AUTOETHNOGRAPHY
As a human being, one will always find him or herself interacting with people at different
levels and situations, however, in as much as the intentions that one has when it comes to
interacting with people with the knowledge that all people are diverse (Dill & Zambrana, 2020).
There are always instances that do make us as individuals react differently when we tend to see
other people who are in one way or the other diverse from us. In the current world that we are
living in, there are different experiences that people do go through that makes one believe that
the issue on equality on all aspects of life from ethnicity, race, class, gender, sexuality and many
more have been happening and these inequalities usually do have the ability to shape one’s
general life, ideas, identity, career goals and even life chances.
These inequalities do have a very significant impact on people’s lives and
understanding them and seeking a way to know how to deal with them is one of the most
important thing that as an individual should seek doing in any case if they are to avoid the
negative effect that comes with this. In my personal life therefore, there have been many and
different instances where I have in one way or the other encountered these kinds of inequalities
in my life and these have affected me in many different ways. Some of these experiences have
happened to me personally while others I have observed happen to other people who are around
me and these specifically ended up changing my life chances, identity, ideas, career goals and
even my whole life in general. This paper will therefore be an auto ethnography that will
capture my life experiences in the past up to the present. The paper will capture different events
on how inequality based on the above mentioned diversities have affected my personal choices
in different aspects of life.
Looking in my past years, one of the experiences that I had with regards to race
inequalities was when I was in my elementary school. Since I was in a rural school the students
in the school were all from different races, however from the way students were being treated,
it was obvious that there were very big inequalities when it comes to the way in which different
students were treated based on their race. A good example of this was that, when students were
found to have had disciplinary issues, in most cases the students who were black and the
Mexicans usually found themselves getting harsh treatment compared to the other students
from other races.
This was therefore something that was very bad as the administration knew exactly
what that they were doing and in most cases this was very uncomfortable watching and
experiencing because even in cases when students from different races were being punished for
the same disciplinary issue, the punishment or the disciplinary action was different based on
race. Mostly the African American students were given harsh punishments and disciplinary
actions compared to the other students from other races. This kind of experiences from a young
age therefore shaped my life and especially on the idea of race and I have always seemed to
unconsciously believe that in the country race is one of the factor that might determine your
life, the African American people are always considered to be marginalized and therefore they
might need to work twice as hard as the other races for them to get the same opportunities and
needs that they do get. This experience changed my perspective towards life and I have always
believed that the marginalized races do need our protection from the system and the need to
stand up for them in ensuring that the inequality is eradicated is something that is very
important to always consider and do. This experience has also to some extent shaped my career
goals in a way that I have always desired to be an activist in this field advocating for the rights
of the people who are in most cases treated differently due to their racial differences.
Another experience that I have had that has shaped my life in different ways is when it
comes to class. Many experiences that I have had in my life and especially in my line of work
and while looking for a job have been influenced by class. There has always been a perception
that people who have gone to prestigious schools and universities do have a greater probability
to get better jobs in the market. Therefore people who cannot afford these schools due to their
economic class are always left out to see if they can get a chance in getting the other jobs that
are considered not to be prestigious.
A good example of an experience that I had with this was when I was looking for an
internship, I found myself with a student from one of the most expensive and prestigious
colleges in the country, in as much as I had better grades than him while being interviewed for
the position, it was obvious that the economic class that he was in gave him 50% chance of him
being taken for the intern position than me. This specific company was one of the best firms in
the country and I have always wished to work in the same company, however due to my
economics class, I missed that chance. This therefore affected my career goals in a very
significant way. The career goals that I always had of working for the firm and getting a good
recommendation letter from the same which would have helped me in acquiring even a better
job in another company was ruined by the fact that I was from a low economic class. This
inequality therefore when it comes to class is something that has not only affected me but that
has also affected many other people who I am around with when it comes to the process of
getting equal opportunities when it comes to jobs, schools and even getting basic rights from
the government. This to a significant level does affect people’s life chances by making them
miss out on opportunities that they were clearly qualified for due to the fact that they are not
from a high class.
Another thing that when I reflect back in my life I consider it to have had an impact
specifically on my ideas and life chances of people is the inequality that comes with gender. In
the past years, the issue on gender has been a thing of the past and most people have seen it to
have been reduced and the issues on equality based on gender have not been reported in the
recent years. However, gender in the past years has affected my career choices and even the
ideas that I have towards certain jobs and people. A good example of an experience that I went
through that shaped me in terms of ideas that I have was when I took one of my lady friends
who was a qualified professional mechanical engineer and she was called for an interview in
one of the local automotive companies in the area. Upon reaching the company’s offices, the
friend was lucky to be the one who had the highest qualifications for the job and she was
confident that she was going to get the job based on this. However, looking at the other
applicants, they were all men and looking around the company workshop there was no lady
working or even supervising the work.
Upon asking the management about this, they said that they do prefer hiring men in the
job that they were offering due to the state of the activities that were to be carried out by the
applicants. The assumption that was made by the management was that men were more
masculine and were able to deliver more when it comes to work output compared to ladies.
Upon hearing this it was very sad and it automatically changed my idea of workers towards that
area of specialty. I ended up believing that for any lady to get a job, they need to try and focus
more on learning and taking course that were less masculine and in as much as this was a bad
thinking, it was a valid one since by deciding to do such course, one might end up struggling to
get a job in the field not because they are not qualified but because employers in the industry
prefer men for their basing and unjustified assumptions.
These different experiences that I have come across in the past up to now have had a
very huge impact on my life. Most of the experiences that I have had that are specifically
negative when it comes to inequality based on people’s diversities have affected not only the
way in which I view different situations but also the way in which I tend to have ideas on
certain situations and careers. These experiences have not only been the ones that I have
experienced firsthand but also many of the experiences have been experienced by the people
that I am close to and these have also affected me in a significant way. People that I know have
changed their career goals, their life chances have been ruined and even they have had ideas
that are considered not to be correct in situations and even people (Dill & Zambrana, 2020). It
is therefore for this reason that the need to come up with ways that would help in the process of
ensuring that these inequalities are addressed and that people are treated the same despite their
diversities is needed. It is important to always know that all people are the same and the need to
ensure that this is cultivated in people’s hearts from a lower age will specifically ensure that
these kinds of identities and beliefs that people develop towards certain careers, people and
even situations are eradicated and reduced significantly.
References
Dill, B. T., & Zambrana, R. E. (2020). Critical thinking about inequality: An emerging lens.
In Feminist Theory Reader (pp. 108-116). Routledge.
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003001201-14/critical
-thinking-inequality-bonnie-thornton-dill-ruth-enid-zambrana

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