Racial and Gender biases in faculty mentoring

[bakalamba]

Want to set up a meeting with a POI at private school in a field connected with lucrative jobs? Don't be female, and be Caucasian. Or so, this study shows (here's the paper).

 

Anyone have experiences with this kind of bias while looking for programs, or studying at a graduate level?

 

When I got my Masters, there was one professor accused of a racial bias (which I'm still skeptical about - I think the faculty member was equally condescending to everyone) and another accused of unwanted advances towards female students (guilty, from what I heard).

[Munashi]

I heard about this study recently as well.  I'm not sure that I've experienced or witnessed these issues personally, but I'd also be interested in hearing if any one else has anecdotes or opinions to share.

[PsycD]

One of my friends, who is a minority with a professional degree, said that she would be sure to give her children names that would not give any clue to their race or ethnicity for this reason.

Sad to see this, but unfortunately not surprised at these findings.

[spectastic]

sad

[St Andrews Lynx]

My advice would be that if you want to set up meetings with faculty, organise a day of visiting via the grad program administrator. Precisely to avoid this type of bias. 

 

Does it surprise me?

No. 

[juilletmercredi]

My mother explicitly told me that she gave me a neutral-sounding name so that I couldn't be identified as black on my resume or in correspondence.  My father had originally picked a more ethnic-sounding name and she vetoed it.

 

But, I don't think that students should go to any kind of lengths to avoid this bias...not because I don't think it exists, but because I wouldn't want to work with a professor who doesn't respond based on perceptions of my race or gender (even unconsciously).  Moreover, while I'm aware that this happens - and has possibly happened to me in the past without my knowledge - I haven't really found it a significant impediment.  As with most kinds of discrimination, life has to proceed on in the face of it.  The bright side is that graduate students of color - and female grad students - tend to be incredibly resilient.  People always tell me I'm so chill and laid-back.  How else should I be?  I can't afford my blood pressure going up over this foolishness, lol.

[maelia8]

@juilletmercredi I've actually had the opposite experience - I have a very unique name (actually made up, but sounds like it might be an ethnic/foreign name) and I've gone into interviews or events or courses and had the people I'm introduced to be surprised that I am neither a person of color nor a foreigner. It's always awkward when someone says, "oh, I thought you were French …." or when I get pamphlets from the black student union in my campus inbox … just goes to show that people are going to assume what they want to assume based on your name, regardless of the reality. In general, I just ignore it and blithely go on being a badass, regardless of my weird hippie-kid name.

[ss2player]

@juilletmercredi I've actually had the opposite experience - I have a very unique name (actually made up, but sounds like it might be an ethnic/foreign name) and I've gone into interviews or events or courses and had the people I'm introduced to be surprised that I am neither a person of color nor a foreigner. It's always awkward when someone says, "oh, I thought you were French …." or when I get pamphlets from the black student union in my campus inbox … just goes to show that people are going to assume what they want to assume based on your name, regardless of the reality. In general, I just ignore it and blithely go on being a badass, regardless of my weird hippie-kid name.

 

Another odd first name person here, but have a very American/Anglo-Saxon last name. No one's asked me if I'm European or surprised I have an American accent, but since I'm not in HR of every place I've applied, I can't speak for their hiring managers. 

 

I have had friends deal with academia micro-aggressions; one of my old coworkers is Filipino descent but born in the States, and has a Japanese first name (she's 1/4). The health screening at our school assumed she had the BCG vaccine (which you only get in certain countries, like the Philippines) and wanted a chest X-ray even though her PPD was negative. She had to prove to them she was born in Connecticut!

[Munashi]

On a related note, a couple of people tried to look at the impact of prospective students' names when emailing potential POIs.  There are some methodological issues here, but it was an interesting thought.

 

http://blogs.nature.com/news/2014/04/discrimination-starts-even-before-grad-school-study-finds.html

[danieleWrites]

While this is an academic board and this is a serious academic problem, it's not a uniquely academic problem. We've come a long way from George Eliot, but not all the way. I've been a victim of race and gender bias in the past, but not with academics. Also of height bias (shorty here). And, oddly enough, sexuality bias. Apparently, aggressive women are all man-hating lesbians. I resent that for all women. OWGs (Old White Guys). Go figure. Being of typical Hispanic shape, I've fielded my share of inappropriate, ah, appreciation. The nice thing about being old (women are "old" after the mid to late 20s) is this quits happening. Then it's ageism. OWGs want "fresh" ideas (code for you're old and we want a hot coed to decorate our Token Woman position).

There's not much women can do directly to deal with OWG harassment and bias, especially those in the sciences and technology areas. I'm in the humanities, where I'm far less likely to get hit with OWGism. I feel for the women in computers of some sort. However, I was in the military. Knowledge is power. Before meeting with anyone who may have the ability to use OWGism in deciding your future, find out the regulations that govern that person and find out the names of the people they are accountable to in terms of OWGism. Know Title IX. The department chair is not the person to speak to about sexual harassment; it's often the provost. Additionally, find out the most likely news outlet to which you would take your story and learn the names of one or two reporters that you could immediately speak with. The high school paper isn't such a good idea, but there are news outlets that these people would fear having their names dragged through. Be prepared to back it up. Lastly, know the names of the Board of Regents, particularly the one most interested in Title IX complaints. Um, yeah, this is a USA perspective, but other places have rules, too.

I also suggest krav maga lessons, or, if that's unavailable, kung fu, (the real) tai chi (not the exercise crap they do at the fitness center), or one of the Japanese soft-styles, like judo. Hard styles are fine, but they teach students to meet force with force. Soft style teach students to meet force by deflecting it. Nothing wrong with hard styles, but soft styles work better for women.