As argued by Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde in “Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia”, she argued that “We must fight because we are at a crucial crossroad” (Valverde, p. 371). She later explains that with the massive budget cuts and corporatization of universities across the country, “underrepresented groups” once again find themselves increasingly targeted for bullying, harassment and dismissal. I have found that there is a special term “underrepresented groups”. In most societies in the world, pink is associated with women and girls, while blue is associated with men and boys. On average, this may be true, but it doesn't account for any particular individual preferences, nor for the innate causes of such differences. This leads to a lack of representation in science.
The number of women is less than the average person expected; people of color are less than people think. Does this mean that women are born less interested in science or more, suitable for science than men? People of color are born less interested or less suitable for scientific work? I think the answer is No. As we all know, harassment, prejudice, arbitrary racism, and gender discrimination permeates the environment where under-representation is rampant, and the impact on these environments is devastating. The result is exclusion, marginalization, and weakening of the academic potential of any scientist who is not rich, male, white, heterosexual and healthy.
References
Valverde, K. L. C. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle J. Soc. Just., 12, 367-420.
Berry, Emanuele. “Discrimination based on Skin Tone is Global Problem; Conference Here looks at Colorism”. Available from: https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/discrimination-based-skin-tone-global-problem-conference-here-looks-colorism#stream/0
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