Empowering student engagement with race in the marketplace: a research-informed approach

We build a research-driven approach to university education about race in the marketplace, explaining what can cultivate student engagement. Our approach aims to create a shared understanding of the core components of teaching critical studies of race in the marketplace for instructors and to support student application of such knowledge to enhance marketplace equity. We design a structured pedagogical process, integrating discussion of key marketing concepts, power relations, and strategic issues central to understanding race in the marketplace. We detail how the course was implemented and empirically assess students’ critical engagement using text analysis and a pre-and post-course survey. Overall, we provide guidance for educators who desire to address issues of race in their curriculum and classrooms – whether as a semester-long course or through specific course modules.