Minority Decision-Making

In today's society, it is hard to fully understand the meaning of minority. As discussed in today's lecture on problem-solving, there are many ways of making the ultimate decision in a group. To let the minority make the decision was an option that did not occur to me and I don't think I have used before. Many times our small group uses majority vote to make decisions. This usually works out for us and decisions are made. When we think of minority, the first thing that pops into my head is ethnicity. I must come into the realization that age, gender, language, and religion preference are also minority categories to considered.

As indicated in this picture, many times ethnicity is used as the dominant category indicator of minority.
I think as a society, we must move away from this very narrow-mindset.
Reflecting on this concept, I never realized that being in a technology field, according to gender I am in minority. As an incoming freshman this is both intimidating and encouraging. There are lots of boy to choose from ;)

Girls from the DOiT program checking out the Aviation Technology facilities

Until now, I did not realize that I am in a minority promoted organization, Women In Technology. This group plans fun activities but also tries to bring women into the male-dominant field. Just recently, Women in Technology had a DOiT program, where high-school juniors from different high schools around the Midwest came to a program to show the different opportunities Purdue has to offer in the College of Technology. This was a very fun experience and looking back I feel it was a great way to promote diversity.
With my many group projects, I no longer find it odd to be the only girl in the group. Coming from a Computer and Information Technology background, I quickly became use to the fact that I would be surrounded by the male population. So when I was the only girl in my small group for COM 320, this was not surprising or intimidating.  All in all, I don't really see myself as a minority in our BlogHogs group, but it is all based on interpretation. As indicated in Chapter 9, it is always good to be flexible and to resist stereotyping others in order to include minorities. As a group, I don't think we have a problem with this and will continue to just majority vote. Although, I think we need to look at minority as a positive thing.
Minority summed up in this video by Green Day:

Minority should not be viewed as a negative connotation

-Amy Lohrman