The autoethnographic data on this website includes data from a class on social inequality. The first set of data was created in 2024 and will be updated in 2025 and in future years as the class progresses. Below is information on the parameters of the data for researchers.

Our goal is to make this data repository useful to other social science researchers and the community. These first-person voices express experiences of inequality, subjugation, oppression and power, from all of the “eyes” in our classroom. They also document moments of enlightenment, engagement, empowerment and inclusion. If you need further information about the data, please contact Dr. Sarah Swider (sswider@wayne.edu).

First round of data

  • When: The first round of data is from a class on social inequality taught in winter 2023 semester at WSU in Detroit.
  • Who: There were 37 students in the class and while all students did the autoethnographic writing exercises, not all of them chose to share them on the website and those who did share did not necessarily share all of their writings, images or vlogs. Of the 37 students, 29 of them shared some work.
  • Who: Below are some demographic statistics of these 29 students.
  • How: Each week students were given vague writing prompts on the topic of the week (race, class, etc.). They were told they could use all, some or none of the writing prompt. They had to write, fingers to keyboard, for 15-20 minutes in the class. They also had a week when they were instructed to write poems and had two assignments in which they were asked to use photos to capture some topic covered in class (the class was on social inequality so there was room for almost any topic that they could connect to social inequality).
A graph showing breakdown of social class.

This graph shows a breakdown of social class: one student identifies as lower class; one student identifies as working poor; two students identify as lower middle class; two students identify as working class; 10 students identify as middle class; six students identify as upper-middle class; one student identifies as upper class and six students gave no answer.

A graph showing breakdown of self-identified race.

This is a graph showing breakdown of self-identified race: one student identifies as African American; five students identify as Black; one student identifies as Hispanic; one student identifies as Latin American; one student identifies as Mexican American; one student identifies as Middle Eastern, one student identifies as South Asian; 15 students identifies as White and two didn’t answer.

This is a graph showing breakdown of self-identified sexuality.

This is a graph showing breakdown of self-identified sexuality: six students identify as bi; 12 students identify as cis; one student identifies as gay; seven students didn’t answer; two students identify as pan and one student identifies as pan/bi.

This is a graph of self-identified gender.

This is a graph of self-identified gender: 22 students identify as female, two students identify as male, one student identifies as non-binary, and one identifies as trans; three students did not answer.