Report

Executive summary

The Media School is committed to the pursuit of an inclusive environment for our community of students, faculty, and staff. To further that goal, The Media School’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Staff Committee supported the Student Services’s initiative to plan and facilitate a series of focus groups for Media School undergraduates with underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds. This project was intended to serve as a test run for future Student Services focus groups and the team members were Eliza Erxleben, Quenshia Graves, Sharon Mayell, Rebecca Stanze, and Leya Taylor. This report reflects what was learned to help identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. 

In April 2021, invitations to participate in the focus groups were emailed to a list of undergraduate students, pulled from IUIE in early spring 2021, who self-identified as from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group. The invitation was also included in The Buzz newsletter and on the school's Canvas page. Participation was incentivized with a $25 Amazon gift card. Six virtual focus groups and individual interviews were held, with each session lasting 30-60 minutes. The number of participants in each session ranged from one to four. Eleven undergraduate students of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds participated in these sessions and each class, first year through senior, was represented. 

Two members of the committee were assigned to each focus group session. A facilitator asked theinterview questionsand kept the conversation going while the other person took notes. The interview questions focused on the students’ expectations and experiences within The Media School and included a request for suggestions for improvement in regards to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Students were provided with the list of questions prior to their focus group session and were asked to consider them in the context of their racial or ethnic identities. Notes of student responses were finalized using audio recordings of the sessions, which were eventually deleted to keep all feedback anonymous and confidential. 

While the original goal was to collect feedback related to diversity, equity and inclusion, these conversations covered a variety of topics related to the student experience, providing further insight into Media School programs through the eyes of these particular participants. The resulting insights are organized into areas of strength, areas for improvement related to DEI, and areas of improvement not specifically related to DEI, although based on comments shared by students from diverse backgrounds. Each section is supported by selected student quotes. In addition to listing specific recommendations made by students, team members also provided recommendations based on the accumulated feedback collected across all the sessions. 

Themes identified as areas of strength: 

• Students feel supported by faculty. 
• Students feel supported by academic advisors. 
• The Media School offers excellent programs, and the freedom to explore.
• Valuable opportunities are offered outside the classroom. 

Themes identified as areas for improvement: 

• There are too few people of color. 
• Media School students experience microaggressions and discrimination.
• There is a need for diversity, equity, and inclusion education. 
• There is a lack of community among students, and within student organizations. 

While the focus groups produced many insights, the sample size was limited. There are over three hundred undergraduate Media School majors who self-identify as Black/African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Pacific Islander, and/or Hispanic/Latino. The perspectives of the eleven students who participated may not reflect the perspectives of all. However, students were willing to speak openly about their experiences and the experience of their peers, and the general tone and content of the positive and negative comments were consistent across participants. Although the sample size was small, the focus groups provide the school with an additional resource to inform ongoing DEI initiatives.

Areas of strength

All of the students involved in this process generally felt good about their Media School experience and would recommend the school to others. Although usually not DEI-related, compliments for the school were provided throughout each session and the themes in this area were:

1. Students feel supported by faculty.
2. Students feel supported by academic advisors.
3. The Media School offers excellent programs, and the freedom to explore.
4. Valuable opportunities are offered outside the classroom.

1. Students feel supported by faculty.

"I've only had supportive experiences with faculty. Even over zoom, I feel like theyre paying attention and conscious of me and if I ever need anything they're there."

"Faculty are super invested in their students and I have a professor who is really good at encouraging me to do my best work and get internships and pushing me there."

"Overall, I've had nothing but great professors who knew what they were talking about, super nice, comforting, really good people. I definitely felt supported by them."

"I have been lucky enough to not be put in a situation where there needs to be more action besides speaking up in the classroom. There's a difference between expressing what you're thinking and being ignorant. I've seen professors handle that really well. In certain situations when something bad happens, professors have sent a canvas message letting everyone know not to let that happen again."

"I think the professors are very supportive. Most of them want students to succeed. I havent had a bad experience. Media School teachers are a bit more like your mom. Teachers in Kelley are like your dad, working, busy but still down to help."

"I think my favorite thing is how open the professors are about you talking to them or asking for help with things."

"The professors are invested in the students, regardless of color or background. As much as you put into the class, they put back."

2. Students feel supported by academic advisors.

"I really like my advisors. I see the same advisor each semester, and she remembers me and what I want to do even though she meets with so many people. She makes me feel important within The Media School."

"I've had good interactions with my advisors."

"My academic advisors have been all pretty nice and helpful."

"I love my advisor. She's so helpful, always willing to meet with me."

3. The Media School offers excellent programs, and freedom to explore.

"We have such great programs, and the quality of professors who have had so much industry experience, I think the real-life applications I've gotten from classes here have outweighed the classes I've had elsewhere because its not a formula."

"It's not memorization, it's teaching you the tools you need to create what you want. You dont have to follow exact steps, you can still piece together different components and get everything you need."

"[The Media School] also allowed me to explore other schools, which is why I'm taking classes at Jacobs, criminology, religious studies, languages, business classes. I liked how The Media School provided that option."

"For me personally, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do. But I feel that I've taken such a big variety of classes that whatever I choose to go into, I feel like I will have at least some basis for moving forward. Within my major and concentration, I can take such a variety of classes that I feel that I'll be relatively ready for anything I want to go into."

4. Valuable opportunities are available outside of the classroom.

"The Media School opens opportunities because it has allowed me to combine the creative and business sides together. That led me to a social media job on campus. I have been able to take advantage of real-life resources and real-life clients. I thought it would all be fake, but it's all real people and real clients, and this has really prepared me to move forward in my career. That's been really cool because a lot of my previous work has just been case studies, so this has really prepared me."

"There are so many career paths I didn't consider that existed or that I'm capable of doing, so it has really opened my eyes to things I can do. It has also raised my confidence and it has really prepared me for post-graduation."

"I like the events, media career chats, alumni events. I appreciate the chance to talk to alumni."

Areas for improvement

When considering feedback related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the four recurring themes that emerged were:

1. There are too few people of color.
2. Media School students experience microaggressions and discrimination.
3. There is a need for diversity, equity, and inclusion education.
4. There is a lack of community among students, and within student organizations.

1. There are too few people of color.

Students described feelings of isolation due to the lack of people of color in the student body, and in faculty and staff positions.

"I thought I would see more people of color. I guess I thought that as I would progress in coursework and classes, I would see more people who look like me or professors who look like me. I don't think that was the case. There have been multiple times where there's just me and another girl who identifies as Black in several classes together."

"I was very open and talkative around people in high school but coming to college felt a little weird being the only POC and drawing more attention to myself. There wasn't a lot of interaction. I didn't really speak unless I was called on. I hated participation point kinds of things."

"I think there is a lack of Black people — men and women — in The Media School, even in all majors. I wasn't under that impression coming in but that I really realized as I progressed and I'm just wondering why that is and what can be done about that. And compared to other schools on campus as well. There just seems to be a lack of Black people."

"[I would recommend that incoming students] maybe find another group outside of The Media School that is more tailored to your identity because you won't find that in The Media School... You won't get that interaction with people who look like you in The Media School."

"[I would recommend that incoming students] look for at least a few people in your inner circle who are like you in some aspect. It could be gender, race, sexuality, socioeconomic status, etc., it can be really intimidating to have people around you who are not like you."

2. Media School students experience microaggressions and discrimination.

Students described instances of discrimination ranging from direct discrimination to microaggressions experienced personally or by someone close to them. These experiences, which occurred within The Media School and within the Bloomington community, resulted in students feeling uncomfortable, unsafe, and unwelcome.

"One of my friends was doing a class project and one of her group mates wasn't willing to do part of the work so she asked him to and he called her a brown b-word for that. She went to the professor with it and they were like 'Oh, we can just put you in a different group.' So that's all she did. She didn't feel safe in the class after that... like she would take a different route home."

"I've never experienced anything like that within The Media School. I've experienced stuff like that in Bloomington. I was in downtown Bloomington when someone told me to go back to my home country and it was a whole thing."

"There was a little microaggression that continued for a whole year and I don't know why I or the other girl didn't say anything. But it was me and another girl who was Black and we were in a class and our teacher would sometimes confuse names, which happens, but also passing back papers. He would give me her paper and I would get hers and we would have to get up in the middle of class and walk to each other to switch papers. It was uncomfortable to do that every single day."

"My least favorite part has been people who are super ignorant. I've had comments that are microaggressions."

"For students as a whole, there are some moments that I feel like I'm expected to do the work because of whatever stereotype they may have about me."

This discussion led to the acknowledgment of the need for safety and support when reporting instances of discrimination.

"I think more than it being accessible, people are afraid of retaliation. Like if they complain about a fellow student and it gets found out that they did then they would, physical violence would happen. Especially if they've been threatened or given racial slurs thrown at them, then I guess it's scary and I feel like supporting people after the reporting incident is important and just making the whole process seem safe and anonymous."

"I don't know for sure if the professor was tenured, but they were so situated in their ways of doing things hadn't quite shifted to today's time. Overall, the way the course was approached was old fashioned. I talked to the professor and told them it didn't sit right with me, but I know there are a lot of kids that wouldn't feel comfortable doing that and would brush it aside. That's why the professor has been allowed to continue doing it. I'm sure I'm not the only student who has been offended by this. What other checks and balances are in place for this? I know there's the course questionnaires, but to be honest I'm not sure that students will usually not write a heartfelt letter about "this was offensive to me." Something needs to be in place to protect the students who don't feel like they can speak up in a situation like that."

3. There is a need for diversity, equity, and inclusion education.

Students described a lack of knowledge, awareness, or respect for equity and inclusivity.

"I feel that most of the issues I've seen stem from students not being used to being around people of color or working with women. I don't have a specific suggestion, but we need to figure out how to expose people to this because you have to work with all different types of people, even after college. Finding a way to work that into coursework, so they can understand this is who these people are and they're not that different from you."

"I've had several people tell me that I'm that first Black person they've ever met, which isn't something I thought was still happening."

"As media students we know there are other cultures with really progressive film industries so it would be interesting to see class on Chinese film and entertainment, for example. Classes that focus on different cultures and media."

"Something to be implemented is a course on diversity in media and why that is important. Something to educate folks on diversity in the media and what it looks like or what that means. A class or a discussion or Gather series"

"I know there is a culture day outside The Media School. In the school, more classes on race and cinema to help students be more aware."

"And this isn't anybody's fault at The Media School ... sometimes I've met some people who are not as inclusive or understand the importance of diversity, who are in The Media School."

"Sometimes it feels like in class I’m expected to say stuff because I'm a person of color. Like we'll watch an ad in the Middle East and then people ask what you notice. It's always silent and I have to point things out because I'm a person of color."

"I don't want to downplay anyone else's experiences, but I feel like Black people at the school get ignored a lot. I'm not sure what the statistics are for the percentages of each racial minority, but there have been some lectures where I'm thinking, I don't know about that. But when there are like five people of color in class and one or two are Black people, in lecture those off-hand comments seem normal. It's weird to sit through that and everyone else is just fine with that. It does feel like people can't speak up in class because people can't respond to a full tenured professor in front of all those people."

4. There is a lack of community among students, and within student organizations.

Students described a lack of connection with other students at The Media School.

"Students I have not made a large connection with. It is not that I feel unsupported; I feel unconnected to them. If I felt more connected, I would feel more supported."

"To me it doesn't feel like a community where things happen, it just feels like something that we do. I'm not hanging out with people at The Media School or going to events."

"The one thing that I didn't get was the closer-knit community because The Media School is so big that it's hard to know everybody. I know a couple of my professors but I don't really have those relationships that I thought I would."

"I thought I would make a lot of friends from Media School classes or Media School clubs. Most of my friends are from cultural clubs."

"I agree that the media industry is creative and everyone wants to have their own thing and people are focused on themselves. People are only worried about their own thing so that can be why there is less community."

The lack of community extended to the environments in the student organizations. Students described feeling unwelcome and excluded, and described situations where they felt they were treated differently due to a lack of understanding about their culture.

"I have been involved in Media School clubs. IUSTV... I almost feel like I am excluded and... no one is bullying me, it is just you cannot relate to people. You have a difficult time working with them or feel included ... that is why it is disappointing for me."

"I was never invited to [IDS] social outings. Which is fine since I was a new employee there but it's hard to work for a place if you cannot vibe with the people... I never felt like the student employees were invested in me improving my work... Felt like each week I got an assignment, not much feedback or follow-up or relationship building."

"I tried to explain to my [IDS] editor that I wasn't able to [accept late night assignments] because I'm not used to it and she was not very understanding. So tiny things like that, I guess. Cultural differences."

"I really shied away from the IDS for almost as long as I possibly could... there's no one who looked like me and it seemed a little elitist in the way that they act and speak about things. Not the organization but the people. I was in class with these people. A lot of them had the means to have summer internships out of state where you had to provide your own housing and be unpaid and I could not do something like that, have an unpaid internship and also find a way to pay for housing. But it was like if you didn't get these internships you weren't a good reporter and you don't know what you're doing. It's kinda cliquey... I don't think I got as much out of my major as I possibly could because of that. I felt very uncomfortable in that space."

Recommendations

POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS

The focus group team developed the list of potential action items below based on the conversations we had with students.

1. Aggressively recruit more students of color.

We recognize that diversity recruitment efforts are already underway. We are hopeful that those initiatives will be supported by a recurring commitment of dedicated staff hours and sustained financial support for students. Opportunities include:

• Hire an additional (second) recruiter to focus solely on the recruitment of underrepresented students
• Dedicate funding for the financial support of underrepresented students, such as a partnership agreement with the Hudson & Holland Scholars Program and top-up funds for yielding high-performing admitted students
• Feature the scholarships available to students of color in a prominent place on the website and highlighting them on the scholarships page
• Address family concerns about employability, including coordination with The Walter Center to highlight and interpret career outcomes information.

2. Recruit and retain more faculty and staff of color.

Students repeatedly expressed a desire to interact with, and learn from, more faculty of color. We recognize that recruitment work to expand the diversity of the faculty and staff is underway. The staff DEI committee would welcome the opportunity to support this initiative.

3. Require DEI education for students, staff, and faculty.

Some students spoke about experiencing disrespect, discrimination, and exclusion inside and outside of the classroom. It is well-documented that such an environment has a cumulative detrimental effect on an equitable education. There are numerous programs available to educate, promote empathy, scrutinize implicit bias, and otherwise help White people expand their self-awareness and improve their social interactions with a diverse community. We recognize that some faculty, staff, and students have participated in such workshops. A more formal requirement would be a step towards ensuring that all students feel welcomed within the Media School community.

4. Review the breadth of race and the media curriculum that is provided to Media School students.

Students expressed gratitude for existing race and the media coursework, and asked for additional classes of this nature or for the content of current coursework to be expanded or reconsidered. We provide this student feedback as support for any DEI-related curriculum updates that may be underway.

5. Create programs that build community and focus on the retention of students.

Students of color yearn for more connection within The Media School. They also lamented not being able to make deeper connections with professors, especially professors of color. Opportunities include:

• Create an honors program for students of color, including a mentorship element and financial support
• Work with interested students to develop an additional student organization for students of color
• Establish a Welcome Week social event for students of color to connect with faculty and each other
• Establish a Media School advocate to support students who experience discrimination
• Address existing concerns in student organizations by sharing this report with the organizations' leadership and providing annual DEI training for student leaders

SUGGESTIONS MADE BY STUDENTS

• Encourage the development of more student organizations for students of color.
• Do not ask about race/ethnicity on applications for student organizations.
• Recruit more students and faculty of color, specifically for more female faculty of color.
• Provide more exposure and education to students (especially those from homogenous communities) so they may be more understanding of and open to a wide variety of people and backgrounds.
• Provide more classes that focus on race and different cultures and the media.
• Host an event during welcome week for students of color to connect with each other.
• Partner with culture centers to accomplish goals and connect students to a cultural community.
• Expand education for parents/families about the benefits of a degree from The Media School.
• Host relationship-building events and activities to facilitate connections among all students, to build community and to make class-based group projects more effective and comfortable.
• Develop a course or discussion group or Gather series on diversity in media and why awareness is important.
• Implement DEI education for clubs.

Non-DEI-related areas for improvement

During the sessions, students provided feedback on areas in need of improvement that were not specifically related to DEI work at The Media School. The themes of this feedback were:

1. Students did not feel supported by career services.
2. The course of study within The Media School is not structured enough.
3. There is a lack of exposure to and awareness of opportunities.

1. Students did not feel supported by career services.

"I'm probably not going to go back to the career center for guidance because I feel like it wouldn't be very helpful. I am planning to do it on my own."

"I don't think [the career services is] as good as Kelley. There are a few opportunities if you go along looking for it."

"No, I truly don't [think The Media School prepared me for a job]. I'm looking for jobs. I'm a trained journalist and have all those skills but now I'm looking for basic communications jobs or corporate communications positions because I'm unsure of what journalism looks like for someone like me."

"I think there are resources that Media School students can use to be prepared for graduation. You have to go looking for it. It doesn't necessarily come to you. I know we get Canvas notifications but it's hard to keep up or get involved. I think it depends on who you are as a student and how you choose to get involved but I think it is a little difficult to get into those resources and utilize them for after graduation. Kelley and speech and hearing, they have a lot of stuff with internships that you don't necessarily see in The Media School."

"Career advising has been a little iffy. I actually preferred my general advisor for the career thing. Once I got into The Media School it was like, okay no."

"I think it would be helpful for advisors to talk about internships and other opportunities early to set the stage for the future years. I'm dealing with these issues now because I didn't have the information prior. When I got notifications before I didn't know what they were so I just ignored them."

2. The course of study within The Media School is not structured enough.

In contrast to the compliments about the exploratory nature of The Media School's academic options, some students felt like they had trouble engaging due to the lack of structure.

"From starting off, I didn't have that guidance and I felt like I was taking the classes that I thought I was supposed to do. Even with my parents, it's hard to explain my major sometimes. There's no direct career path that I'm thinking about doing because I feel like my major is a little bit arbitrary"

"The Media School is not as structured and if you ask what I got from college, I can't say specific skills. My friends at Kelley know how to do accounting or review financials, they have specific skills. It's kind of like a jack of all trades."

"My freshman year my roommates were in Jacobs and School of Ed. I noticed that their advisors gave them a set schedule of classes that they need and I didn't get that from The Media School. From starting off, I didn't have that guidance and I felt like I was taking the classes that I thought I was supposed to do."

"In The Media School you can pick from so many concentrations. I wish I would have explored more, honestly, because I didn't realize how many options there are."

3. There is a lack of exposure to and awareness of opportunities.

"If there are clubs, I don't think they are advertised very well. You don't hear your professors encouraging involvement."

"I don't know how I would start to get involved with that. I think it would be helpful for The Media School to send out an email with information about a club fair."

"There are not a lot of clubs for The Media School."

Interview questions

1. What were your expectations about life within The Media School before you started and how did those differ from your actual experience?
2. If your younger brother/sister/cousin was thinking about coming to the IU Media School and asked what it was like there, what would you tell them?
3. Keeping diversity, equity, and inclusion at the front of your mind, what has been your favorite and least favorite parts of your experience at The Media School?
4. Do you feel that you are supported by students, staff, and faculty of The Media School?
5. Have you faced or witnessed prejudice or discrimination at The Media School?
6. Do you have any specific suggestions on what would improve diversity and inclusion at The Media School?
7. Is there anything you would like to add?
8. Reflect upon and add to past answers.
9. Examples: Is there anything anyone feels was missed? Does anyone have anything to add about topic X?

Communications

Invitations to participate were emailed to a list of undergraduate students, pulled from IUIE in early spring 2021, who self-identified as from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group. The invitation was also included in the Buzz newsletter and on the School's Canvas page.

INVITATION EMAIL

Dear students,

The Media School is committed to the pursuit of an inclusive environment for our community of students, faculty, and staff. To further that goal, we are looking for students from underrepresented racial and ethnic populations to participate in one of a series of virtual focus groups to help us identify opportunities for improvement and areas of strength.

These virtual focus groups will take place in April 2021, and your participation will help us to make change in order to better serve our current and incoming students.

Participants must be currently enrolled in The Media School. Eligible students will be provided with a $25 Amazon gift card to thank you for helping us with this important goal. Note: not all students are able to receive a gift card.

Virtual Sessions on:

Monday, April 12 from 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Tuesday, April 13 from 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Wednesday, April 14 from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Wednesday, April 14 from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Thursday, April 29 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

To sign up for a session, register here: https://icr-the-media-school scheduling.as.me/?calendarID=5194961

Questions? Email mschinfo@indiana.edu

Thanks so much for considering this request, and we look forward to having this conversation with you.

Eliza Erxleben (she/her/hers)

Director of Student Services

The Media School

Indiana University Bloomington

812-856-2783 / eerxlebe@indiana.edu

PRE-FOCUS GROUP EMAIL 

Dear STUDENT NAME,

Thank you for signing up to participate in a virtual focus group to aid The Media School's efforts to improve inclusion. As a reminder, your session is on April 12, at 1:00 pm and the Zoom link was included in the confirmation and reminders you've received. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and appreciate you sharing your time and energy with us.

What to Expect

We hope to have four to six students in each focus group. Two media school staff will also be present to ask questions and take notes. Sessions will be recorded to aid in documenting your comments but access will be limited to the staff present at that session and will be safely deleted after notes are complete. Names will not be attached to any comments, and the names of individuals participating in the focus group will not be included with the summary of the findings.

Questions

We plan to ask the questions below during your session. You're not expected to prepare answers in advance, although you're welcome to think about these topics prior to your session. Remember that the general focus of our discussion will be about your Media School experience in the context of your racial or ethnic identity.

• What were your expectations about life within The Media School before you started and how did those differ from your actual experience?
• If your younger brother/sister/cousin was thinking about coming to the IU Media School and asked what was it like there, what would you tell them?
• Keeping diversity, equity, and inclusion at the front of your mind, what has been your favorite and least favorite parts of your experience at The Media School?
• Do you feel that you are supported by students, staff, and faculty of The Media School?
• Have you faced or witnessed prejudice or discrimination at The Media School?
• Do you have any specific suggestions on what would improve diversity and inclusion at The Media School?