While not directly attributed to teaching typography on Graphic Communication Design. The UAL attainment stats from 2023/24 tell us:
Home students (1st/2.1) 90% International 82%
Home white 98% Home BAME 76% Home Asian 71%
University of the Arts London. (2025) ‘Attainment Rates’, Active Dashboards. Available at https://dashboards.arts.ac.uk/dashboard/ActiveDashboards/DashboardPage.aspx?dashboardid=cdf319c3-c4df-49aa-abcd-00cbdb5186e2&dashcontextid=638684775887265547 (Accessed 17 November 2024).
The AIGA’s report of 2021 provides figures on diversity in the design industry (see image below).
column 1: Overall respondents, column 2: US only respondents
The report’s section titled ‘Creative Communities Advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ states that although “If broadly defined, the Design community is, in many ways, very diverse” (AIGA, 2021 : 65) and the “LGBTQIA+ community is more represented in the profession as compared to the overall population”, however “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) continue to present dilemmas and need to be more clearly defined and broadly discussed to give voice to all communities.” (AIGA, 2021 : 65). That “Asian Americans in the U.S. (not Design specific either) have been increasingly victims of racism and discrimination since the beginning of the pandemic.” (AIGA, 2021 : 65) and “For Black designers […] primary challenges were: lack of role models; lack of mentors; no awareness; and no career support.”
References
AIGA. (2021) Design POV: An In-Depth Look at the Design Industry Now. New York: American Institute of Graphic Arts. Available at: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.aiga.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/2021_DesignPOV_FinalReport_01302023.pdf (Accessed 22 January 2024).
Catherine Dixon, ‘Admit constraints: then having admitted, fill with discovery’, conference talk at Typography Theory Practice, Saturday 19 October 2024, Leeds Beckett University
Catherine Dixon, presentation slide
Catherine Dixon, a colleague who has taught typography for many years at CSM, previously alongside designer and typographer Phil Baines, presented a paper at a conference dedicated to Typography in relation to theory and practice.
Catherine Dixon, presentation slide
Dixon discusses how she feels the terms used to classify typography and related disciplines (lettering, calligraphy, etc) can act as a form of controlling what becomes canon or not. Dixon talks about how, particularly in Northern Europe, there is a preference to distinguish between practices, eg ‘typography’ and ‘lettering’, whereas this is not true everywhere, for example in Brazil where Dixon has experience of teaching.
Catherine Dixon, presentation slide
Specifically, Dixon talks about “reframing lettering” in order to acknowledge other sources of knowledge on an equal level of hierarchy, in order to counter the idea of what has been previously deemed as ‘professional’ or ‘unprofessional’.
Catherine Dixon, presentation slide
“The typographic is ONE way of communicating with letterforms and words, not THE way” (Dixon, 2024).
This relates to my research in terms of ideas of inclusivity, and decolonisation and the design canon. Part of this is thinking about what and how we present to students as typography, what do we mean by ‘professional’ typography, and how this might exclude certain work, particularly work by marginalised practitioners.
My initial reactions to this were that, in my opinion, it’s the distinct classifications that create the issue, so why not just call everything ‘typography’?
Dixon argues against just calling everything typography as this fails to acknowledge how classification has previously excluded certain work and certain designers.
Dixon suggests that the disciplinary blurring is a contemporary default and “not a blurring I find useful” (Dixon, 2025). “we could be here all day… year, talking through the many overlaps” […] “These definitions are helpful, because they start to hint at distinct skillsets” (Dixon, 2025).
Dixon prefers to “admit narrowness and identify constraints” (Dixon, 2024) and finding ways to “Expand awareness of the possibilities within visual/graphic communication practice” (Dixon, 2024).
Dixon went on to talk about the systems that are at play. That professional expensive equipment such as printing presses, typesetting technology, even more recent Adobe subscriptions, typeface licences, etc “Remain systemic obstacles to be negotiated” (Dixon, 2025). As with many professions, certain communities are excluded because of access to tools and finances. There is also inequality in different parts of the world:
“Global technologies are biased towards the Latin script […] at the expense of the quality of typesetting possible in other scripts”. “Access to systems of type is far from equal, and has been far from universal” (Dixon, 2024).
Dalton Maag, professional typeface design studio who I invited in to co-teach my intervention, also talked about this inequality. That there are many varieties of typefaces for the Latin script and far fewer in other scripts, which limits expression and limits how sophisticated communications can be in non-latin scripts.
Catherine Dixon, presentation slide
Dixon talked about the professionalisation of graphic design, that leads to favouring work by professional class, middle class, white males. There has been a huge amount of control on the canon of typography through the professional class, usually white, middle-class males, who historically were working as professional designers, typesetters, printers. “Printing being heavily unionised and pretty much a closed shop” (Dixon, 2024).
Catherine Dixon, presentation slide
Something that had a huge impact was the development of Letraset, a method of rub-down type, which “literally put typography in the hands of the people”. This enabled a certain degree of democratisation of the production technology of typography, as something that previously required professional typesetting services could be done by an untrained individual. “It became possible for groups, outside mainstream media, to publish zines and find a voice in print” (Dixon, 2024). “Though such printed materials were still seen as far from professional examples of graphic design” and were often used in DIY publishing, punk fliers, etc.
In education this professionalisation was also reflected in the changing of course names and activities, moving away from making practices to reflect new technological practices.
Nicolete Grey, who taught at the Central School and established the Central Lettering Record, used a photographic collection of lettering to demonstrate the possibilities.
“A key tool in helping Grey to reinvigorate understanding of the possibilities of lettering was a photographic teaching collection first established at the Central School in 1963” (Dixon, 2024).
Catherine Dixon, presentation slide
“The Central Lettering Record (CLR) had originally helped promote awareness to students of letterforms beyond the Trajan letter, which was the kind of established civic go-to letter for much of the 20th century” (Dixon, 2024).
“Under her remit, Grey expanded the vision for the CLR to celebrate lettering diversity of all kinds and as her teaching context at the Central shifted in 1966, to one of graphic design, the aim was to counterpoint the new emphasis on the typographic in teaching” (Dixon, 2024).
Dixon refers to Gray’s reframing of lettering as key to her argument:
“Lettering is the broad space, within which it is possible to situate more focussed letterform related practices” (Dixon, 2024)
“It’s a reframing that I find hugely helpful because it counters the dualistic thinking that prioritises the rational premise of design over other forms of lettering knowledge, generally demoted as craft. It affords space for recognising practices beyond the modular and the systematic and the contribution that these make to visual communication, outside of professional graphic design and it affirms that these spaces outside of professional graphic design have value. Typography is ONE way of communicating with letterforms and words and not THE way.” (Dixon, 2024)
So Dixon is talking about how this reframing of practices can allow for what otherwise might be dismissed as non-professional to be given the same hierarchy as so-called professional graphic design. Leading to acknowledging a broader range of knowledge sources. This allows us to look at sources of knowledge before the professionalisation of graphic design and bridge gaps between knowledge silos.
Catherine Dixon, presentation slide
Dixon goes on to talk about the work of Colette Gaiter, specifically a talk for BIPOC Design History, which Dixon refers to as a “Canon shattering presentation” (Dixon, 2024).
Catherine Dixon, presentation slide
Dixon talks about how Black designers have been excluded from the canon. “Typographic work of black designers such as Emory Douglas has wilfully been overlooked”. “Typography by designers of Colour is missing from the design canon for a number of reasons, but the fact is that it was always there, just not visible to those who decided what went into design history” (Dixon, 2024).
Dixon references a quote from Gator that describes “Decolonisation as ‘Responsible expansion’” (Gator in Dixon, 2024).
“Wilful racism has played its part but some of that discrimination is less direct, embedded as it is in operating systems of many kinds. This is where I think it is helpful to understand the exclusive basis on which the idea of the typographic has operated” (Dixon, 2024).
Catherine Dixon, presentation slide
“For me it does matter whether we refer to this work as typography or lettering. It bothers me that this amazing work of [Wadsworth] Jerrell and [Carolyn] Lawrence would need to be positioned as typography to somehow become more legitimate within the design canon. These are extraordinary pieces of visual communication and perhaps al the more extraordinary because they are not typographic. The letterforms are free of the systems that would then have limited such expression. To produce this work required exceptional skill, a skill set that has been rendered invisible by this work having been ignored for so long, but a skillset that is perhaps in danger, I would argue, of continuing to be rendered invisible by being described as typographic. I also don’t want to let the exclusivity that has characterised typography off the hook quite so easily by just elasticating definitions now. It’s not just a case of including previously ignored outcomes into the canon.” (Dixon, 2024)
Catherine Dixon, presentation slide
“We should expand our historiographies and give thanks to those […] doing that challenging work. We should all challenge the remit of what professional graphic design was and is to reclaim lost stories and reconnect with a continuum of visual communication practice but also to help us to be more inclusive going forward.” (Dixon, 2024)
systems #access #bias #control #exclusion
Bibliography
Typography Theory Practice (2024) Catherine Dixon: Admit constraints: then having admitted, fill with discovery. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4EvTqoj0Cs (Accessed: 3 January 2025).
From the Graphic Communication Design course handbook:
“Engaging with climate, racial and social justice in the Graphic Communication Design Community at Central Saint Martins
The accelerating climate and ecological emergency is exposing the unsustainability and injustice of the political, social, and economic systems that have created them. An overarching goal for our programme community has necessarily become to question how graphic communication design practices can critique and intervene in the systems of extraction and exploitation that have led us to the brink of collapse.
Historically, graphic design has serviced various imbalanced power structures, and in this way, has contributed to perpetuating climate, racial and social injustices. At the same time, our discipline’s media and methods provide powerful tools for negotiating and communicating the complexities of the current moment.
The need for high quality and carefully nuanced communication is increasing as the complexity of intersecting crises escalates. In the context of widespread disinformation and cultures of media illiteracy, graphic communication design’s capacity for enhancing existing forms of public discourse – and generating new forms – is much needed.
Our programme is distinct in both its scale and its diversity and is well positioned to engage with our present challenges. We will consider these kinds of questions from a range of creative perspectives:
How might graphic and communication design engage proactively with wider institutions and systems? • What role might our practices play in envisioning just and sustainable alternatives?
What is the role of communication in redefining and recreating relations between humanity and nature?
As a community, we will collectively reimagine current and future role(s) for graphic communication design in the face of these urgent crises. We see this as a serious and vital challenge—the future has yet to be designed!”
Thinking about how my project aligns with UALs ‘Climate, racial and social justice principles’ and how GCD is framing this on our course handbook.
My intervention looks at Racial and Social justice in terms of decolonising the curriculum and institution, “decolonisation and decarbonisation of our education and creative practices.” (UAL, 2023), p.1).
It also aligns with “Cultivate systems thinking and practices that meaningfully acknowledge the interconnections and complexity of life on earth.” By looking at alternative knowledge sources, other than those associated with the Western canon and capitalism. And also ” design for possible futures”, typography, type design being part of a future language system that acknowledges global differences in cultures.
“Design for human equity, social and racial justice by mobilising critical thinking, humbly questioning the norms, practices and biases embedded in our societies and cultures. We recognise and reflect on our individual actions and societal values through self-awareness and reflective practice.”
This part I found to be particularly relevant as my intervention looks at how different cultures can be represented equally in a visual language that truly is representative of nuanced cultural differences.
References
University of the Arts London (2024) BA (Hons) Graphic Communication Design Course Handbook 2024–25. London: UAL
Two points in particular stood out for me: – “Approach the intervention as a creative unsettling of your own practice in partnership with your students and/or colleagues” – “Notice and reflect on your positionality, embodiments, and practices as a researcher”
Prior to doing the PgCert I would say I view myself as a tutor in terms of wanting to impart quite core principles of typography, that could be described as fundamental skills, tools, knowledge that can then be used by students to enhance their work and as a ‘jumping off point’ for their own ideas, experiments and explorations of the subject.
Since reading more about decolonisation, attending Anoushka’s workshop and speaking to colleagues and tutors, my understanding of what I think of as core and fundamental knowledge comes into question somewhat. Decolonisation asks us to reconsider what we might of think of as ‘universal truths’ or knowledge of a subject as regional, and part of a varied global perspective.
My big questions about my teaching practice are about encouraging students to question what we think of as universal knowledge but to also not discard it as somehow representative of colonialism, capitalism, etc.
I find this term ‘creative unsettling’ really interesting and have seen how this has started to happen in the first two units of the PgCert and intend to develop this more fully on the ARP.
Being open to this unsettling is daunting as it’s in my nature to use my knowledge and expertise as a way to give me confidence in teaching, so undoing this a bit like exploring the unknown for me as a tutor.
The idea of doing this “in partnership with your students and/or colleagues” is also interesting and perhaps key to a decolonial approach, as it would be difficult if not impossible for me to try and become an expert in many global approaches to graphic communication design and typography, so it seems essential to work with the students to explore this. The fact that at CSM we have a very international cohort is a real advantage here also.
I’d like to develop an intervention that explores diversity, racial/social justice, deconialism, through a typography project of some kind.
For me it’s interesting to consider what decolonialism can bring not only to the institution but also to the design industry, and how can my teaching encourage both of these things.
I’m also interested in what happens to so-called colonial knowledge. In some of the rhetoric of decolonialism there is a kind of heroic excitement in radically changing the landscape of how design is taught. But I’m also conscious that in hundreds of years of practice, there is knowledge, skills, techniques that are valid, useful, fundamental in design (and of course other fields) that we shouldn’t just abandon. The question for decolonisation is how do we avoid a situation where anything goes and can be questioned? How and what do we teach from colonial knowledge sources?
When attending Anoushka’s workshop in particular, I was reminded of the work and ideas of postmodernism, which seemed similar to some of the ideas she was presenting as decolonial (non-hierarchical etc). There’s an aspect of postmodern typography that just lead to unreadable communications that call into question everything about legibility, hierarchy, structure, composition etc.
Paulo Freire’s quote is a key driver of my intervention. That students and tutors are all learning and teaching each other. In the case of my intervention, teaching the group about knowledges relating to their own identities, drawing upon visual approaches, theories, and practical and technical knowledge from their own cultural, racial, social backgrounds
Identity, Expression & Reflection Anne Berry, et al. 2022
Anne Berry, et al., The Black Experience in Design:Identity, Expression & Reflection, 2022
I would like to retire the Paul Rand look. I would like to retire mid-century Helvetica. I want to retire flush left. I want to retire white space. It is the look of my oppressor … a mid-century era when it wasn’t easy to enter the New York marketplace as a Black designer. When I see that look, the only thing it says to me is, “You cannot enter. You don’t belong. You’re not good enough.”
Cheryl D Miller, in Berry et al, 2022
This amazingly powerful quote by graphic designer Cheryl D Miller is used in Ruha Benjamin’s foreword in The Black Experience in Design. It talks about the idea that meaning in design, and in this example typography, depends on who you are, where you are from, your upbringing and social status. This is a really interesting interrogation of the so-called universal language of modernism and what we, in the West, might think of as a progressive, liberal, democratic design language.
This really changed my understanding of modernist typography and has helped me to think about and develop my ARP intervention and approach to teaching more generally. Specifically, thinking about how students should be encouraged to develop their own typographic language, and to consider people from alternative cultures, communities and how these audiences might interpret the visual characteristics of typefaces in different ways.
In the foreword, the author talks about how the experiences of Black designers offer us “invaluable insights into the possibilities for understanding our collective experiences. These stories also inform action, specifically about how design will be taught, researched, practised, curated, critiqued and created in the future.” (Berry, et al, 2022, p.11).
This quote sets the scene for what I would like my intervention to achieve. To encourage students to explore their experiences and identities to create new design languages that open up possibilities for how we might see the discipline of typography and Graphic Design.
After following a link to the full conversation between Cheryl D Miller and Eugene Korsunskiy on www.medium.com, I read more about Miller’s thoughts on this subject.
Cheryl D. Miller, AIGA Eye on Design
The quote originally came from a webinar organized by Chris Rudd at the IIT Institute of Design (“The Future Must be Different from the Past: Embracing an Anti-Racist Agenda”). Miller was asked to reflect about the elements of contemporary graphic design that she believes symbolise racism and oppression and the above quote followed.
The author of the conversation, Eugene Korsunskiy, shares similar concerns to me, as a white educator, who often presents minimalism, order, grids, white space as ‘good’ design. He lists four takeaways from his conversation with Miller:
I have to saturate my visual experience with diverse images
I have to learn and teach the history — the whole history
I have to lean on my students as collaborators in this journey
This last point really stood out to me and connected to my plans for my intervention and how I work with the students.
“An important truth that I already know is: my students are not there to be passive recipients of my wisdom and knowledge. I have to make them real collaborators in this effort — I have to make them learn with me, and make them help me (and each other) see better.” (Korsunskiy, 2020)
This really ties in to my research project, so that rather than me thinking it I my responsibility to learn everything and show my students everything I know. We can explore together, as they bring so much more than me to the table, in terms of knowledge, experiences, skills, from all over the world, that represent different cultures and identities.
In the conversation, Cheryl D. Miller suggests this as a teaching exercise:
“Take a brand — say, McDonald’s, or Coca-Cola, or Disney — and study what it looks like in four different points on the globe. Look at Coke packaging in Brazil, and in Asia, and in North America, and in Paris. And let’s talk about what we see.”
“I even suggest going to the corner grocery and convenience stores in Black, Latinx or Asian neighborhoods and look at the food packaging. […] food packaging can reveal a lot about design ethnicities.”
“You’ll start to decolonize your students’ point of view — and your own — if you have them do this kind of documentation. Look, you don’t have the answers yourself. So, get them busy!” (Miller, in Korsunskiy, 2020)
“I can give my students an opportunity to practice speaking multiple design languages, and develop a felt sense of how identity can shape design — and an understanding that many different identities can shape many different (equally valid) design expressions.” (Korsunskiy, 2020)
This idea of getting students to practice speaking multiple design languages and how identity can shape design and the validity of this is really connected to my thinking of my ARP intervention, this is what I want to do with the typeface design project.
Bibliography
Berry, A.H. et al. (Eds) (2022) The Black Experience in Design : Identity, Expression and Reflection, , Skyhorse Publishing Company, Incorporated. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=6866123.
Korsunskiy, E. (2020) ‘Dismantling White Supremacy in Design Classrooms: My Conversation With Design Guru Cheryl D. Miller’, Future of Design in Higher Education. Accessed 20 December 2024 (https://medium.com/fdhe/dismantling-white-supremacy-in-design-classrooms-my-conversation-with-design-guru-cheryl-d-miller-5dc9c48b15e4_
Anoushka Khandwala, What does it mean to decolonise design, AIGA Eye on Design, 2019
CSM Graphic Communication Design colleague Anoushka Khandwala writes for the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) ‘Eye on Design’ about what it actually means to decolonise design.
In the article, Khandwala reflects on how designers are inspired by our individual taste, derived from our upbringing, linking to our individual experiences of identity, background, race and social status.
Khandwala argues that exposure to the Western design canon, whether directly or indirectly through educational institutions, shapes the design development of students, shapes them into a European mould.
“The work designers make is inspired by taste, and taste is often derived from what we’re exposed to during our upbringing. But design values and history is taught through a canon; that accepted pantheon of work by predominantly European and American male designers that sets the basis for what is deemed “good” or “bad.” The authority of the canon has undermined the work produced by non-Western cultures and those from poorer backgrounds so that Ghanaian textiles, for example, get cast as craft rather than design.”
Khandwala, 2019
My own experience of design school
I recall this happening at art school, what felt like a positive influence, learning about design in lectures and class projects but also being influenced by the architecture of the Lethaby building, work displayed on walls, books in the library, London design culture more generally, exhibitions at the Barbican, etc. But there is definitely an aspect of this that is about losing part of one’s own cultural identity in your work.
In more progressive art/design schools (CSM for example), there is noticeably less teaching from the canon, I recall only a couple of contextual / design history lectures at CSM. We were encouraged to explore the subject in the way we wanted to. I don’t recall anyone really looking at the reading lists.
So the ideal goal would be that students are encouraged to nurture their own tastes, find ideas and research their own cultural backgrounds and share this knowledge with a cohort that is diverse in terms of race, social background, nationality, gender, sexuality, politics, etc and that this creates a discourse where different views, knowledges and practices are valued and encouraged to develop.
One great tutor I had at the University of East London, would encourage students to explore their own backgrounds and experience in their work as he would say, “your experience is valid” and encouraged this perspective as a way to develop our own approach to design and develop design languages that reflected our experiences.
How we move away from teaching from the canon
One could argue that even in progressive institutions, like CSM, where a lot of work has been done to centre the learning on each student’s individual experience, is still operating within a institution who’s legacy is part of a colonial system. The influences of class, race, etc permeate in a multitude of subtle ways, from the lack of diversity in the student demographic, in teaching staff, in reading lists and resources, but even in the way the library is organised for example.
Often what we end up doing when pointing students to references is reproduce these white male references, as we grew up with them and they are the most prominent. There is also the issue of hierarchy, what is considered serious or professional in terms of references. It’s easier to diversify a set of references but there tends to be an emphasis on the references from the Western canon as neon the more advanced, serious, professional, etc. Others from marginalised communities as often presented as amateur, less-professional, outsider, less sophisticated, ‘other’.
Distinctions and divisions can “other” both designers and designs. Simba Ncube, a graphic design student and researcher at London’s Central Saint Martins, describes his experience of being labelled as a “Black designer:” “While identity and solace can be found in the words, they still ‘other’ the practitioner and therefore their work,” he says. “When Western conventions are centred in design, this means that anything else is seen as ‘different.’” When a homogenous group of people decide what’s “good,” it’s detrimental to the profession, and results in the majority of people striving towards a similar style.
Khandwala, 2019
So as tutors we need to work against this ‘othering’ and flatten the hierarchy of references, and the way we discuss knowledge and acknowledge sources of knowledge from cultures other than the West.
Students are learning about design, and look to please the tutors, or meet the learning outcomes, in order to achieve good grades. When they look for examples of ‘good’ design and see these models from the Western canon, this affects what they are striving to achieve.
As a global society, if we are to learn about how design can improve the world around us and value the environment, then we will benefit from alternative ways of thinking to those that have brought us to our current state.
What are the realities of attempting decolonisation?
Khandwala talks later about the challenges of decolonisation: “Realizing that the standards we’ve been taught are not universal is key to decoloniality. And it’s not easy: Ncube likens the process of unseeing Western culture as getting a “fish to understand that it’s in water.”” (Khandwala, 2019).
Khandwala references educator and designer Danah Abdulla (one member of the research group Decolonising Design) and uses her quote: “decoloniality is about shattering the familiar.” (Abdulla, quoted in Khandwala, 2019).
Khandwala makes the connection to capitalism and as ‘”an instrument of colonization,” and therefore that it’s almost impossible to truly decolonize in Western society at present’ (Khandwala, 2019).
So a key aspect of the argument of decolonisation is to see the Western canon as one approach of many different regional views or approaches. It’s also important for designers to consider a diverse audience for their work and that the meaning of one design language may not mean the same thing for others.
‘The process can extend to something small like selecting typefaces. Many designers will spring for a certain font because it’s “timeless.” But will a diverse audience see it the same way?’
Khandwala, 2019
Khandwala also presents tips for decolonizing our design practices:
“To avoid taking charge of another’s narrative, or appropriating what isn’t yours, recognize when a project is not yours to take. When it’s not, promote someone more appropriate to take your place.”
Khandwala, 2019
“Therefore taking yourself out of the equation can be an opportunity to ensure people from marginalized backgrounds get a place in the creative community.”
Khandwala, 2019
“Working with minority owned printers, for example, is one way of decolonizing design labor”.
Khandwala, 2019
Khandwala’s closing statements talk about the “process” of decolonisation, something we should all aim to work towards but that there is no easy finite fix:
“Ultimately, there is no finite end that we’re trying to reach: Decolonization is a process. The fact that it’s a journey means that in order to keep evolving, we must be continually curious, and educate ourselves about what we haven’t experienced directly.”
Khandwala, A. (2019) ‘What Does It Mean to Decolonize Design?’, AIGA Eye on Design, accessed 19 November 2024 (https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/what-does-it-mean-to-decolonize-design/)
Kwon, D. (2022) ‘The Rise of Citational Justice’. Nature, 603
This article looked at inequity in citations, how academics from minority backgrounds are often overlooked, either not cited or not credited: ‘citational erasure’. This fails to acknowledge a person’s contribution to research but also has a huge potential impact on a scholar’s career, as can lead to failure to get grants, hiring and promotions.
Research in this area shows us that there are ‘persistent biases in citation patterns – women and people of colour, for instance garner citations at lower rates than men’ (Kwon, 2022, p.569).
Recent work to acknowledge inequities in citational practices and take action to reduce them, has led to ‘citational justice’. This includes using code to help estimate the balance of gender and race and guidance tools for authors.
Interesting points were about the idea that: ‘citational justice isn’t only about justice’ (Cassidy Sugimoto), ‘it’s about doing robust, rigorous science, where you are truly exploring all the potential areas of research’. Therefore it makes sense that you need to cite authors from diverse racial and gender identities.
The research also found that ‘authors tend to cite people they know, such as co-workers, colleagues or those with whom they have had professional interactions’ (Kwon, 2022,, p.569). In our class today, Kwarme suggested this could relate to promoting your own network, to increase each other’s profiles and perhaps gain funding advantages. I also wondered about how I use visual references in teaching practice, usually in informal one-to-one feedback sessions, where I might suggest a student looks at a particular piece of work. Often these come from work or practitioners I know, student work I have seen, or from hearing about the work of a colleague. This isn’t consciously done to promote my own network, rather because it’s in my sphere of everyday experience. This is something to be mindful of.
Other interesting aspect of the article talked about was how ‘heuristics’ are used when finding sources to cite, ‘language a paper is written in, the researcher’s institution and journal reputation’. ‘Such practices can inadvertently silence certain voices – because individuals from some populations are more likely to write in a particular language and less likley to work at prestigious institutions or publish in high-impact journals’ (Kwon, 2022, p.569). This also relates to the idea that indigenous voices have no platform to share knowledge and become silenced and knowledge lost.
Another key point which seems to chime with my understanding of decolonisation is: ‘Just changing the proportion of authors from minoritised groups in reference lists is not enough, she adds. “If you’re only inserting Black women onto a bibliography, but you’re not actually those ideas to influence the way that you think about and see the world, then what you’re engaging with is superficial diversity work, and not true, fundamental change.” (Dani Basset, in Kwon, 2022, p.571)’
References
Kwon, D. (2022) ‘The Rise of Citational Justice’. Nature, 603
