A Call for Representation in Academia
By Anna Chan
I chose to attend UC Berkeley for many reasons, including academic excellence, innovative research, and many more strong features that the school is known for. Other than these kinds of accomplishments, I wanted to join a community known for its progressiveness and equity-based ideology. It meant a lot to me to be able to feel belonging within the academic community and be in a space that uplifted different identities. Being able to attend UC Berkeley is a privilege that I’m grateful for, but it has not entirely lived up to this expectation.
According to The Daily Cal, “69.4% of faculty members were white, 18.8% were Asian, 8% were Hispanic or Latine, 6% were Black, and 1% were American Indian or Alaska Native” and that “37.1% of faculty members were female and 62.5% were male”. However, Data USA reports that demographics of students at UC Berkeley are “30.3% Asian, 22.9% White, 17.5% Hispanic or Latino, 5.48% Two or More Races, 2.52% Black or African American, 0.139% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.135% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders.” and that “ 55.3% of undergraduate students were female and 43.4% were male”
My personal experience in the Political Science major has reflected a similar experience. The majority of my professors have been white males, demonstrating a continuing pattern of a lack of leadership and mentorship from faculty who can understand diverse backgrounds and cultural experiences of their students. A more representative faculty leads to positive outcomes for students. Students deserve representation and perspectives of different backgrounds in their schools, and it’s disheartening to see the program failing to uphold their own principles of racial diversity and equality. Being an educator has so many barriers, from accreditation to pay. If we want to see more educators reflect the diverse population of our public education institutions, we should be able to pay professors even remotely as much as we pay the UC regents.