Envisioning Art and Design Education Through the Lens of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Herron School of Art + Design
-Using People–Centered Design Research Approaches to Build an Understanding for DEI in Art and Design Schools
ABSTRACT
As the U.S witnesses the guilty verdict of Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd, communities nationwide are embracing the historical inequities spanning race, gender, religion and disability benefits. Higher education is equally rife with these inequities.
Widespread implementation of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) can be a catalyst for peace, acceptance and equality. Despite the requirement for educators to provide aptitude on DEI efforts in order to adhere to growing student needs, resources allocated for such endeavors remain low. Of course, this further increases the barriers for faculty tasked with familiarizing themselves with a wide range of DEI ‘topics’.
Articulation and commitment to DEI remains a challenge for educators. This is especially true in design education and the People-Centered Design process is perfectly poised to address these underlying issues. Implementing a People-Centered Design approach that puts the needs of people first can be the change in our education system that addresses complex social inequalities.
Design educators can lead this social paradigm shift within academia. However, before educators can make a commitment to diversity they must first engage in foundational learning of DEI terms and definitions. This case study, conducted at Indiana University’s Herron School of Art & Design provides a novel strategy for how this can be accomplished. Since educators have systematically transitioned into the digital world— the outcome of this case study proposes a prototype which characterizes the need of identifying DEI strategies through a digital experience.
OVERVIEW
RESEARCH QUESTION
APPROACH
The concepts of self-segregation, stereotyping, and stigmatization often lead to negative perceptions of diversity and prevents social inclusion in university settings.
For the purpose of this research, Herron’s conceptual framework influenced the evolution of the problem space and solution.
This framework consisted of non-linear stages which allowed me to shift in-between the stages.
This framework consisted of non-linear stages which allowed me to shift in-between the stages.
ANALYSIS
Interviews with art and design educators from Herron School of Art & Design were conducted to identify the pain-points educators were experiencing in this space. These discussions also helped to understand the learning environment and inform decisions that were a part of the initiative.
This served as a foundation to identify the
problem space.
This served as a foundation to identify the
problem space.
The interviews provided an opportunity to define the need of a tool that would allow me to envision a desired outcome while supporting additional requirements of educators in the effort to integrate DEI strategies into their teaching curriculum. The personas are a synthesis of findings from the perspective of the current educators. Each representing a different perspective and experience.
Developing a story prompted the next step which was to create the site map that demonstrated the structure of the application.
As a commitment to re-center DEI strategies, the stories and workflow cultivated a critical outline for a simple prototype design that is described as a wireframe. The process of creating a wireframe was fundamental to developing a proposed solution. Prototyping was a critical part of the process. After the earlier ideation process, a single prototype was developed which was used for evaluation.
SYNTHESIS
Blind Spots was the final prototype that was created as a concept idea for educators to encourage a commitment to diversity. The app started by signing up with relevant information and being able to choose the content that interested them. The app followed a path to filter and set goals for the week as the semester progressed by engaging in foundational learning and understanding of DEI strategies.
Features of the wireframe design allowed educators to search for resources when planning their syllabus or if educators were interested in viewing a checklist that helped them to prepare for the first day of class. The app had an objective tab that allowed educators to choose from different themes. And once the themes were accessed, different strategies were locked for the week. Once a goal had been locked, the gamified version of the app unfolded to receive a medal for creating a meaningful change in the classroom setting.
The profile tab permitted educators to access checklists for the practice. The network and share tab allowed educators to read a message of the day and share solutions that challenged them to analyze dominant ideologies, individual beliefs and behaviors with the practice. Once the experiences were shared, the profile saved everything that has been done.
Overall, the discussion and outcomes that emerged during the evaluation session highlighted the values and views of implementing DEI strategies through this experience.
LIMITATIONS
Diversity, inclusion and equity call for practices that provide organizational benefits and meaningful interactions with equitable outcomes. A major limitation was the amount of time it would require to follow DEI in its infancy for multiple years. Due to time constraints, the project only focused on DEI strategies at Herron School of Art & Design and its complexities. Further research or solution development could assess the desirability and efficacy of not only DEI practices but other challenges Herron may face in the future.
Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic restricted the possibility of conducting research on site and access student perspectives for their feedback, which would have had a positive impact on the results of this study.