Intersectionality | Research Center
The mission of the IPR CDEI is to conduct, support, and promote research and insights relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace focused on six core areas: BIPOC, LGBTQ+, women, intersectionality, disabilities, and mental health.
WHAT IS INTERSECTIONALITY?
Kimberle Crenshaw introduced the concept of intersectionality in her seminal 1989 work (Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex). She defines “intersectionality,” as the intersection and interconnectedness of identities, such as race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.
Research Topics:
Latest Research:
Gendered and Intersectional Complications in The Heart Truth Media Campaign
Jennifer Vardeman-Winter, Ph.D., and Natalie T.J. Tindall, Ph.D.
This research examines how intersectionality affects women’s understanding, perception, and interpretation of a heart health communication campaign.
The Problem of Intersectionality as an Approach to Digital Activism: The Women’s March on Washington’s Attempt to Unite All Women
Jennifer Vardeman-Winter, Ph.D., and Amanda Sebesta
This study examines the convergence of activism and intersectionality to understand how communicators create messages about social justice issues using social media.
Finding Calm in the Storm: How Trait Mindfulness Aids Employees After Perceived Discrimination at Work
Christian Thoroughgood, Ph.D., Katina Sawyer, Ph.D., Jennica Webster, Ph.D.
Researchers examined how employees with stigmatized identities are able to “weather the storm” of prejudicial experiences at work. Participants’ trait mindfulness and paranoid cognition were analyzed for their influence on response to workplace discrimination.
Five Ways Higher Education Can Be Seen as Hostile to Women of Color
Amy Bonomi, Ph.D., Callie Rennison, Ph.D.
Researchers examined the perspectives of 23 female leaders on issues of leadership and the challenges of confronting structural racism, bias and discrimination at colleges and universities.
Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex
Kimberle Crenshaw, L.L.M.
In this seminal work, Kimberle Crenshaw introduces the concept of “intersectionality,” the intersection and interconnectedness of identities, such as race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.
Intersectionality, Race-Gender Subordination, and Education
Angela Harris, J.D., Zeus Leonardo, Ph.D.
Researchers review the genealogy of “intersectionality”, examine intersectionality’s utility for social analysis, and review how education researchers have explained race and gender subordination in education.
Racial and Gender-Based Differences in the Collegiate Development of Public Relations Majors: Implications for Recruitment and Retention
Kenon A. Brown, Ph.D., Damion Waymer, Ph.D., Ziyuan Zhou
Researchers conducted an online survey of 294 public relations students to understand how current public relations majors experience racial and gender differences in their collegiate experience.
Confronting Whiteness in Public Relations Campaigns and Research with Women
Jennifer Vardeman-Winter, Ph.D.
This study applies the theory of Whiteness (defined as “a location of structural advantage, of race privilege … [and] refers to a set of cultural practices that are usually unmarked and unnamed”) to better understand how public relations professionals can identify the relationship between the public relations practice and race.