Case Study

Adam International School

The following reading exercise includes two short stories of bias and discrimination that are common in many many organizations. These stories are designed to facilitate discussion about the effects of gender bias and discrimination and promote empathy and perspective taking skills. You are to read the case study and then use the questions to facilitate a follow-up discussion with your groupmates. From the discussion, provide what is required.

Jessica

Jessica had loved playing soccer since she was a little kid, and she was the star player on the co-ed soccer team at her school. When she transferred to Adams High School in the middle of her junior year, she was surprised to hear there was no co-ed teaminstead she would play on the all girls team. While Jessica enjoyed playing on the girls team and met some really talented players there, she quickly realized that the boys team had much nicer uniforms, had the best practice spaces, and were the ones that were celebrated in school announcements and rallies. The girls were good too, but got way less attention. In gym class, Jessica had her chance to take on the boys on the field, though. She was better than almost everyone and pretty regularly scored tough goals against the varsity boys teams star player, Jeremy. After one particularly brutal game where Jessica scored several goals against the boys, Jeremy and his soccer friends decided that they didnt want to play against Jessica any more. In front of the entire gym class, Jeremy called Jessica the beast and made cracks about her being too athletic for any guy at Adams to date. The other students in the class giggled nervously, but no one said anything.

Ms. Phillips

Ms. Phillips was the guidance counselor at Adams. She had been trying to set up a visit from the CEO of the biggest tech firm in town for almost two months. Many Adams students wanted to work there after college and Ms. Phillips wanted the CEO to talk with the students about the company and the type of employees it hired. On the day of the event, Ms. Phillips was not surprised when over 30 students showed up. All but two were boys. As they waited for the CEO to arrive, the students chatted about what the CEO would saywhat type of advice would he give? Where would he recommend they go to college and what would he say they should study? What kind of fancy car would he drive to the school? When the CEO arrived in the classroom, all of the students looked surprised and a few looked confused. A few even made snide comments under their breath. The person standing in front of them was a woman.

QUESTION

1. What is going on at Adams? Is Adams an extreme example of gender discrimination or is it just a typical school? How is your school the same or different than Adams?