Week 1_Ken Lau_A03

I was surprised and shocked when reading about the discrimination that Professor Valverde experienced when trying to achieve tenure. I always assumed that university was a place that was free of the problems that you hear are commonplace in a lot of other professions. I never realized that many in academia experience unfair treatment based solely on their race, gender, or disabilities. The fact that the professor was denied tenure even though she was seemingly more accomplished than those that did receive it stood out to me. She had worked hard to get where she was at, but because of unfair biases she was denied something that she had earned. I also thought that Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia provided a concrete example to the themes that were discussed throughout the week. It showed how prevalent power and money is in our society and how it is the underlying reason for many of the events that happen. However, despite of this, Professor Valverde was able to successfully appeal for tenure because of help from students and friends that sympathize with her. The reading let us know that we are not alone and by speaking up and standing together, people are able to elicit change. A question I have is what can people that have not experienced the same problems do to help?



References:

• Valverde, K.L.C (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle J. Soc. Just.,12, 367.
• [Raising hands together] (2019). Retrieved from https://www.togethercville.net/