L. (2016). The shield or the sword? Revisiting the debate on racial disproportionality in special education and implications for school psychologists. School Psychology Forum, 10, 278-288.

U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. (2016). 2013-2014 civil rights data collection: A first look. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/2013-14-first-look.pdf

U. S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. (2015). Protecting civil rights, advancing equity: Report to the President and secretary of education. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/ocr/report-to-president-and-secretary-of-education-2013-14.pdf

Walcott, C. M., Charvat, J., McNamara, K. M., & Hyson, D. M. (2016, February). School psychology at a glance: 2015 member survey results. Special session presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists, New Orleans, LA.
Sherrie L. Proctor, PhD, is an associate professor of school psychology at Queens College, City University of New York. Brittney Williams, MEd, is a third year doctoral student in the Temple University school psychology program. Tracey Scherr, PhD, NCSP, is a professor at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Kathrynne Li is a second year master's student in the Queens College, City University of New York School Psychology Program. The following are acknowledged with appreciation as the primary authors of the NASP Understanding Intersectionality infographic: Tara Raines, PhD, Tracey Scherr, PhD, Elizabeth A'Vant, Charles Barrett, PhD, and Emily Klein.
© 2017, National Association of School Psychologists, 4340 East West Highway, Suite 402, Bethesda, MD 20814, 301-657-0270, www.nasponline.org

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Intersectionality and School Psychology: Implications for Practice

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The term intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in relation to how antidiscrimination laws did not protect Black women given that those laws treated race and gender as mutually exclusive categories of experience and analysis (Cooper, 2016; Crenshaw, 1989).

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Power, Penalty, and Critical Praxis: EmployingIntersectionality in Educator Practices to AchieveSchool Equity

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Power, Penalty, and Critical Praxis: EmployingIntersectionality in Educator Practices to AchieveSchool Equity

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Overview

The Social Identity Wheel worksheet is an activity that encourages students to identify social identities and reflect on the various ways those identities become visible or more keenly felt at different times, and how those identities impact the ways others perceive or treat them. The worksheet prompts students to fill in various social identities (such as race, gender, sex, ability disability, sexual orientation, etc.) and further categorize those identities based on which matter most in their self-perception and which matter most in others' perception of them. The Social Identity Wheel can be used in conjunction with the Personal Identity Wheel to encourage students to reflect on the relationships and dissonances between their personal and social identities. The wheels can be used as a prompt for small or large group discussion or reflective writing on identity by using the Spectrum Activity, Questions of Identity.

Please leave a comment at the bottom of the page with your thoughts or experience with this activity and be sure to check out our other resource guides and activity guides to further your knowledge and practice on inclusive teaching!

Activity Goals:

To encourage students to consider their identities critically and how identities are more or less keenly felt in different social contexts. The classroom and the university can be highlighted as a context as a way to approach questions on barriers to inclusion.

To illuminate how privilege operates to normalize some identities over others. For example, a student who speaks English as their first language can reflect on why they rarely need to think about their language as an aspect of their identity while some of their peers may identity language as the aspect of their identity they feel most keenly in the classroom.

To sensitize students to their shared identities with their classmates as well as the diversity of identities in the classroom, building community and encouraging empathy.

Application in a STEM Course:

Fostering a sense of community in your classroom can create a sense of belonging. According to a CRLT study on retention in STEM courses, "students reported that classroom climate (including their anxiety levels, how welcome they felt in class...and instructor rapport with students) significantly influenced their decisions to stay in or leave STEM disciplines." If students feel that they are part of a community, they will feel more comfortable engaging and participating in the classroom. In another study, peer interactions and support in STEM courses led to gains both academically and socially. The Social Identity Wheel is a great way for students to engage with each other on a personal level, creating connections that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. Taking the time to complete this activity at the start of the semester will help students form meaningful bonds, allowing them to better collaborate and support each other throughout the semester.

Application in a Large Course:

Cooperative learning and small group approaches in a large course can greatly benefit student learning, engagement, and overall sense of community. Research has shown that leveraging such approaches can lead to the development of key skills such as active listening, empathy, consensus building, leadership, constructive conflict management and resolution as well as decreasing racial prejudice while increasing interracial tolerance. This activity allows students in your large course to learn from and about each other and to reduce the feeling of anonymity that can be pervasive in a large course setting. By making your large course feel smaller through this activity, you are actively working toward making a more inclusive space for all students.

Citation: Cooper, J.L. and Robinson, P. (2000), The Argument for Making Large Classes Seem Small. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2000: 5-16. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/10.1002/tl.8101

Application in an Online Course:

Online learning can feel impersonal and disconnected, but there are inclusive teaching practices you can leverage to build community and connection in your online course. Taking the time to get to know each other's identities through this activity can help build trust between students, which is a key indicator of whether or not students feel comfortable participating. In one study, researchers asked the question, "what did graduate students who were enrolled in an online course about teaching online find most valuable about online moderation and community building?" From the study, students stated that Student Needs and Community Building were essential components to online learning. Regarding Student Needs, one student stated, "It is necessary that everyone feels safe, comfortable, and welcomed before they will fully engage, enabling them to make personal connections and grow from each other." Regarding Community Building, another student stated, "Learning communities often develop naturally in a traditional classroom environment, but in an online course, the instructor must make that happen."

Social Identity Wheel Activity Guide:

Related Posts:

Facilitating the Social Identity Wheel in Your Classroom:

Social Identity Wheel starts at the 6:46 mark

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In this activity, students will identity social identities (race, gender, sex, socio-economic status, etc.) and reflect on the various ways those identities impact their lives and perceptions.

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Disorient is created by Dr Helena Liu, an intersectional feminist scholar 

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Disorient is created by Dr Helena Liu, an intersectional feminist scholar 

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Please note that this post contains references to domestic violence.

In the last few years, have you heard the word "intersectionality" thrown around but never gotten quite clear on what it actually means?

Perhaps you've heard the motto "my feminism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit" ( originally proclaimed by Flavia Dzodan) and now you're not so sure if your feminism has been "bullshit" all along.

Depending on who's using the word, intersectionality is used to refer to:

A scholarly theory

An advanced level of wokeness

Black women

Anyone who is 'multiply marginalized'

A critique of white feminists and white feminism

In this post, I'll cut through the conflicting and confusing accounts of intersectional feminism and provide an in-depth overview of intersectionality theory, what its practice involves, and how you can raise your consciousness in the struggle against the imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.
Intersectional feminism is an intellectual and political movement that identifies and challenges the ways interlocking systems of oppression impact social life, exemplified in the struggles of women of color.
Intersectionality theory was developed by legal scholar, Kimberlé Crenshaw, who showed how the law was inadequate to recognize and redress the intersection of gender and racial discrimination that disadvantages Black women in the United States. Crenshaw's work aims to challenge anti-discrimination legislation and its limitations in accounting for the specific and particular concerns of Black women.

The idea that Black women are subjected to both gender and racial injustice has deep roots in Black women's activism that can be traced as far back as the 1850s. At the same time, contemporary activists have taken the word 'intersectionality' and adapted it beyond Crenshaw's theorization in diverse and creative ways.

This post will take an in-depth look into what intersectionality means, its rich history in Black feminist thought and activism, how to be an intersectional feminist, and the criticisms of intersectional feminism.

At the end of the post, I'll also recommend some further resources to continue your intersectional feminist education.

You may want to download this comprehensive post as a PDF that you can print and read offline.

Kimberlé Crenshaw

Photograph by Mohamed Badarne

In 1989 while Kimberlé Crenshaw was an acting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles Law School, she published a groundbreaking piece entitled, 'Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics' in the University of Chicago Legal Forum.

'Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex' looked at three Title VII cases in which Black women faced challenges when they brought discrimination charges against their employers. The most well-known example was DeGraffenreid v General Motors where in 1976, five Black women alleged that General Motors discriminated against Black women. Evidence presented at the trial revealed that General Motors didn't hire Black women before 1964 and all the Black women hired since lost their jobs in a major layoff.

Under the law, the court could not consider the combination of race and sex discrimination experienced by the former employees. The Black women were forced to argue that their case was either race or sex discrimination. Yet because General Motors hired Black men and white women, the Black women had no case and consequently received no protection from the law.

The analogy Kimberlé Crenshaw used to describe the distinct vulnerability of Black women gave rise to 'intersectionality' theory:

Consider an analogy to traffic in an intersection, coming and going in all four directions. Discrimination, like traffic through an intersection, may flow in one direction, and it may flow in another. If an accident happens in an intersection, it can be caused by cars traveling from any number of directions and, sometimes, from all of them. Similarly, if a Black woman is harmed because she is in the intersection, her injury could result from sex discrimination or race discrimination.

Just two years later, Kimberlé Crenshaw followed up her first article with another powerhouse piece called, 'Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color', published in the Stanford Law Review. She extends her first article by adding class and immigrant status to the multiple oppressions faced by poor women of color in the United States.

In her second piece, Crenshaw visited battered women's shelters in communities of color in Los Angeles. She saw the consequences of gender, racial, and class disadvantage among the women of color at the shelters that trapped them within cycles of unemployment and poverty.

Immigrant women were also acutely vulnerable. As the law mandated that immigrant spouses had to remain "properly married" for two years before they could apply for permanent residency, immigrant women felt bound to stay with abusive partners for fear of being deported.

Kimberlé Crenshaw's theory of intersectionality did not go viral overnight. Her two articles stayed within legal studies until sometime in the 2010s when intersectionality really took off within and beyond academia.

In April 2017, intersectionality was officially added to the dictionary.

Crenshaw never claimed to have 'discovered' the idea that gender, race, and class oppressions intersect. Her 1989 article acknowledged the inspiration behind her theorizing among pioneering Black women thinkers and activists and she repeats in her 1991 article that her theory is not proposed as some "new, totalizing theory of identity".

However, the staggering fame of intersectionality has, at times, drowned out the rich Black feminist history that always challenged women of color's unique oppressions.

History of Black and Women of Color Feminist Thought

Sojourner Truth (1870)

Intersectional feminism (even though it wasn't called that at the time) built formidable coalitions during the 1960s and 1970s. Operating under banners like 'Third World feminism', radical women of color rallied against the intersecting oppressions of patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, and rising US imperialism.

In 1977, the Combahee River Collective, a coalition of Black lesbian feminists operating in Boston, Massachusetts between 1974-1980, produced a powerful manifesto that advanced an intersectional vision. In what they called A Black Feminist Statement, the Collective proclaimed:

We are actively committed to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class oppression and see as our particular task the development of integrated analysis and practice based upon the fact that the major systems of oppression are interlocking.

Photograph by K. Kendall

Indian feminist Chandra Talpade Mohanty also brought together race, nation, colonialism, class, gender, and sexuality to analyze the complex and unique experiences of women of color around the world.

A year before Kimberlé Crenshaw published her article, 'Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex', sociologist Deborah King proposed the theory of multiple jeopardy to describe how gender, racial and class oppressions interact in the lives of Black women.

Intersectional Feminist Activism

Intersectional feminism was certainly not confined to academia. Its social justice aims were propelled among women in color on the streets.

The Combahee River Collective who drafted that killer manifesto served its local community in Boston by attending to issues of domestic violence, reproductive rights, and food access in poor neighborhoods.

Organizations such as Asian Immigrant Women Advocates (AIWA), which has operated in California since 1983 embrace an intersectional approach in advancing the interests of Asian immigrant women subordinated by gender, race, class, and language disadvantage.

Even looking further back in history, we can find examples like the East London Federation of the Suffragettes. This radical group formed in 1914 to fight for working women's rights throughout the First World War.

Their members included working-class women and women of color whose contributions to the women's liberation movement have historically been sidelined.

Unlike other suffragette groups, the Federation advocated for universal suffrage.

As factories closed and food prices rose, the members of the Federation led community action to support those impacted by the war. Their initiatives included opening a volunteer-run children's health clinic, distributing milk to starving infants, and running canteens that served nutritious food at cost price. They even recruited a small 'People's Army' of supporters who defended the members against police brutality.

I am going to fight capitalism even if it kills me. It is wrong that people like you should be comfortable and well fed while all around you people are starving. Sylvia Pankhurst, founding member of the East London Federation of the Suffragettes

What Does It Mean to Be Intersectional?

An intersectional feminist brings into their activism a recognition of the ways privilege and oppression intersect in complex, ever-changing ways in our lives.

Mari Matsuda, the first tenured female Asian American law professor in the United States, suggests an intersectional approach can be guided by the practice of 'asking the other question':

When I see something that looks racist, I ask, "Where is the patriarchy in this?" When I see something that looks sexist, I ask, "Where is the heterosexism in this?" When I see something that looks homophobic, I ask, "Where are the class interests in this?" Working in coalition forces us to look for both the obvious and non-obvious relationships of domination, helping us to realize that no form of subordination ever stands alone.
A core belief of intersectional feminism is that none of us are free until all of us are free.
In practice, that means we must check our privilege while we struggle against the interlocking systems of power in our local contexts - imperialism, colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism, heteronormativity, cisnormativity, and patriarchy.

As an Asian woman working in academia, gender and racial injustice are often foremost in my mind, but practicing intersectional feminism means I need to remain self-reflective and self-critical about the ways my activism may marginalize LGBTQIA+, disabled, and working-class people.

This inclusion is not about simply making marginalized people feel welcome through small, performative gestures such as adding a rainbow border around my profile picture. Intersectionality is about identifying and challenging structural oppression. My commitment to queer politics, for example, must include systemic and ideological battles against all forms of heteronormativity like gender binaries and the traditional family.

Intersectional feminism understands that social categories like gender and race are not monolithic, even though there are strategic advantages to uniting under common political identifications like 'women of color'.

Within this banner of 'women of color', there are cracks and fissures that threaten our solidarity. For example, imperialist tendencies can lead educated middle-class English-speaking women of color in the Global North to speak for (and speak over) women of color in the Global South.

Under the white gaze, my light-skinned privilege as an Asian woman of Chinese descent grants me privileges over my darker-skinned friends. Colorism (prejudice against darker-skinned people of color) along with anti-Blackness are evils that all of us need to challenge within ourselves and our political movements.

Beyond White Feminism

Activists tend to use "intersectional feminism" nowadays as a shorthand to describe a feminist politics that goes beyond traditional (read: white, Western, middle-class, cisgender, heterosexual, and able-bodied) ideas about feminism.

When I say "white, Western, middle-class, etc. feminism", I do not mean individuals who identify as feminist and happen to be white, Western, middle-class, etc. The blame for social injustice doesn't lie with individuals. The root cause of social injustice is systems of power.

White feminism is the practice that claims to support gender equality while perpetuating racial injustice through upholding white power and privilege.

Examples of white feminists can be found among the early American suffragettes. Although the women's suffrage movement in the United States originally came out of the anti-slavery movement, the movement later used racism to fuel their aims and agenda.

The first woman to serve in the Senate, Rebecca Ann Latimer Felton, said: "I do not want to see a negro man walk to the polls and vote on who should handle my tax money, while I myself cannot vote at all".

Meanwhile, Black abolitionist men like Frederick Douglass fiercely argued for women's suffrage.

Indeed, many 'white feminists' do also identify as white. After all, white people stand to gain the most from white power and privilege, but their racial identity is not what makes them a white feminist. It's the racism.

There is no such thing as white feminism. Because if it's white, it's not feminism. It's either talking about all women, or it's not. Gloria Steinem

So in that respect, non-white people can technically be 'white feminists' if they pander to white power and support white supremacy.

The idea of people of color supporting white supremacy may seem counterintuitive, but it's more common than you might think.

In white societies, we're told that we'll be rewarded if we maintain the status quo. Obedient people of color are praised as 'the good ones' while those of us who dare speak against racism - 'the bad ones' - are repeatedly told we're too loud, too angry, and too threatening.

Public anti-racists report the ways they're frequently confronted with abuse, hate, and death threats. When we put our lives and livelihoods on the line every day we choose to challenge racial injustice, it's no wonder some of us would rather play it safe.
White feminism thus achieves its aims by keeping it too dangerous, too costly, too difficult, and too painful to fight for anti-racism.
Criticisms of Intersectionality

One reason scholars speculate why intersectionality may have become so popular is its vivid analogy of traffic crossing in different directions. Kimberlé Crenshaw has an incredible gift for communicating intellectually complex ideas in an accessible and relatable way.

More cynically, some Black feminists have also wondered if 'intersectionality' has been more attractive to mainstream white culture because it's seen as being less threatening than its precursors.

The Combahee River Collective called the source of social injustice "interlocking systems of oppression". Sociologist Patricia Hill Collins called it the "matrix of domination". And cultural critic bell hooks goes one step further and names four intersecting systems of Euroamerican power in the "imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy".

Each of these examples place power front and center in the way that the word "intersectionality" itself does not.

Even though Kimberlé Crenshaw is clear in her courageous critique against sexism, racism, and classism in her writings, 'intersectionality' has been used in some bizarre ways with very little resemblance to Crenshaw's original ideas.

Misunderstanding and Misusing Intersectionality

One of the most common misunderstandings of intersectionality is that it is about counting how many identities someone has. The more 'minority' identities they have, the more 'intersectional' they are. This notion is usually expressed by people who fear that queer disabled working-class Black Indigenous women and non-binary folx will gain power. (Like that's a bad thing.)

Intersectionality is about how identities relate to wider interlocking systems of power. So by understanding how Black women face gendered racism or racialized sexism helps us to identify the fundamental failures of antidiscrimination law. It's not an exercise in racing to count how many disadvantages someone can claim in the Oppression Olympics.

Misunderstanding intersectionality as just being about individual identity is pretty widespread. Even some very established organizations and websites will define intersectionality in this way.

I think why this perspective is so popular is because most people in our society are used to thinking of identity as something innate and universal, also known as an "essentialist" view of identity.

Intersectionality takes on what's known as a social constructionist view of identity. This means that rather than seeing identities like gender, sexuality, and race as biological traits, it understands how what it means to be a man/woman/non-binary/straight/queer/white/Black are informed by cultural ideas.

Related to the idea that intersectionality is about individuals, some well-meaning people unhelpfully offer new forms of intersectionality. You might hear them say, "everybody talks about gender, race, and class, but what about left-handed people, people who wear reading glasses, Geminis, and environmental vegans?"

Intersectionality then becomes about finding people with combinations of quirky attributes rather than the systems of power that produce and reproduce social injustice.

There is also some concern with people who eagerly adopt "intersectional" as a slogan for performative wokeness. They suspect it's a better, or at least more trendy, form of feminism, but they're not really sure why.

They proudly call themselves intersectional feminists even as they perpetuate racism, colorism, classism, casteism, homophobia, transphobia, and/or ableism. This creates confusing misinformation out there about what intersectionality is and what it stands for.

Understandably, some women of color have decided to break with intersectionality, feeling the movement has been colonized by ignorance.

Intersectionality quickly becomes meaningless when we use it from a place of vanity. Foundational to intersectional feminism must be continual learning, reflection, and growth.

Photograph by John Vicente

Conclusion

Intersectional feminism is an evolving and exciting movement grounded in Kimberlé Crenshaw's theory of intersectionality and extending the pioneering activist legacy of Black women and women of color around the world.

Intersectional approaches to feminism are profoundly solidaristic. It's committed to honest and compassionate consciousness of our privileges, and seeks to direct whatever power we have towards uplifting those who are marginalized and oppressed. An intersectional politics believes that none of us are free until all of us are free.

Due to the vagueness of the word, intersectionality has sometimes been misunderstood and misused in ignorant and dangerous ways. Being an intersectional feminist requires continual learning and dialogue in community to hold ourselves to account.

This post has deconstructed the multiple meanings and misunderstandings of intersectionality in hopes of providing clarity about how to cultivate an intersectional practice in your feminism. At the same time, I hope the stories of incredible women throughout history and around the world have inspired you along your journey towards social justice.

Intersectional Feminism Reading Challenge

I have created an intersectional feminist reading challenge where you'll get to choose a set of books to read through any timeframe of your choice to deepen your understanding of intersectional feminism.

Participating in this reading challenge allows you to join a community of fellow readers and myself as we share our struggles towards social justice. Click here to join the #IntersectionalReads challenge!

Learn More

I've compiled a list of my favorite books on intersectionality as well as some of the writers referenced in this article if you would like to learn more.
5 Must-Read Intersectional Feminist Books for Beginners
On Intersectionality: Essential Writings by Kimberlé Crenshaw

Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment by Patricia Hill Collins

Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center by bell hooks

How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Black Feminism Reimagined: After Intersectionality by Jennifer C. Nash

Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa

A Voice From the South by Anna Julia Cooper

The story about the East London Federation of the Suffragettes also features in my book, Redeeming Leadership: An Anti-Racist Feminist Intervention.

To see a much more comprehensive collection of all the books, articles, children's literature, poetry, videos, and podcasts on intersectional feminism I recommend, please visit the Readings and Resources page of this blog.

Please let me know if there are any other books on intersectional feminism that you might recommend I read and add to the list above.

Featured image by Mike Von

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What is Intersectional Feminism? A Definitive Guide - Disorient

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Please note that this post contains references to domestic violence. In the last few years, have you heard the word "intersectionality" thrown around but never gotten quite clear on what it actually means?

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Explore the key issues in gender equality and the empowerment of women. Learn how to support and advance these crucial causes.

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Learning and Skills Research Network and CWA Research and Innovation Forum event presentation

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Learning and Skills Research Network and CWA Research and Innovation Forum event presentation

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CELEBRATE DIFFERENCE APPLYING AN INTERSECTIONALITY LENS TO EXPAND EDUCATIONAL QAUITY FOR ALL (3)