DIVERSITY STATEMENT

As an international student, I have faced microaggressions from classmates and some of my professors. As a woman leader in our student newsroom, I remember my adviser telling me why many colleagues did not respect me because of the fact that women do not usually hold a leadership position in the journalism industry. As a member of the media, I often feel disappointed when the stories of international students’ struggles or minority individuals’ struggles are not told, no matter how many times I personally had pitched those ideas.

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Becoming a successful international student in the U.S, I still think about how my fellow international students thank me for representing the international student body and make others notice our representation. Being international students, being a minority, sometimes means that we do not even believe we can obtain achievement and recognition. 

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I grew up in Vietnam where the topic of diversity is not a common topic for discussion. Vietnam is not a very diverse country racially and in some regards has a long way to go for gender and sexuality. In the United States, I have had a chance to learn about the significance of diversity – the fact that everyone, no matter their status, background, should be accepted and respected. I recognize that in the classroom we cannot just stop at ensuring we have a diverse student population. Inclusivity is another key component to ensure that diversity goes more than just surface level, allowing for those diverse members of our communities to feel as though they are not only represented demographically but that they have meaningful input and participation.

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Diversity has always been a priority for me in my service, research and teaching. In 2019, I had the honor to serve as one of the Faces of OU International at the University of Oklahoma, where I developed my own social media platform to raise awareness on international students’ issues. As a researcher in media management, I have worked on projects that address the difficulties women faced as journalists and as media leaders. I plan to develop this topic to also include Asian journalists as well as immigrant journalists.

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Overall, I feel there is a lack of diversity in some areas of academia and research – especially in a sense that Western research journals and studies are often held up as more academically significant, valid or rigorous compared to studies from other parts of the globe. As a non-Western researcher, I feel it is important that I contribute to the body of research out there and demonstrate the need for more diverse voices in research.

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I believe that there is room for everyone to learn and develop. I continue to learn about diversity and how to best deliver this conversation. As a teacher, I want my students to believe that they can be heard and that they have the same opportunities and capabilities as others. For example, I know that international students do not usually want to share their opinions in class due to the difference in teaching culture, thus I want to include them in the conversation – and the same applies to every individual, where I work to understand them and come up with a way to help them. I look to raise the discussion on how diversity is still lacking in the media and in the newsrooms. I encourage my students to look for stories in a community that they are not familiar with. I believe that if we as teachers can foster an environment where diversity and inclusion frame our teaching, then this will empower our students – as the next generation of journalists – to bring more diversity into both the professional and academic fields.