On Thursday 25th January, the second CSEAR Education Community of Practice event of the 2023-24 season welcomed Alessandro Ghio (Université Laval), Erin Twyford (University of Wollongong) and Andrea Romi (Texas Tech University) to share their experiences in teaching equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). 

 The webinar covered pedagogical aspects related course content: the EDI elements to include in a course or module, as well as pedagogical aspects pertaining to context: the ways to create and maintain a safe classroom, particularly for marginalized students, who assume that an environment is unwelcoming until proven otherwise, as Erin underlined. 

The speakers began by providing examples of their contextual approaches, be it the way they personalize their introduction (Alessandro) or the short online questionnaire they use to get to know their students when starting a new semester (Erin). These practices also extend beyond the classroom, as Andrea and Erin mentioned their approaches to allyship in the classroom and on campus.   

We also learned about the multiple ways they teach about EDI. For example, Andrea mentioned bringing in research articles providing evidence of the benefits of a diverse executive/board to initiate classroom discussions on the topic. Alessandro referred to the use of role play to represent a CFO belonging to a marginalized group. The nature of assessments also came into play. The speakers underline the importance to recognize the differences in students’ learning approaches and capabilities. To do so, whenever possible, they design different assessment options for the same pedagogical objectives, which allow the students to choose according to their learning styles abilities. 

The event highlighted the importance of addressing the issue of EDI in the classroom, given the resistance to the issue the panellists witness either on campus, in some business circles or in their broader institutional environment. Alessandro and Andrea provided striking examples such resistance, underlining the work still to be done for a more inclusive and equitable (business) world. 

It emerges from the presentations that facilitating EDI considerations in the classroom/on campus can ask a lot in terms of time, energy and emotions from the educators. In light of each speaker’s commitment to their students, some questions from the audience focused on the measures the educators adopt in terms of self-care or support group.  This led to discussion about the importance of thinking about where an educator wishes or needs to draw a line between their role and the role of more specialized student services.  

Of course, this is just an overview of our fascinating discussions. To learn more about teaching EDI, please visit the CSEAR’s members area where you will find a video recording of the speakers’ contributions and copies of their slides, as well as some material they recommend for teaching and enabling a safe classroom.  

Huge thanks to our panellists once again, for their time, generosity, and contagious passion.  

Looking ahead, the next ECoP will welcome Nicolas Garcia-Torea (Universidad de Burgos) and his guests for a multi-perspective overview (educator, student, practitioner) of the Sustainability AccountingLearning Platform for a Green Economy(Account4GreenEco) on Thursday 11 April at 15:00 GMT. You can register for the event here.