Building a Community

Generally, respondents reported improvements over time, but they also mentioned the persistent challenges they experience. The descriptive progress noted previously has not eliminated the bias that creates a chilly climate for those who do not fit the hegemonic mode of white male political scientist. We start with the good news: many participants see a relatively larger community of women of color in the discipline, evidence of increased diversity. Respondents also recognized the recent elevation of women to leadership positions, including an all-women editorial board of the American Political Science Review; the launch of smaller conferences promoting women, including Visions in Methodology and our Women of Color in Political Science Workshop; and organizations such as Women Also Know Stuff and People of Color (POC) Also Know Stuff.

The increased number of women of color results in a critical mass, developing a community of support and allowing more junior scholars to see that the challenges they face are not unique. This progress, paired with the stories shared by senior women of color at our workshops, help more junior scholars to see a path to success. As one graduate-student respondent noted:

Another respondent wrote: “In the last two years, I feel that there are more women in leadership positions and more inclusion at APSA. I really feel the change this year. I am so grateful for these changes and workshops like the one I went to in 2017. It changed my life. It made me see that I belong and can do it even though several white people didn’t want me to.” It is not only the progress being made by the discipline that helps junior women but also the journey stories of struggle and persistence shared by senior scholars in the intimate space of our workshops. It is a cooperative effort of women helping other women. As one participant commented, “I think that, over time, there has been more support for women of color. This has come through networks that we have created ourselves but very little concrete/practical support from people who are not themselves people of color.” Others mentioned that whereas significant challenges for women of color persist, there are now more opportunities to talk openly about them. In other words, much of the change they see is in the increased sense of community with other women of color, made possible in part by the larger critical mass of students and faculty who are women of color, and among women more generally—as well as the deliberate efforts by those organizing to bring women together to learn from and support one another.

Participants noted the specific impact that our workshops have on that sense of community. One woman shared: “Initially, I thought that women of color were not visible in the discipline but, through the pre-APSA conference, it felt as though there is a community to reach out to.” Another commented: “I have been working in political science for 10 years. I notice a lot more women of color in different subfields and have noted an increase in the types of academic and emotional assistance for women of color, like the WCPS workshop!” A similar comment came from someone only six years into the profession, looking back at how things have changed since her first year as a graduate student: “I am grateful for Women Also Know Stuff and POC Also Know Stuff because it makes me feel more visible and included. Six years ago, as a first-year grad student, I thought that this place wasn’t for me, and now I feel I have space here.” Our workshops, and similar efforts, bring women of color together into a community and develop a sense of belonging. This keeps women from dropping out of the leaky pipeline.

Persistent Marginalization

Of course, not all comments were so positive. Women of color who have attended our workshops see continued challenges of sexism and racism in the academy. One woman noted: “WOC [women of color] have made descriptive advances but male candidates from minority communities are the most desired and welcomed in the field.” Other participants shared experiences with white women and male co-ethnic colleagues and superiors ranging from a lack of support, to marginalization and tokenism, to outright hostility. One woman commented:

Another woman noted: “My advisor didn’t include me in a lot of activities, didn’t give me feedback on my work, didn’t understand non-white feminism.” Other participants shared that these persistent challenges are leading women of color to take leaves of absence due to stress and stress-induced medical issues or to leave the academy. These comments underscore the work that remains to be done and the need for ongoing efforts by departments, white colleagues, and male people of color to support women of color.

Another persistent challenge is that, at less than 11% of faculty, most respondents are the only women of color in their department (and college). Their workplace is dominated by white men. This can generate feelings of inferiority and discomfort. As one participant noted: “It triggers those feelings of self-doubt because I am different from the majority, and maybe that majority will think I don’t deserve to be in the same place as they are.” Later in her comments, she noted that these feelings contribute to her “imposter syndrome” and that “managing these thoughts can be exhausting.” Simply being the only woman of color makes our participants feel highly visible and tokenized, regardless of the level of support their white and male colleagues try to provide (if any).

As others have documented, being the only or one of only a few women of color often means unusually large service commitments. One woman described that burden, noting that “it can sometimes be quite exhausting to do *all the things* and to feel like the world rests on your (and a few colleagues’) shoulders.” Another woman wrote: “When it comes to supporting our students who experience discrimination and assault, women bear the emotional burden that comes with listening, believing, and helping our students get the resources they need.” This additional service—both as a representative to committees in the name of diversity and in support of students of color—is time consuming and emotionally draining, contributing to the leaky pipeline.

The lack of more women of color brings related microaggressions, even a “willful ignorance” of the challenges faced by women of color—even from white liberals. One respondent explained:

Another participant wrote: “Where to begin? There is so much gaslighting for women of color. And then discrimination and run-of-the-mill racism. I think the passive aggressive or microaggressions are the hardest.” That said, not all of the aggressions are the micro variety. Our respondents noted overt racism and sexism from their white male colleagues and a climate of patriarchy that marginalizes women. One participant noted: “The climate between my departmental peers and myself is hostile. They gaslight me when I call problematic behavior. They put me down and actively tell me not to pursue opportunities and constantly objectify me for being a Latina.” Another woman wrote:

Many of our participants reported examples of overt hostility from their peers and superiors, sometimes even creating a split environment of both hypervisibility and invisibility. Other faculty often consider their presence as invalid, as due to diversity initiatives and not to the quality of their scholarship. These stories of microaggressions and outright discrimination are a huge barrier to the ongoing success of women of color. Our workshops provide participants a space to share these stories and response mechanisms. However, truly patching the leaky pipeline and cultivating diversity in political science requires institutions to take action to repair their campus and department climates.

Even when departments are more diverse, diversity does not necessarily mean equity, inclusion, or a supportive environment. Women of color are valued for their ability to make the diversity numbers look good and as models in photographs highlighting the diversity of the institution, but they are not supported in terms of research funds and mentoring. They do not feel truly included. One woman wrote: “There are more diverse faculty, but little has changed in terms of the chilly climate.” Another commented:

One participant likened being misunderstood as a woman of color to “speaking and hearing in a different language” from white men.

These are significant barriers to the success and full inclusion of women of color as well as to truly making our discipline one in which students and faculty are valued for their diverse perspectives. Continued improvement of the climate requires explicit efforts to overcome past practices of exclusion and marginalization and to give women of color the mentoring and networking tools they need to survive and thrive. Our biennial workshops provide those tools, but we call on colleagues—both male people of color and white—to do more to support women of color and to make their institution truly welcoming and inclusive. Although that work remains to be done, we see concrete evidence that our workshops are making a difference.

The effectiveness of our workshops is evident in the pre- and post-event surveys completed by participants (figure 1). Women of color come away from the day with a stronger network and a realization that the challenges they face are endemic to the discipline—not a result of any individual factors unique to themselves or their own situation. They also come away with a stronger level of confidence in their skills to succeed in the profession. Additional evidence of the power of the workshops comes from the focus groups conducted immediately following each event (Lavariega Monforti Reference Monforti, Jessica, Muhs, Niemann, González and Harris2013; Lavariega Monforti and Michelson Reference Lavariega Monforti, Michelson, Niemann, Muhs and Gonzalez2020).

Figure 1

Pre- and Post-Workshop Confidence, Women of Color in Political Science 2013–2019

Notes: N=224. Surveys collected at the beginning and end of each biennial workshop (2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019). Some individuals attended in multiple years. For additional details, see Lavariega Monforti and Michelson Reference Monforti, Jessica and Michelson2019.

Academia generally and the discipline of political science specifically are environments in which women of color are both invisible and tokenized—that is, valued for the diversity they represent but also marginalized and unsupported. Our biennial workshops provide participants with the mentoring and networking skills needed to help them survive and thrive. We urge others to similarly invest in the success of women of color.