Oppression of Color Women in the United States - Research Paper Example

Literature by U.S. Women of Color Cultural differences have had a number of implications on how people relate with each in certain settings (Morrison 12). Most of the existing relationships between individuals are based on their culture gender and place of origin. This dates back to the days of slavery where the minority group had to endure a lot of torture of their color and place of origin (Trenka 23). For instance, the authors of the course books come from different culture but end up living in the U.S. where they end up having difficulties in adapting to a different environment. It is based on these stories that this research will focus on the difficulties women of color experience in different territories and how they respond to such challenges (Wang 12). Particular emphasis is placed on women faculty of color within a classroom environment dominated by white students. The paper majorly focuses on oppression among women faculty of color in institutions of higher learning such as universities and colleges. Information on the research is based on a comprehensive interview with women faculty of color in a large research institution that is dominated by whites (Aguirre 100). The study identifies how male students challenge the authority of female colored professors during classroom interactions. Research studies indicate that an oppressive environment in a classroom has the negative effect of impairing learning and academic performance. This is especially widespread among students who suffer from oppressed identities. Such research studies only reveal whether an oppressive environment affects learning effectiveness but tends to ignore the faculty perceptions of their classrooms. A lot of literature material points out that women faculty of color spend different time periods teaching. However, the material does not concentrate much on the classroom experiences of the colored women. Sociologists provide adequate knowledge to students on how to examine racial disparities in different areas of society such as health care and religion. They offer real world examples that are used to illustrate the cultural and interpersonal social oppression that exists in the world that we are living. There has been a widespread use of the oppressive classroom environment in demonstrating different forms of racial disparities. Research studies indicate that fostering faculty diversity and effectiveness can be achieved through the support of faculty who are women of color rather than being hostile towards. This means that it is important that we understand and appreciate the perception of the classroom environment in retaining a diverse faculty (Bonilla-Silva 200). This research applies an intersectional oppression framework in exploring faculty perceptions towards colored women teachers. Oppression can be defined to as the obstacles and actions that maintain the privileges of a dominant group. Research studies indicate that there is widespread and cumulative oppression among women faculty of color. This is evidenced by the small number of recruitment or promotion of women of color in institutions of higher education. Racism based on gender is a unique kind of oppression that women of color experience (Morrison 120). This experience is based on their position in at the intersection of race and gender matrix of domination. On the basis of the above mentioned insight, this research study examines the perception of classroom experiences among women of color at the intersection of racial and gendered oppression. In this research study, the women of color have adequate knowledge that their experiences in the classroom are influenced by gendered racism, and that white male students have the tendency of undermining their authority because of their color. I will majorly concentrate on how structural inequality is evidenced during interpersonal interactions. This is because teaching is a major part of the lives of faculty women of color and that it is important to understand their classroom experiences. There are a few research studies that provide information on such experiences and this research study is useful because it bridges such a gap by providing information on classroom experiences of faculty women of color. Literature material on women faculty of color identifies that they experience both structural and interpersonal oppressions based on their gender and race in the field of academics. There is also the identification of the idea that the how students perceive and evaluate such women is largely determined by their gender and race. Most of the available literature material specifically analyzes black women in their analysis of oppression among women faculty of color. In the United States, women of color are underrepresented in terms of the number of fulltime faculty. Statistics indicate that U.S. academic institutions have 2.33%, 2.34%, 1.20% and 28.9% of black, Asian, Latina and white women respectively (Bonilla-Silva 200). This is clear indication of how black women are the least represent in such institutions. Additionally, statistics also indicate that colored women hold the least powerful and less valued positions in U.S. academic institutions of higher learning. In most cases, they occupy lower levels of ranks such as instructors, lecturers and assistant professors. Current literature materials indicate that women faculty of color experience some pattern of racial and gender inequality in terms of how they are treated in institutions of higher learning. One case of gender inequality is depicted in cases whereby women faculty of color are often assigned heavier workloads compared to their male counterparts. This is because in most cases, departments hire women faculty of color to teach full loads especially introductory courses and new preparations (Bonilla-Silva 201). The most common effect of such heavy workloads is that they often experience higher levels of stress and isolation from other members of their departments. Research studies also indicate that women faculty of color are put under a lot of pressure to conform to gendered role expectations (Aguirre 100). For instance, they are expected to shoulder more ‘nurturing’ responsibilities compared to their male counterparts within their departments. Departmental heads also have expectations that female faculty of color will serve the department in various race related committees (Centra & Noreen 30). Majority of white women and women of color note that their academic environment as isolating (Aguirre 100). In the case of women of color, they are isolated on the basis of their race and gender. This kind of isolation takes place in three categories and the first category is whereby white men exclude them from networking based on their gender and race. The second category is whereby they are excluded by white women on the basis of their race. The third and last category is whereby men of color isolate women of color based on their gender (Centra & Noreen 31). Interactions among women faculty is majorly characterized by an experience of sexism whenever they interact with their male colleagues. Women of color record that they usually experience difficulties in dealing with gender and racial oppressions when interacting with their peers. According to Aguirre (55), black women specifically negotiate the mothering-yet-obedient “mammy” stereotype. Women of color also have to deal with the white peers’ assumption that they are hired on the basis of fulfilling affirmative action as opposed to their credentials and academic qualifications. This leads to the perception that they are not legitimate scholars in institutions of higher learning. Majority of the research studies on gender in most institutions of learning mainly focus on evaluations. The research studies illustrate that female faculty of color are negatively evaluated compared to their white counterparts. Evaluations conducted by students are also less favorable on women faculties of color. Research studies indicate that majority of the students in institutions of higher learning consider women faculty of color as less intelligent and less credible (Centra & Noreen 31). This research study provides an extension of classroom dynamics by (1) exploring the dynamics from the perspective of a faculty and (2) the use of qualitative approaches. This research study will make contributions to the existing body of knowledge by examining oppression among women faculty of color in terms of both gender and race. Most of the previous research studies have concentrated on either race or gender as opposed to combining the two (Aguirre 99). This research study is an expansion of the works of Brayboy (2003) which included black women only. The black women were drawn from different oppressed groups that were exhibiting similar experiences. This research has a wider scope that moves beyond the scope of past research studies that mainly concentrated on either gender or race. The use of faculty is used in describing a new classroom experience among women faculty of color. There is also the use of a larger sample of study including women of color and the gathering of detailed qualitative data that will enhance the identification of patterns of experiences among the sample population (Centra & Noreen 30). Research studies indicate that classroom work takes a large part of the lives of women faculty color compared to any other faculty (Aguirre 101). However, such research studies reveal little information about their classroom experiences. The available literature information only indicates that such women experience both race and gender oppression during their classroom work. This research study aims at bridging the gap by addressing the issue of faculty perception under a classroom environment. The research question “What are some of the experiences that women faculty of color go through during their classroom work? Are there incidences of racial and gender oppression during such working experiences? If so, what are some of the experiences?” The research study relies on a sample involving 46 individuals that were identified by previous researchers since 2001. The initial population sample includes faculty members that have received university awards for excellent performance in the course of their careers. Their performances were identified in terms of teaching and service to the university community. The second selection of the population sample involved the use of snowball sampling from the initial population sample. The data used in this research study was collected from a research institution in Midwestern. The research institution had a dominating population consisting of white individuals with a relatively smaller number of colored and unspecified students. In order to simplify the composition of the population at the research institution, 19.4% were white women whereas 6.5% were colored women. Participants were interviewed through the use of structured and in-depth interviews. I was able to interview a total of 46 women faculties and only 17 of them met the criteria of women faculty of color. The colored women consisted of eight black women, three Latinas and six Asians. It was easy to identify women of color because they had a very small number. This research study will protect the identity of participants in order to avoid situations of intimidation. Almost all the members of the study population were tenure-track academics. This represents the lower level ranks in the institution. The study population is representative in terms of their age, school and discipline. The main focus of the data collected for the research study is majorly based on responses to interview questions. The questions relate to various classroom experiences in a faculty setting. There was the use of NVIVO in conducting a cross-case analysis of the interview transcripts. The review of the interview questions and their answers involved the isolation of responses that had similar questions for each of the participants (Antonio 590). I was able to note the following: i. Salient points, issues and words related to the classroom experiences recorded by women of color during their interactions with students. ii. Evidence of race and gender oppression based on their narratives of their classroom experiences with students. Based on the above points, I was able to develop case-ordered and later on theme-ordered matrices that were descriptive in nature. Generally, data collected indicated that women faculty of color reported a number of challenges especially from their white counterparts who were oppressing them on the basis of their gender and race. However, data collected never showed any indications that the behavior of students of color was a challenge to women of color. Participants noted that students of color were aware of the widespread racial bias among colored people. Two of the participants also noted that they experienced some challenges from white students while the rest of the participants did not record any form of raced classroom dynamics between colored and white students. The narratives offered by colored women noted that white male students (1) challenged their authority (2) doubted their teaching competencies (3) disrespected their experience in academics. Additionally, participants also (4) noted that most of the white male students were engaging in behaviors that was threatening and intimidating. According to Antonio (600), the theory of intersectional oppression notes that it is difficult and almost impossible to separate the effects of race from those of gender in the experiences recorded by women of color. This is attributed to the fact that the effects of both gender and race have the tendency of occurring simultaneously. Interview questions asked on the possibility of women faculty not getting away with some things on the basis of their race and identity. Respondents noted that it was very difficult for colored women professionals to get away with some other things because they were female and colored for that matter. Their authority was being challenged on a daily basis because of their race and gender. There is the perception of threat to authority among women colored professionals in institutions of higher learning. Some of the signs of challenge to authority include incidences where white male students enter the offices of colored female professionals without knocking their doors. In other cases, there is the use of passive-aggressive nonverbal behaviors such as rolling of eyes during class interactions. These are some of the most common indicators of threat to authority from students. Women faculty of color have difficulties identifying the cause of the oppression resulting from some of the behavior of the students which often result in high levels of stress. Institutions of higher learning such as universities and colleges designate faculty as the legitimate authority during classroom interactions with the students. It is therefore expected that students respect the authority of faculty. However, this is not always the case as noted earlier on. White male students have been closely associated with challenging the authority of faculty. Some of them go to greater lengths to even address their colored teachers in their first name while ignoring their professional qualifications such as Dr During the research study, majority of the respondents recorded that male white students were questioning their competency as professors. There are instances where teachers make errors during their teaching lessons and they may not even identify their errors. In such cases, the teachers are downgraded by white students because of the mistakes that they commit unknowingly. One of the respondents noted that during a History class he had mistakenly referred Franklin Delano Roosevelt as Theodore Roosevelt and had received a negative response from a student. The student noted that the teacher was not supposed to teach him because of her errors. The student went further to belittle the teacher by expressing openly that he doubted if the teacher was actually qualified to earn a doctorate degree. The student wrote to the female teacher because of her intersectional identity as a black American woman. The fact that all the challenges recorded did not involve the same race clearly supports the conclusion that the position of women at the intersection of race and gender provokes incidences of oppression rather than the influence of their identity on its own. Majority of male white students did not recognize or respect the expertise of teachers as scholars. White male students directly and overtly question the knowledge of mainstream scholarship. They also did not recognize the fact that teachers had scholarly expertise on issues of race and gender. In most cases, the students challenge their colored female teachers to prove their points during classroom sessions. Most of the teachers believe that their motives are instigated by their gender and racial bias. The situation is worsened by the fact that the teacher may not be in a good position to offer a definitive proof of the cause of the oppression. One common approach that whites and men maintain their dominance over people of color and women is through the control of knowledge. White males are located on top of the social hierarchy which makes them deem what is and what is not knowledge (Centra & Noreen 30). White male students are very aggressive and direct during their interactions. They often use aggressiveness when asserting their dominance over women and people of color. The aggressive nature of white males created a feeling of intimidation among women faculties. The feeling of threat is related to evaluation performances. As noted earlier on, race and gender privileged students have the tendency of giving their teachers lower course evaluation ratings. This poses a threat to teachers because such ratings are used during departmental merit reviews. The fear is compounded by the fact that research studies indicate that colored women receive lower performance ratings from students compared to their white counterparts. Women faculty of color have the perception that their classroom environment is oppressive on the basis of race and gender. The research study focuses on how structural inequality in interpersonal interactions between colored women and white male students. The colored women have the perception that their race and gender influence patterns of disrespect in their classroom experiences. On the other hand, white male students (1) challenge their authority (2) doubt teaching competencies (3) disrespect experience in academics and (4) threatened and intimidated colored women. Works Cited Aguirre, Adalberto. ‘‘Women and Minority Faculty in the Academic Workplace: Recruitment, Retention, and Academic Culture.’’ ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Reports 27(6):1–110, 2000. Antonio, Anthony L. ‘‘Faculty of Color Reconsidered: Reassessing Contributions to Scholarship.’’ The Journal of Higher Education 73(5):582–602, 2002. Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. Brayboy, Bryan. ‘‘The Implementation of Diversity in Predominantly White Colleges and Universities.’’ Journal of Black Studies 34(1):72–86, 2003. Centra, John and Noreen, Gaubatz. ‘‘Is There Gender Bias in Student Evaluations of Teaching?’’ Journal of Higher Education 71(1):17–33, 2000. Morrison, Tony. A Mercy. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2009. Trenka, Jane. The Language of Blood: A Memoir. Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2003. Wang, Ping. The last communist virgin: stories. New York: Coffee House Press, 2007. Read More