C'est La Vie! The Game of Social Life: Using an Intersectionality Approach to Teach About Privilege and Structural Inequality

In this article, we present the results of two studies that evaluated an experiential intersectionality awareness activity, "C'est La Vie: The Game of Social Life." For Study 1 (N = 55), we content analyzed students' short answer responses about inequality written before and after playing "C'est La Vie." Study 2 compared a "C'est La Vie" treatment group (N = 179) to a lecture-as-usual control condition (N = 64). Across both studies, playing "C'est La Vie" was associated with an expanded awareness of privilege and structural inequality. Follow-up analyses with a subset of Study 2 control participants (N = 27) established that participants who were originally in the control group experienced gains in awareness of privilege and structural inequality (relative to pretest and the lecture-as-usual) only after being exposed to "C'est La Vie." The results are interpreted within the context of an intersectionality framework.