This is a conversion of a presentation given at the Negotiating the Ideal Faculty Position Workshop given on October 14-16, 2007. This presentation was originally created and presented by Gilda Barabino, The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at GaTech and Emory.
Sister
As defined in the African-American community:
Black women’s relationships with each other shaped by shared experiences and beliefs and mutual support
“the double bind: the price of being a minority woman in science” aaas report no. 76-r-3, 1976
“Minority women represent a disturbingly small part of the total scientific manpower pool, but are a significant component whose needs seem not to have been addressed by existing programs for minorities or women. They have traditionally been excluded because of biases related to both their race or ethnicity and gender, constituting a double bind. Programs for minorities and women have generally been assumed to include minority women, but in fact minority women fall in the cracks between the two. The programs developed for minorities in science have mostly been dominated by male scientists. Similarly, the women’s science organizations are overwhelmingly white, and the minority science organizations, overwhelmingly male.”
What’s race got to do with it?
Everything!
or at least a very disproportionate amount
Black women in the academy
History
1861 Civil War begins - little formal education prior
1873 Bennett College for women established
1881 Spelman College for women established
1896 Plessy vs Ferguson - separate but equal legalized
1920’s First black women earn doctorates (none in S +E)
1954 Brown vs Board of Education - separate but equal ruled unconstitutional
1960’s First doctorates in S+E
-1970’s
Represent 2.1% of full time tenured and tenure-track faculty (1990’s data)
Concentrated in humanities, arts and social work professions at the lowest ranks and less prestigious schools
Experience extraordinary time demands linked to small numbers
Engineering faculty (i)
Engineering faculty (ii)
Engineering faculty (iii)
Black women in the academy
Experience the academy differently from black men, majority men and majority women
Are least likely to have professional mentors
Are least likely to be included in collaborative efforts
Are least likely to be tenured and promoted
Are least likely to be at the rank of Full Professor
Are most likely to carry the heaviest service burdens
Shared Experiences:
Double bind, gender and race
Double consciousness, academic and ethnic communities
Shared responsibility and leadership to promote accountability
Community building (mentoring, networking)
“The focus on building community necessarily challenges a culture of domination that privileges individual well-being over collective effort.”
--bell hooks
Sisters helping sisters negotiate the academy
Breaking silence - open dialogue
Establishing support systems - mentoring and networking, sharing resources
Creating a culture of inclusion
Promoting true sisterhood across racial, ethnic, class, disciplinary and other lines
“As women, we have been taught either to ignore our differences or to view them as causes for separation and suspicion rather than as forces for change.”
--Audre Lorde
“She who learns must also teach”
--African Proverb
“Lifting as we climb”
--Motto of The National Association of Colored Women
Sister
As it should be defined by the academic community:
women’s relationships with each other shaped by shared experiences and beliefs and mutual support regardless of race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, ableness or culture
Thank you, sisters!
Compiled and Presented By:
Gilda Barabino
The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at GaTech and Emory
