Aaron Seitz
Section A03
Week 1-Monday April 3
Response to “Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for
Women of Color in Academia.” By Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde
The
reading for this week strongly connects to the theme of the week because it
exposes a side of the tenure process here at UC Davis many if not all of us as
students are unaware of. The learning that goes on at this university all
begins with the faculty and more specifically the professors that teach here. I
would argue that the quality of a university is based highly on the teaching effectiveness
of the professors there. If there are discriminatory actions taking place
during the tenure appointment process of a university such as ours, then that
truly limits the ability of the university to be a quality institution.
Qualifications and teaching credentials should be the topics of exploration for
administrators when deciding whether or not to grant tenure and not gender,
race, or any other factor that does not relate to the teaching abilities of the
professor. Finding out that our very university struggles with discrimination
is tough to hear. What is even worse is hearing that so many other professors
at other universities struggle with the same issues. This shows just how
widespread of a problem discrimination in education is. Looking deeper into the
issue, we see that this discrimination no only leaves many people without jobs,
it also leaves them physically and emotionally hurt. The universities put professors
applying for tenure through so much that many, if not all, lose a piece of
their well-being in the process. The universities then use this weakness as an excuse
to deny tenure because conditions for acceptance conflict. The tenure process
is extremely rigorous and thus it is nearly impossible to stay fully healthy
while applying but then because you are unhealthy, you will be denied tenure
since you are unfit to complete tasks necessary to be granted tenure. The
system for obtaining tenure is flawed both at our university and many others
around the country. To properly evaluate applicants, discrimination and biases
must be removed from the equation.
Question: Are there also remarkably low numbers of female professors in other majors and colleges?
This image explains just how much less likely women
are than men to become full time professors that achieve tenure.
References:
[Leaks In The Pipeline For Women]. (n.d.). Retrieved
April 5, 2017, from
http://www.toolsforchangeinstem.org/family-friendly-policies/
Valverde, K. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to
Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle Journal of Social Justice. 12(2).
367-419.
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