As a women in the engineering program at SU, I’m utterly disappointed and angry that I’m not even shocked about this behavior. Every day, you sit in a class with one or two other women and a handful of minorities, and you feel like you’re walking on thin ice to remain respected by the majority of straight, white cis males.

Beside the fact that this behavior is something that’s been around for far too long, we’ve only supported this through a cutback of diversity recruitment in the College of Engineering, along with cuts in minority programs.

We’ve continuously seen cuts in programs such as The Women’s Overnight — a night where accepted women in the College of Engineering and Computer Science can meet with faculty and current ECS women-identifying students — and Women of Color in Science and Engineering (WiSE) with the engineering department that were, for so many women I know, the reason they came to SU and decided to pursue engineering in the first place. The university is actively prioritizing the same students that are perpetuating bias toward these underrepresented groups through cutting these programs.

Through my role with the college, I’ve been able to accomplish really amazing things, including winning major awards and business plan competitions throughout campus. I have felt, and continue to feel, tokenized in my role as a woman running a business and majoring in a male-dominated field, just because there are so few women actually doing it. And my achievements feel minimalized because of men who believe they’re better than me because they’re white men.

To sit with these men — or boys — in my classrooms is disgusting, and there should be more done to ensure that no minority or marginalized identity has to feel the way I do when I have to walk into class tomorrow and see the people who said these comments in my 30-person classroom, with professors who don’t even believe women when they call out sexism. Because now I know how they feel about myself and the only other girl in the class, loud and clear.

Sincerely,

Kayla Simon, Class of 2019

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Published on April 18, 2018 at 11:05 pm