Category Archives: Gender

Gender differences, LGBQT

Authors A-H, Gender, Sports

Diversity and Speech Part 19: The Gendered Sports Dilemma – by Carlos E. Cortés

The theme for this month’s edition: what gender related issues should be addressed and how can they evolve productively?  Let’s up the ante.  What gender related issues must be addressed?  Here’s one: transgender women in sports.

Oh that all equity conflicts could be resolved simply by mouthing diversity clichés.  Not this one.  With regard to this perplexing issue, two pro-diversity camps have gone to war.  Probable allies on most equity concerns, these two camps have dug in their heels, often engaging in hyper-accusatory rhetoric in what has become known as the TERF wars.

TERF stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminists.  That term is used derogatorily by trans activists when referring to feminists who are perceived as not fully and unconditionally accepting trans women into their ranks.  Targets include TERF lesbians, revealing an LGBTQ split over this issue.    Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 19: The Gendered Sports Dilemma – by Carlos E. Cortés →

Authors I-Q, Of Women, Race & Ethnicity

I’m Black and I’m Proud – by Eva Johnson

Eva Johnson and John Lewis
Eva Johnson and John Lewis

I attended 12 public schools in Chattanooga during times when almost everything was racially separated: schools, churches, restaurants, tours,  organization memberships.  After my high school  graduation and an  early marriage, I relocated  with family to New England and eventually graduated from  Southern Connecticut University.  In the mid-seventies when I became an educator in a large suburban high school in Hamden, Connecticut, only about 10% of the school’s staff and student body was African American.

Continue reading I’m Black and I’m Proud – by Eva Johnson →

Go Green, Levine articles, Of Women

Greenpeace, Matriarchs, and Me — by Deborah Levine

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GreenpeaceI’ve always included articles on the environment in the almost 20 years of the American Diversity Report.  When I considered doing an article on the iconic Greenpeace movement which started much of our environmental activism, I thought it would be an intellectual and historical project.  But,  my 93-year old Aunt Polly informed that Green-ness runs in the family. Greenpeace is just a cousin away,  including one of the movement’s matriarchs.

Continue reading Greenpeace, Matriarchs, and Me — by Deborah Levine →

Authors A-H, Women in STEM

STEM Women Make it Count – by Sheila Boyington

‘Make It Count’ Event Commemorates Centennial of Women’s Right to Vote, Highlights Equity and Education

This year of 2020 marked the 100th anniversary of a remarkable shift in the women’s suffrage movement—the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 which ensured a woman’s constitutional right to vote.

Continue reading STEM Women Make it Count – by Sheila Boyington →

Levine articles, Women in STEM

A STEM Woman’s Story – by Deborah Levine

Don’t Bother Trying to Fit In

Deborah Levine
ADR Editor-in-Chief Deborah Levine

When my family moved to America from British Bermuda, I was still in elementary school, having completed first form, the equivalent of first grade, at the Bermuda High School (BHS) for Girls. Uniform and uniformed, I marched in step with the other girls, just as my mother had done through her entire schooling at BHS. Yes, I did stand out as the only Jewish girl in the school, or anywhere on the island. But generations of my family were well known on the island, so the singularity was tolerable. Inserted into a New York City suburb, I was delighted to find that this particular oddity was completely irrelevant. For better or worse, I still stuck out and a confidence crisis set in.

Continue reading A STEM Woman’s Story – by Deborah Levine →

Authors R-Z, Of Women

Mother’s Day for a True Diversity Futurist – by Sridhar Rangaswamy

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Happy Mother’s Day! Celebrated across the world for this year on May 10, 2020.  During the COVID-19 period, it is a time when people are doing social distancing and this is the time through online, to facilitate, help, support, be fair and objective for mothers across the world.

I should state in this time, I had come across a Great Person, Mrs. Deborah Levine, whom I wanted to share and support as a true mother having all the above qualities.

She is a giver and she takes time to do so always promptly, in spite of her busiest schedule on earth-managing multiple things at this time period. It’s not easy, and I respect her fully, support her as a generous, compassionate, humanitarian. She is true being human compared to being born as a human…there is a difference in practice in action and deeds as a true/fellow brotherly/sisterly hood.  Continue reading Mother’s Day for a True Diversity Futurist – by Sridhar Rangaswamy →

Articles about Writing, Levine articles, The Arts, Women in STEM

Why Bother Writing? – by Deborah Levine

Step Up Writing Skills
Climb Up the Ladder

Why bother writing when technology does much of the work for us? Templates plan for us, spell-check edits for us, and there’s enough information online to produce a ocean of plagiarized work. It’s no surprise that technical and business writing skills are becoming lost arts. Yet, successful communication with colleagues, teams, and clients relies heavily on written memos, emails, reports, proposals, and evaluations. Professional development , especially in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) should have a strong focus on technical writing skills, but rarely does.

technical writing

If you want to lead in STEM…

  • Write to organize your thoughts
  • Write to increase your visibility
  • Write to develop your credibility
  • Write to establish your influence

Continue reading Why Bother Writing? – by Deborah Levine →

Authors R-Z, Inclusion, LGBTQ, Sports

Inclusive Sports – by Martin Start

Diversity in the Sports World

Sport plays a significant role in creating communities as common bond is formed when individuals and teams compete celebrating their successes and failures with others.  The Olympics is as much a peace movement as a sporting event with the Olympic flame a symbol of harmony, cultural plurality and togetherness. Athletes have been practitioners of Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) for decades meeting and connecting with people from other countries and backgrounds setting aside differences and developing a sense of fair play for all. Nicknamed “The Greatest”, Muhammad Ali is one of the most celebrated sporting figures of the 20th Century and he brought the whole world together when an estimated global audience of 1 billion viewers watched his famous “The Rumble in the Jungle” fight with George Foreman. In the 21st Century, major sporting apparel companies understand the ubiquitous commercial benefits of I&D as evidenced in the World Economic Forum article titled: The business case for diversity in the workplace is now overwhelming which stated:

     “It is important for corporations to step up and advocate for diversity and tolerance on a public platform. A great example of this is Nike’s support of American football quarterback and rights campaigner Colin ` Kaerpenick. More than a marketing exercise, it showed the world that one of America’s best-known corporations was willing to stand aside one man in his battel against racial injustice and intolerance.”

Continue reading Inclusive Sports – by Martin Start →

Authors R-Z, Of Women

Women’s History Month Tribute to the Queen of Soul – by Elwood Watson

of soul
Aretha Franklin

During Women’s History Month we pause to remember and celebrate the achievements of iconic women who positively contributed to shaping the social fabric of America.

One such woman is the spectacular singer, Aretha Franklin. She is still affectionately known as the “Queen of Soul” to her countless millions of fans and others worldwide who span generations of every race, color, gender, age and ethnicity.

Continue reading Women’s History Month Tribute to the Queen of Soul – by Elwood Watson →