Diversity and Social Justice Requirement

Lake Washington Institute of Technology’s mission is to prepare students for today's careers and tomorrow's opportunities. In today's culturally diverse global workforce, this mission goes beyond teaching our students the technical skills they will use in their industry. It is important that our students have the knowledge and skills that prepare them for the multicultural workspace they are entering and the broader communities in which they will live.

To help accomplish this mission, starting in the 2021-2022 academic year a course on diversity and social justice is required at Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWTech) of all students seeking a certificate or associate degree. The required course dives deep into concepts of diversity and social justice. This requirement does not add costs to degree requirements and no additional time is needed to meet degree requirements.

Structure of Courses Around Diversity and Social Justice

Students taking the Diversity and social justice classes, would be invited to choose from a variety of "D" designated classes. The entire course will be dedicated to or contextualized around diversity and social justice. Some of the "D" designated classes are technical classes, while others are General Education courses.

Learning Outcomes

Each Diversity and Social Justice course is focused on, at least four learning outcomes from the following three categories:

• Power, Privilege, Inequity (2 learning outcomes from the following list)
  • Define and apply key terms and concepts of diversity and social justice.  
  • Identify how power, privilege, and inequity are or have been reinforced and challenged at individual, institutional, and systemic levels.  
  • Identify specific ways in which individuals and social and artistic movements attempted to disrupt systems of power, privilege, and inequity.  
  • Analyze and apply ethical practice in relation to diverse communities and cultures for the promotion of equity and social justice.
• Difference (1 learning outcome from the following list)
  • Discuss and analyze how categories of difference are or have been created, maintained, and experienced through power, privilege, and inequity.  
  • Describe and demonstrate cultural differences and commonalities among people have been/are reflected in different time periods, institutions, and social systems.
• Communication (1 learning outcome from the following list)
  • Communicate one’s own intersecting identities of difference and how they position oneself in relation to power, privilege, and inequity.  
  • Engage in intentional communication with awareness of intent and impact. Explain different types of knowledge and how knowledge construction maintains power, privilege, and inequity.  
  • Apply the principles of effective and ethical intercultural communication and demonstrate how individuals and institutions could more effectively communicate across differences in human communities and cultures for the promotion of equity and social justice.

Designated Diversity and Social Justice Classes