CHAPTER TWO Library and Information Science Students In order to create learner-­centered instruction, we must understand who our students are. This chapter takes a broad look at library and information sci- ence (LIS) students by presenting student demographic data, examining issues of diversity and equity in the classroom, and looking at the needs of specific groups of students, including first-­generation, international, adult, and part-­ time learners (supporting students with disabilities is addressed separately in Chapter 4). The chapter concludes with a look at the growth in online learn- ing in library and information science. Diversity in the LIS Classroom As ­Table 2.1 illustrates, white ­ women predominate gradu­ate work in LIS. In 2015–2016, ­women earned 81.6 ­ percent of master’s degrees and 59.3 ­ percent of doctoral degrees white students earned 78.2 ­ percent of master’s degrees and 55.6 ­ percent of doctoral degrees. The absence of ­ people of color extends to the profession as a ­whole. According to the 2017 Current Population Sur- vey, 79.5 ­ percent of librarians are ­women and 86.3 ­ percent are white. Archives and museums show a similar lack of diversity 61.4 ­ percent of archivists, cura- tors, and museum technicians are ­women, and 80.2 ­ percent are white (Bureau of ­ Labor Statistics 2018). A minority in the classroom and often on the campus as a ­ whole, students of color experience discrimination and bias on a regular basis (Lilly et al. 2018). Often this takes the form of microaggressions, “the brief and common- place daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities, ­ whether inten- tional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial,
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