Week 1

Jana Brown

A03

Week 1

When I think of the struggles women, and especially women of color, face in academia, my mind usually goes to women in STEM fields.  I do not immediately consider the issues academic women in the humanities and other connected fields face; after all, the liberal arts are supposed to be liberal, right? It seems like it should follow that racism and classism in fields associated with learning about the human condition should be non-existent, or at least extremely rare. After reading Professor Valverde’s “Fight the Tower,” I understand now how naive that worldview is.

In “Fight the Tower,” Professor Valverde describes her struggle for tenure - how issues between her and the other faculty first arose in her department, how those issues presented themselves as she continued in her career, and the personal, political, and professional consequences of refusing to give in to her detractors, and continuing in her quest for recognition of her work and tenure.  Reading about her initial illegitimate denial of tenure due to the racism, classism, and general discrimination in her workplace is upsetting and infuriating.  She faced prejudice for being a Vietnamese-American women in a workplace dominated by East Asians, and while she initially attempted to stay out of workplace politics, it eventually took a movement from the students for her tenure appeal to come to fruition.  Professor Valverde goes on to discuss the racism, classism, and sexism other Asian American women in academia face, and how her personal experiences reflect a larger problem in academic institutions.  These problems stem not just from general discrimination against people of color, women, and other minorities in academia, but also from corporatization of universities limiting career paths for scholars, teachers, and professors.  All these things result in many academics like Professor Valverde struggling to gain tenure or to see a future in academia.

This is a comic depicting the kind of thinking that leads to discrimination in the workplace, especially against women.

Question: Based off your experiences, what would you suggest a person do to establish themselves in their workplace and/or mitigate discrimination?

References:

Munroe, R. (n.d.). How it Works [Cartoon]. Retrieved from https://xkcd.com/385/

Valverde, K. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia.Seattle Journal for Social Justice, 12(2), 369.