Media, Communications, and Technology

Introduction As principles of diversity and inclusion become more explicit within Corporate America, there remains a discrepancy between commitments to and actualization of racial parity in corporations, particularly among corporate leadership. In this article, the authors evaluate corporate policies and contrast legally enforceable Affirmative Action policies that acknowledge the history and disparate impacts of slavery…

Introduction Textbooks, including their visual portrayals of a discipline, play a central role in education. Many studies have found that racial and gender biases are common in textbooks. In particular, women and racial and ethnic minorities have been excluded and/or portrayed in a stereotypical manner. If pictures tell stories that we believe to be true,…

Introduction Access to sufficient and affordable credit is a key determinant of a business startup’s ability to finance projects and pursue growth opportunities. An entrepreneur’s creditworthiness is often assessed using their credit score, which has been lauded for expanding access to credit and financing to credit-worthy business owners. However, research also suggests the credit-scoring process…

Introduction The media plays an essential role in shaping public opinion on complex social issues. This is why it is critical that journalists are equipped to cover topics of race effectively. The Associated Press signaled the seriousness of public discourse on racism when updating its stylistic guidelines in 2019: “Do not use racially charged or…

Introduction Despite the demonstrated benefits of preventive medicine, only 45% of American adults typically get a flu shot during flu season. Vaccine hesitancy is particularly common among Black and white lower socioeconomic status men, who don’t trust doctors and are skeptical of the benefits relative to the perceived risk. For Black Americans, this mistrust is…

Introduction Organizations, companies, and public sector institutions are increasingly concerned with gender equity. From national and municipal gender budgeting to corporate gender equality tracking, these and other worldwide efforts are trying to answer a central question: How can we treat people of all genders fairly and provide equitable opportunities and outcomes for everyone? This vision,…

Introduction Obermeyer et al. note both the growing attention to potential racial and gender biases within algorithms and the difficulty of obtaining access to real world algorithms – including the raw data used to design and train them – in order to understand how and why bias could appear in them. This study is important…

Introduction Despite the various achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, the media has played a key role in perpetuating negative and stereotypical perceptions of communities of color. Through its growing political and social influence on American society, the nation’s large media institutions have attained the ability to determine the specific issues that the average American discusses.…

Introduction Despite the wide ranging accomplishments earned by historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), narratives regarding HBCUs often use deficit-oriented framing that erase their achievements. This context of pervasive institutional anti-blackness is rooted in the historical marginalization of HBCUs that continues to reinforce itself through less favorable depictions of HBCUs in the media and ultimately…

Introduction This article addresses the growing public concern regarding the automation of racial discrimination through digital tools and technology. Throughout the paper, the author, Dr. Ruha Benjamin, focuses her discussion on a notable publication by Obermeyer et al. entitled, “Dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations.” Unlike most researchers who…