Underrepresentation is not new to education, yet as a whole, K-12 schools, colleges and other institutions are still struggling to fix it.
In fall of 2020, Citrus had 796 employees, 171 of whom were full-time faculty.
In the same year, they had 11,612 full time students, of which 3.07% were black, 15.10% were non-hispanic/white and 65.20% were hispanic.
The students were taught by a 55.56% majority of non-hispanic/white teachers.
Neighboring community colleges had a similar makeup.
Chaffey had a 64.18% hispanic student body being taught by a 59.47% non-hispanic/white staff and Rio Hondo had an 84.41% hispanic student body with a 42.86% non-hispanic/white staff.
If the picture isn’t clear enough, these schools’ teachers don’t reflect the ethnic diversity of their student bodies, and that must change.
Diversity in education enhances curriculum, learning environment and comfortability of the students who are enrolled. Students deserve to be taught by teachers who understand and share their experiences.
The deeper issue is, why aren’t more non-white people wanting to teach?
A prominent reason is the curriculum’s lack of diversity. A black person doesn’t want to teach kids about slavery from a textbook written by white people.
A hispanic person doesn’t want to teach hispanic students that Ceasar Chavez, a Mexican American, is the only person who represents them, when in reality hispanic culture is far deeper than textbooks make it seem.
It is not only the lack of representation that is concerning, but the lack of knowledge shared with these students about significant figures of their race/ethnicity. Students are being taught one side of history, namely the white side.
Appreciation of a topic helps engage students to want to learn more. If what’s being taught isn’t compelling or representing the demographic of a classroom, it makes it harder for students and teachers to connect with one another and other cultures.
The atmosphere of the classroom, what’s being taught and who’s teaching it is a direct reflection of the overall misrepresentation in many hispanic and black populated schools.
Although there have been a few initiatives to include more diverse books into curriculums like some by Sandra Cisneros, a Mexican American writer whose stories focus on her culture and women and books about prominent minority figures like Fredrick Douglas and Henrietta Lacks, there is still much improvement that needs to be done.
Asking students to read stories about people who represent them and being able to teach someone from personal racial/ethnic knowledge can only lead to a greater educational experience.
At the end of the day, a teacher’s race or gender shouldn’t matter if their teachings are thorough and accurate, but for some students, having never had a teacher who looks like them throughout their education can be frustrating.
For students, seeing people who look like them is empowering. Knowing that someone like them can hold a position as powerful as a teacher is inspiring. Community colleges should do more to foster that kind of inspiration.
