Social Justice Lens Research Articles

Digital skills in social work education: a human rights issue?

ABSTRACT Through a social justice lens, this article explores the growing digitalization of society that created ripe environments for a deepening digital divide that impacts access to the modern digital world for vulnerable populations in the European Union, Spain, and the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic response highlighted the need for and use of digital technology and skills, which brought the digital divide between the world’s regions, countries, and societies to the forefront. This digital divide is defined as the lack of access or adoption of high-speed internet/broadband services. As of 2016, the UN recognized the need to acknowledge internet access as a vehicle to reach other human rights, such as the right to work or access basic education. In today’s post-pandemic society, it has become more evident that the lack of access to the internet hinders access to information, services, and participation in the socio-political landscape. In social work higher education, the increase in the quality of eLearning and digitalization transformed the way teaching and learning happen and the perception of distance learning. Recommendations regarding including digital skills in every aspect of the social work curricula using a human rights framework are included.

Building Social Justice-oriented Resilience for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education: Propositions from Hong Kong

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) rhetoric and initiatives are gaining attention in Asian higher education. Yet, these are still underexplored in terms of their potential to bring about cohesive campus climates. As higher education institutions admit students from diverse backgrounds, there is room for examining how DEI might be leveraged to support growing student learning needs, particularly in contexts where cultural diversity is not the norm. Using Hong Kong as an example, this paper probes the genesis of DEI initiatives and sources of deficit thinking in higher education with reference to the experiences of ethnic minority (EM) students. It proposes a conceptualization of resilience theory from a social justice lens to counter deficit thinking and racism, which helps locate DEI initiatives in building culturally inclusive environments.

Lifelong learning in Australian community contexts: Adult learning ‘capabilities’ for study, work, and life

In this paper we explore the Australian adult community education (ACE) landscape and discuss the important roles it plays in developing individual capabilities for study, work, and life. Despite the lack of cohesion of the ACE sector across the various states and territories of Australia, it is well documented that ACE is recognised as important for its capacity to cater for adult learners’ different needs and well-being in community-based contexts. In the last 2 years with a change in the federal government of Australia, ACE has gained more prominence for its capacity to connect hard-to-reach learners into literacy and numeracy programs and preparatory and pre-accredited programs to pathway these learners into further training or employment. The paper reports on research findings from a mixed methods research project examining the effectiveness of ACE outcomes for these first-step learners in Victoria and Tasmania, Australia. Nussbaum’s Capabilities Framework, provides a social justice lens to reconceptualise the outcomes for learners in ACE, moving beyond narrow neoliberal economistic measures of adult learners’ success. We claim including both vocational and non-vocational capabilities for learners provides a more nuanced account of learner transformation in ACE.

Bringing a Social Justice Lens to Matthews’ Five Propositions for Genuine Students-as-Partners Practice: A Narrative Review

In 2017, in the second issue of the International Journal for Students as Partners (IJSaP), Matthews presented five propositions for genuine students-as-partners practice. Whilst these propositions did not focus directly on social justice, a social justice ethos (seeking to achieve parity of participation for all in higher education) was implicit within the discussion. Working with students as partners (SaP) can contribute to social justice, and a social justice perspective can contribute to the practice and conceptualization of students-as-partners work. From this perspective, I present a narrative literature review that brings a social justice lens to Matthews’ five propositions by examining 26 publications (research articles, case studies, reflective essays, and opinion pieces) in IJSaP concerning students-as-partners work. These are identified using the search terms “justice”, “equity”, “inclusion”, and “ethical”. The review provides clear examples of how the practice of working with students as partners can promote equity and inclusion in higher education, thereby striving toward social justice.

Corrigendum to “Teaching mathematics from the lens of social justice in a Pakistani classroom”

Corrigendum to “Teaching mathematics from the lens of social justice in a Pakistani classroom”

Meeting the University Counseling Centers Demand with Outreach Competencies

ABSTRACT In the last 30 years, universities and colleges have been strongly encouraged to consider the impact these systems have on health promoting behaviors for students, staff, faculty, and surrounding communities. Higher Education Institutions are prime settings to promote prevention and outreach efforts for positive mental health. University and College Counseling Centers have historically been leaders in outreach and prevention delivery thus the need for competencies is evident. Utilizing a trauma-inclusive and social justice lens, this article will focus on outlining six outreach competencies: (1) integrate, (2) scope, (3) collaborate, (4) assess, (5) implement, and (6) evaluate. The authors provide application examples for further illustration.

International students’ experiences in Brisbane during COVID times through a social justice lens

ABSTRACT The article examines the situation of international students living in Brisbane during COVID lockdowns, through a social justice lens. Despite the significant economic contribution of tertiary international students towards the Australian economy, they were excluded from government pandemic support. Help provided by other organisations was limited. International students felt undervalued and excluded, facing challenges due to their lack of income from part-time jobs, mental health issues, constraints in relation to home arrangements, online study, and lack of sense of belonging. Our findings further show that although place was a determinant in the wellbeing of students, social attachment (either spatially or a-spatially) was the most valued support to students. While there has been research on the needs of international students in Australia during lockdowns, no studies yet link these three variables: COVID lockdowns, their effects on international students left in Australia, and considerations of city scale, in a mutually influencing relationship. We followed a qualitative research design, using interviews and focus group discussions with international students and support providers in Brisbane during COVID times. We argue that both distributive and institutional dimensions of justice are important to understand the disadvantaged situation experienced by international students: the institutional COVID restrictions greatly affected students ‘trapped’ in the country, while there was a very limited distribution of resources that did not match the needs of students. We conclude with some recommendations as a result of our research. Practitioner pointers During a global pandemic, government needs to ensure that all people stranded in the country, including international students, are entitled to the same financial assistance. International students should have been consulted about, and appropriately informed through effective ways of communication about the services provided to them during the pandemic. All levels of government and educational institutions dealing with international students, need to fully consult with students and listen to their concerns.

Adolescent Dating Violence Prevention: Teaching Social Justice Oriented Skills and Strategies to Undergraduate-Level Teachers and Social Workers

Youth from socially marginalized populations are at increased risk of experiencing adolescent dating violence (ADV), since they are often directly impacted by root causes of violence (e.g., homophobia, racism). Because structural inequalities impact youth’s experience of ADV, ADV is a social justice issue. In this paper, we describe a symposium series that taught education and social work students about their role in preventing ADV through a social justice lens. We present a pilot evaluation of the symposium series using survey ( n = 34) and interview ( n = 7) data. Results of this study (quantitative and qualitative) suggest students showed an increase in willingness and confidence to prevent and respond to ADV through a social justice lens after completing the symposium series. This work highlights the importance of incorporating critical theory into ADV prevention efforts, especially as it relates to serving youth who are marginalized and for promoting social justice in schools.

Blending Human-Centred Design and Community-Based Participatory Action Research Approaches: Designing Community Sport and Recreation Provisions for Equity-Owed Communities

Addressing the social and economic disparities equity-owed low-income residents experience that prevent participation in community sport and recreation is complex. Community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) has been utilized to facilitate the participation of equity-owed communities in sport and recreation initiatives. However, in this paper, we discuss how CBPAR and human-centred design (HCD) help engage communities in discourse and action to support innovative social change in the context of sport and recreation for equity-owed low-income communities. This paper compares processes, core principles, and outcomes of CBPAR and HCD. It highlights how they can collectively drive discourse and action to foster innovative social change in sport and recreation for equity-owed communities. The proposed integration, called CBPAR+HCD, is suggested to initiate solutions that address the multifaceted challenges through a social justice lens, placing community-driven social innovation at the forefront. This paper highlights the benefits of combining CBPAR+HCD and acknowledges the inherent challenges in implementing this dual approach. Furthermore, it offers recommendations to support the combined approach, emphasizing the importance of this integrated methodology in promoting social change and addressing inequities within community sport and recreation initiatives.

Hate Speech and Human Rights: A Social Justice Perspective in Pakistan

This paper explores hate speech issues through the lens of human rights and social justice, focusing particularly on its impact on minority communities in Pakistan. It examines how hate speech undermines their human rights and leads to a denial of social justice, eroding the social fabric and perpetuating discrimination. The paper begins with a discussion of the current global context and then delves into the socio-political landscape of Pakistan, presenting relevant background information. It highlights that Pakistan, marked by religious, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity, has struggled to fully embrace this diversity. Within this context, the article specifically studies the issue of online hate speech directed at minority communities and its detrimental effects on their well-being and societal integration. The paper concludes with comprehensive recommendations to tackle hate speech both online and offline, aiming to promote a more inclusive and just society for all, where every individual’s rights are respected and protected.

A health equity ECHO for clinicians of individuals with SCD

Abstract SCD is the most common genetic disorder in the United States, affecting nearly 100 000 Americans, with the majority of affected individuals identifying as Black. Studies have shown that both children and adults with SCD face stigmatization resulting in low-quality care stemming from institutional racism and implicit bias by clinicians. Clinician biases often result from a lack of awareness of their own racial identity, failure to develop an anti-racist or social justice lens, and absence of skills to mitigate racist practices and policies. The Sickle Treatment and Outcomes Research in the Midwest (STORM) multi-state regional learning network developed a health equity training curriculum that was delivered as a continuing education learning series using the Project ECHO® virtual telementoring framework supplemented with an online learning management system. The curriculum addressed foundations of race, racism, and whiteness along with social justice strategies for the individual and institutional level and was piloted with 2 clinician cohorts to assess its feasibility, acceptability, and the potential impact on clinician self-efficacy. Feasibility and acceptability data, including qualitative feedback, suggest that this is a promising method for multidisciplinary clinicians and trainees for raising self-awareness about racism and bias, providing a safe community for self-reflection, and building skills to address inequities within healthcare settings.

Social justice implications of digital science, technology, engineering and mathematics pedagogy: Exploring a South African blended higher education context

AbstractHigher Education institutions robustly adopted digital pedagogy during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This article reports on a study focussing on postgraduate students’ first-hand experiences of digital pedagogy for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. This study was conducted at one higher education institution in South Africa post-COVID-19. The study was framed by the technology acceptance model and a self-constructed conceptual model focusing on key concepts and ideas related to social justice. Forty-seven postgraduate STEM education students participated in the study. A mixed-methods approach guided the data generation for this study, whereby one questionnaire was used to generate quantitative data and four semi-structured focus group interviews assisted in generating qualitative data. Thematic coding, interpretative techniques and NVivo were used to analyse the qualitative data. Excel was used to analyse the quantitative data. The results exhibit the strengths, limitations and implications of digital STEM pedagogy for higher education in a developing country. This study adds to the developing knowledge concerning digital pedagogy for STEM education and social justice issues in developing countries. Using postgraduate STEM education students’ personal experiences of digital pedagogy, this study seeks to contribute to the growing body of research on the social justice implications of using digital pedagogy in higher education. By examining the implications of digital pedagogy for STEM education through a social justice lens, this research can inform curriculum development and pedagogical practices that encourage more inclusive and equitable learning environments.

“Understand What the Feelings of the Student Must Be:” Newcomer Youths’ High School Integration Experiences

The present study was grounded in a social constructionist epistemology with an integrative social justice lens. It highlights the perspectives of one group – that of newcomer youth – from a collective case study exploring the phenomenon of school integration across multiple collaborators in one designated high school. As school integration is a central component in the lives and experiences of newcomer youth, this study aimed to provide insights and lessons learned directly from this group as they were integrating into a high school in Western Canada. In line with the epistemology and research design, the research prioritized participant voices with the goal of affecting change within the designated high school. The central research question guiding this study was: How do participants perceive and describe their experiences of integrating into high school? To address this question, semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with 13 newcomer high school students between the ages of 15 and 19. Upon conducting a thematic analysis on the interview transcripts, five salient themes were developed, including (a) the stress of acculturation, (b) language transition, (c) making connections, (d) navigating academics, and (e) renegotiating life. In this manuscript, the inter-relationship between these themes is discussed in a manner that captures the complex, multifaceted process of school integration. Relatedly, implications are presented.

Unequal considerations of justice in municipal adaptation planning: an assessment of US climate plans over time and by context

ABSTRACT Climate adaptation planning is increasingly approached locally through a social justice lens to ensure the needs of the most vulnerable are addressed. This study aims to identify trends in how recognitional, distributional, and procedural justice are considered within climate adaptation plans over time and across socio-demographic contexts. We coded these forms of justice in 101 climate adaptation plans and related documents published in the United States between 2010 and 2021 and conducted a series of regressions to understand patterns over time and across contexts. Newer plans more commonly addressed each type of justice, with a marked shift in plans published after 2017. More recent plans addressed new elements of recognitional justice (e.g. historical marginalisation, racial justice), a broader scope of distributional justice approaches (e.g. more strategies related to greenspaces, food, and green jobs), and more procedural justice-related initiatives to engage marginalised residents in adaptation. Plans from more Republican-leaning communities considered recognitional and distributional justice to a lesser degree than those from more Democratic-leaning areas. Plans by larger communities were more likely to address procedural justice and include strategies for monitoring the impacts to marginalised people. Plans from communities with a larger percentage of residents living in poverty addressed distributional justice more often and acknowledged more injustices faced by marginalised groups more often. We observed no trends in the treatment of procedural justice related to racial demographics or income. We discuss potential reasons for these trends and their implications.

Revisiting Chemophobia through a Social Justice Lens

Revisiting Chemophobia through a Social Justice Lens

Integrating personality psychology and intersectionality to advance diversity in the study of persons

AbstractConsideration of how interrelated social structures relate with personality has been limited. In this paper, we discuss how researchers might apply an intersectional framework–which uses a social justice lens to examine how social structures are interconnected and impact individuals—at three distinct levels of personality including traits, characteristic adaptations, and integrative life narratives. We begin by providing conceptualizations of personality and intersectionality and describe considerations for their integration, including the need to widen the methodological and epistemological scope of personality science. Key areas of research that demonstrate the promise of an intersectional framework for unpacking structures of power and oppression in relation to the person are then described for each level of personality. Specifically, recommendations for how an intersectional framework may be used to examine structural identity domains in relation to trait levels, values and goals, as well as the content and process of narrated lives are offered. We conclude with discussion of how application of an intersectional framework is crucial for promoting inclusion and generalizability in personality science.

A Narrative Review of LGBTQ+ Marketing Scholarship

Marketing research on LGBTQ+ people has increased over the past two decades, entering mainstream marketing discourse – aligning with greater societal acceptance. This paper provides a contemporary review of marketing scholarship on LGBTQ+ communities published in Q1, and Q2 ranked Scimago marketing journals. Taking a social justice lens, this review examined whose voices were represented and how those voices were represented. The finding suggests samples studied were skewed towards heterosexual samples and those from the Global North. Where LGBTQ+ samples have been included, these were predominantly gay men. Three theoretical perspectives were adopted: attitudes and identity, meaning and interpretation and critical perspectives. In addition, the focus of the studies centred on four main themes: LGBTQ+ imagery in advertising, consumer behaviour of LGBTQ+ people, brand positioning and LGBTQ+ as a consumer market segment. Based on the findings, future scholarship should consider nuancing the multidimensional nature of the LGBTQ+ markets and investigates LGBTQ+ consumers as individuals with real and unique needs in their own rights.

Relational Approach Towards Decolonizing Curriculum Development within the Colonial Postsecondary Institution

The Canadian academy is dominated by Western epistemologies that devalue Indigenous ways of knowing and marginalize Indigenous communities, cultures, and histories (Louie et al., 2017). This paper draws on a cross-disciplinary, interprofessional collaboration between a School of Public Health Sciences and School of Social Work to develop an online graduate course that sought to advance knowledge and practice in Indigenous wellbeing and health through a social justice lens. We explore key considerations, strategies, and challenges undertaken by an interdisciplinary group of non-Indigenous professors to create a learning experience for students that challenges colonial ways of seeing, being, knowing, and doing in the professional practice fields of public health and social work and that serves to elevate and sustain Indigenous voices, knowledges, sciences, and practices within the academy. In doing so, we centre the process of course development, including working with an Indigenous Advisory Circle and Indigenous contributors of content, guest lecture videos, and artwork. The paper describes the creation of a relational teaching and learning community, while raising concerns about the institutionalization of this approach to Indigenous-focused course development in the absence of the structural changes needed to enhance the presence of Indigenous faculty and Elders in academic institutions.

Inclusive Science Communication Approaches Through an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice (EDISJ) Lens

Science communication has taken center stage in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines in the context of public outreach and citizen science. Developing practical communication skills is imperative for all scientists to be highly successful in their careers and more so for underrepresented and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) professionals in STEM. The program, led by the Engineering and Science Librarian at the University of Victoria (UVic) Libraries, aimed to equip students and early career scientists with critical communication skills by leveraging the unique voices and lived experiences of BIPOC speakers in STEM disciplines. Through this program, a unique toolkit with engaging modules consisting of 30 short videos, each three minutes long (30 x 3) by BIPOC speakers was created to provide broad foundational skills in verbal and visual communication, using an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice (EDISJ) lens. A two-day conference offered networking and communication development opportunities to students and early-career scientists in STEM disciplines by connecting them with BIPOC STEM leaders and visionaries who promote STEM advocacy. This paper will discuss the methods used in the creation of the toolkit and conference using an EDISJ lens.

Are cathedrals the arks of today? Some reflections on cathedral mission and spiritual seekers

ABSTRACT This paper examines the theological concept of ‘ark’ as a useful metaphor for assessing the potential of cathedrals for effective mission and social action. The popular concept of ark as shelter and means of salvation is but one way of thinking about cathedrals, but the paradoxical and complex nature of what it means to be ‘ark’ for others in Scripture and tradition provides other ways of assessing and developing mission potential. These different ways of thinking about the cathedral will be set against stories obtained from talking to people seeking different forms of help from cathedrals, in order to show in what ways the cathedral was ‘ark’ for them and to test what the limits of that perspective might be. The paper concludes with some suggestions for strategic action within cathedrals to maximise this particular mission and social justice lens.