diversity

Agnes Scott vs Spelman: Do Their Websites Promote the Same Values?

Diversity

The home page of Agnes Scott and Spelman‘s websites are similar, but also different. They are similar because both have a slide show at the top, displaying current events or important event that happened at their school. The placement of these images on the home pages, implies that what these images portray is valued by each school. The difference between the two websites is the types of  images displayed in each slide show on their home page. On the Agnes Scott slide show, each image with people in it is someone of a different race. This is an example of Agnes Scott’s promotion of diversity through their website.

The slide show on Spelman’s page is slightly different. I noticed that every person in each image appears to be African American. There is not much variety of race in the photos on the home page. Also in the background image of the home page there appears to be only African American women displayed. Unlike Agnes Scott, I notice that there are a few men in the images, but they also appear to be African American. The fact that Spelman is a historically black college is obvious based on the images in the slide show. There is a promotion of African American pride through their website’s home page.

After observing and comparing the two slide shows, I concluded that Agnes Scott’s home page promotes more racial and cultural diversity, while Spelman promotes pride in black history. This is not to say that Spelman does not value diversity, but instead, it is just not being displayed when you first log onto to website. Another way to find out about diversity at each college is to look at the student demographics displayed on each website. When you look at the “About” pages of both Agnes Scott and Spelman, you will find links to their mission statements. On Agnes Scott’s “About” page there is the tab on the left side labeled “Mission”. On this page they have a detailed mission statement stating, “Agnes Scott College strives to be a just and inclusive community that expects honorable behavior, encourages spiritual inquiry and promotes respectful dialogue across differences.” This implies their support towards cultural and lifestyle differences. Further down this page, they have a list of values. On this list is “A commitment to an Appreciation of Diverse Cultures”. Underneath this, they have bullet point elaborating on what this means to them.

ASC Values

Screen clipping from: agnesscott.edu ; Taken by Destiny Dickens

The fact that their mission and values have its own page, shows its importance to Agnes Scott. It also displays their pride in their mission and values because they made it easy for anyone viewing their site to find the page. Under Spelman’s Spelman’s “About Us” page page there is a tab on the side bar labeled “At a Glance”. On this page they have a detailed mission statement stating, “Spelman empowers the whole person to engage the many cultures of the world and inspires a commitment to positive social change.”

Spelman mission

Screen clipping from: spelman.edu ; Taken by Destiny Dickens

The fact that this is included in their mission statement shows its importance. Their mission statement is the first thing you see on the “At a Glance” page, implying its significance in the representation of Spelman. While their main focus is the empowerment of African American women, they still promote diversity by encouraging their students to “engage the many cultures of the world”, as stated in their mission statement.  Both mission statements for these colleges promote a form of diversity and encourage students to explore the different cultures there are.

Women’s Empowerment

Both sites have curved edges on the drop down menus and sidebars. The drop down menus also have images in them.  The curved edges make the site seem more feminine and appealing to its audience, which is supposed to be females.

Morehouse Tab

Screen clipping of the drop down tab from Morehouse’s website; From: morehouse.edu, Taken by Destiny Dickens

When observing an all male college, such as Morehouse, the edges appear to be straight, giving that site a masculine look. There are no images in the drop down menus either.   Both sites, Agnes Scott and Spelman, have a color scheme of a cool color, violet or blue, paired with white. The headers are the main color, violet for Agnes Scott and blue for Spelman, with white text on top of it. Theses color schemes both look bright, friendly, and feminine. In contrast, Morehouse’s website has the main colors, black and white, with burgundy or red accents. There is less bright colors and it looks serious or professional. The femininity shown in the design of Agnes Scott and Spelman’s sites imply that they were designed for the purpose of being visually pleasing to a female audience, therefore promoting feminine pride and women’s empowerment.

Along with femininity, both sites show their pride in women and their success, just in different ways. Under Agnes Scott’s “At a Glance” page there is a link on the side bar to a page labeled “Why a Women’s College?”  On this page they discuss the positive outcomes of attending a women’s college and how empowering it is. This is another promotion of women’s empowerment at Agnes Scott College. Spelman’s website shows their pride in women’s success, with the placement of images on their pages. At the top of their “About Spelman” page there is an image of women in their graduation cap and gowns. There is also another image with women in their cap and gowns on the “Ranking and Awards” page. Their images promote the empowerment of women with pride in their success.

About Spelman

Group of students graduating from Spelman(c/o 2014); from the About Spelman page; Photo Credit: spelman.edu

Spelman rankings and awrads

Group of students graduating from Spelman (c/o 2015); from the Rankings and Awards page; Photo Credit: spelman.edu


 

 

 

 

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Women’s Empowerment

(Photos taken from agnesscott.edu; slideshow recreated by Destiny Dickens with Cincopa)

This slide show above was at the top of the Agnes Scott College’s “The Greatness Before Us” campaign. As you can see in the photos, there are three women in each one, with a different quote on the slide. The one reoccurring thing on each photo is the appearance of the words “Great Women”. This repetition puts emphasis on the empowerment of women. Even at the the bottom of the page there is the quote, ” Great Women will lead us forward”. The women in each photo are all diverse with different races and even age differences. This shows their students that they are all “Great Women” regardless of their race or cultural background. The three photos represent the past, present, and future of Agnes Scott. Each group taking the role of leaders, during different times on the timeline, as seen with the dates going across the tops of each photo.

great women

Screen clipping from the Greatness Before Us page ; From: agnesscott.edu ; Taken by Destiny Dickens

On this page there is a tab on the menu labeled “student excellence”. On this page they trying to raise money support students with scholarships and funding study abroad trips. Also on this page, there is the quote, “smart women set the world on fire”. This is a form of empowerment to their students to pursue their degree and it encourages them to become leaders of the world.

smart women

Screen clipping from the Student Excellence page of the Greatness Before Us campaign ; From: agnesscott.edu ; Taken by Destiny Dickens

 

 

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Racial and Cultural Diversity

Links to PDF file of Agnes Scott College's stats and numbers for class of 2015 & 2019; Photo Credit: agnesscott.edu

Links to PDF file of Agnes Scott College’s stats and numbers for class of 2015 & 2019; Photo credit: agnesscott.edu

Who Attends ASC?:

When you go to the Admissions page there is an option on the side bar labeled, “High School Students”. When you click on it, you will go to a page with information for applicants in high school. on the right side of the page there is a link that says “view stats and numbers from our most recent class”.  This links to a PDF page with the student demographics. According to this document, “students come from 9 countries and 32 U.S. states and territories.

Screenshot of Slide 4; Photo credit: agnesscot.edu

Screenshot of Slide 4 on the home page; Photo credit: agnesscott.edu

Also, 61% are students of color and 9% are international. This shows a large amount of diversity in the student body. The fact that access to this information is promoted on the page for prospective students, implies that this type of diversity is encouraged at Agnes Scott College.

Diverse Cultural Exposure:
On the home page, in the slide show, there is picture that links to information about “global learning”.  This slide show is the first thing that is visible when logging onto the site. This marks its significance and the photos in the slide show must be important as well. This makes me assume that the global learning program is important to Agnes Scott. There is also a page on the website with information about the Center for Global Diversity and Inclusion. The page links to multiple pages, located in the sidebar, for more information about the different programs that are provided there and some of the policies at the college created to encourage diversity. This is an example of Agnes Scott’s promotion of diversity in race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, and religion, through its website.

 

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