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Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia. Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores Niemann Carmen G. González, and Angela Harris, Editors Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2012; 570 pp.
Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia is a testament to how white supremacy structures academic institutions. Over thirty women of colour (WOC) faculty, located in the US (and one in Canada), contributed to this volume. Through the critical analyses of their own experiences, interviews, and literature reviews they contribute to a growing literature on race and gender in academia, establishing that that their experiences of racism are not isolated but systemic. By taking an intersectional lens, this book shows how racism is enacted in gendered ways and how class positions many WOC faculty marginally in a culture where entitlement, material stability, and cultural capital proffer unacknowledged advantages. The book is organized into five sections: General Campus Climate, Faculty/Student Relationships, Networks of Allies, Social Class in Academia, and Tenure and Promotion. It will be a useful resource for anyone - faculty, administrators, policymakers, students - who is interested in making the academy a more equitable space. The engaging first-hand accounts will also be of interest to readers outside the academy who want to deepen their understanding of institutional racism and the possibilities for change.
I expect that the stories contained in these pages will resonate for many women of colour faculty: having administrators side with student complaints; having your scholarship questioned; facing heavier workloads than your peers; being isolated from other faculty; facing hostile tenure committees; and being considered the "equity hire." The title refers to a recurring theme. While all of the authors have had to outshine their white, middle-class colleagues to attain their positions, they are at some point found lacking. As the editors state "the culture of academia is distinctly white, heterosexual, and middle- and upper-middleclass. Those who differ from this norm find themselves... 'presumed incompetent'" (Harris and González, p. 3). Yet, white faculty and even allies, often underestimate the relentlessness of racism. As I was writing the review, the urgency of this volume was sharpened. A colleague at another Canadian university, hired seven years ago based on her brilliant thesis, research, and...