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(¥ The great book of pseudonyms

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Jessica Whitesel
The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

Faces like mine

» WANTED: Celebrated female university staff in a range of

colours

Amanda Watkins
The Silhouette (McMaster University)

here are two university

staff members that I see
everyday who look like me.
They are both women, and they
are both very soft-spoken. We
don’t ever exchange more than
a “Hello” with one another, but
between us there seems to be
an unspoken agreement that we
acknowledge and respect one
another’s work. It’s not often
that I see university staff faces
with a similar bone structure
to mine, the same skin colour
as mine, or whispered hints
of accents and languages that
remind me of my family and
my ancestors. But I see these
traits in these two women,
and for that, they are the
closest things to visual role

models I have on campus.

Both of these people are
custodial staff, and for the most
part, they are the only staff
members on campus that I have
seen with faces like mine.

It is alarming to me that
the only adult faces I see
like mine on campus are the
ones that are forced to work
behind the scenes, not the
ones actively being portrayed
as representatives of our
university. During my time as
an undergraduate at McMaster,
I only ever had one minority
professor, and I was only ever
taught by her for one of my
four years. When it comes to
minority women on campus,
the message I get is quite clear:
your role is best served in
service, unless youre willing

: to try and beat the odds.

I’m happy to have the role

? models that I do on campus;

: our service staff work hard for
: our campus and community.

: But I hate that I very rarely see
: these same role models atthe — :
: heads of classrooms and hosting :
: office hours—the same roles

: that I would like to see for me

: and my sisters. Where’s my big
: family of Asian, Latin, Black,

: Brown, Middle Eastern, and

: Indigenous female professors

: waiting to welcome me into

: their academic arms? Where

: are my professors who look like
: me and who are happy to look

: like me and want me to learn

: from their visual example?

According to a 2010 study

: by the Canadian Association

: of University Teachers, only 17
: per cent of university faculty

: members were minorities,

: without a report of how many
: of those were women. This

: may seem representative given
: that Canada has, according to
: the last census, a population

: consisting of 20 per cent :
: minority citizens, but how is this :
: percentage of staff distributed
: through the university?

: Does one faculty have more

: exposure to minority role

: models than another? Another
: disappointing statistic comes

: in the form of unemployment

: research. The largest group

: of unemployed professors in

: Canada is that of female visible
: minorities, with eight per

: cent unemployment—sizeable
: compared to the roughly

: four per cent unemployment

: running across their male

: and white counterparts.

It isn’t a matter of there

: simply not being enough

: minority women with PhDs and
: credentials. We know they're

: out there; they are just not being
: hired as much as other groups.

Even when I was hired
for my job at the Silhouette, I

: heard one of our former staff
: members say blatantly sexist
: and racist micro-aggressions
: about hiring multiple women
: of colour (FYI, they asked

: “are we hiring too many?’).

I hold a position of power

: among my student body, and

: Lacknowledge that. ! ama

: minority woman who is filling a

: job that, aside from a single digit
: number of exceptions in our

: 85-year history, has consistently
: been held by white people (and

: only 12 of those white people

: being women). With this being

: said, it is part of my intrinsic

: nature to feel a need to represent
: my sisters of all colours and

: try to be the professional role

: model many of them have yet

: to encounter on campus.

In general, I see a variety of
colours and cultures on campus,

: but very rarely do I see them

: outside of our student body

: and our service staff. At this

: point, I don't even care if I see

: professors and staff who are the
: same genre of minority as me; I
: just want to see more than one

: person representing minority

: women from the side of faculty.

I'd like to propose a New

: Year’s resolution for you: let’s

: get female university staffin a
: range of colours—I want to see
: women of colour on campus

: clearing off chalk boards for

: more than one reason.