Synopses & Reviews
Presumed Incompetent is a pathbreaking account of the intersecting roles of race, gender, and class in the working lives of women faculty of color. Through personal narratives and qualitative empirical studies, more than 40 authors expose the daunting challenges faced by academic women of color as they navigate the often hostile terrain of higher education, including hiring, promotion, tenure, and relations with students, colleagues, and administrators. The narratives are filled with wit, wisdom, and concrete recommendations, and provide a window into the struggles of professional women in a racially stratified but increasingly multicultural America.
Review
"This book felt so painfully familiar I almost could not read it. Those of us who started our careers as firsts and onlys have had to forget much about the cruelty hidden in academic enclaves. Forgetting, a means of surviving, buries pain and erases history, leaving us morally and intellectually flimsy. Thanks to these women for taking the harder path of truth-telling."
—Mari Matsuda, author of Where is Your Body: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Law
"This book is a courageous and significant contribution – not just to gender and education studies, but towards a rethink of what the academia should be."
—Sin Yee Koh, London School of Economics Review of Books
Review
"Women in academia still face obstacles built up over centuries, but the contributors to Presumed Incompetent have taken a leap toward liberation. Their revelations will enrage you—and open minds and hearts."
—Gloria Steinem
Review
"Presumed Incompetent is undeniably a path-breaking book full of stories of resilience and survival. The editors of this magnificent collection attest to the power of storytelling and add to the testimonios of women in academia such as Telling to Live and Paths to Discovery. Each and every one of the authors survived and in telling their stories they offer hope and solace for young women scholars entering the academy." —Norma E. Cantú
Review
"Exploding the myth that we live in a "post-identity" world, Presumed Incompetent provides gripping first-hand accounts of the ways in which women faculty of color are subjected to stereotypes, fears and fantasies based on the intersection of race, gender, and class. It reminds us that the mere passage of time is not enough to create equitable workplaces for anyone facing institutional subordination." —Kimberlé Crenshaw
Review
"A 'must read' for everyone in and outside of academia."
— Amelia ML Montes, La Bloga
Review
"Should be required reading for students entering graduate studies. . . Highly recommended."
—R. Price, Choice Magazine- March 2013 Editors Pick
Review
"Women in academia still face obstacles built up over centuries, but the contributors to Presumed Incompetent have taken a leap toward liberation. Their revelations will enrage youand open minds and hearts."
Gloria Steinem
"All my academic friendswhite and black, gay and straight, minority and majorityare putting up images of the book on their Facebook page. They don't say much except "I'm ordering mine" but the proliferation of this cryptic message is enough: indicating a tectonic shift. . . I'm glad there is a book out there that can tell it like it isa book that can do the talking for those who have to remain silent. Only in this way, with one party speaking to the other, can we begin a useful dialog. I hope everybody sticks Presumed Incompetent's image on their Facebook page. . . It will make the world a much, much better place."
Khan Ho, The Huffington Post
Review
"Presumed Incompetent offers valuable lessons and advice for just about everyone in Academia, from contigent faculty, post-docs, and tenured and tenure-track faculty, to administrators and search committees. It is up to us to heed that advice if we hope to erase the dangerous and erroneous belief in academic women's incompetence."
Afshan Jafar, Inside Higher Education
"This book is for people of any race or gender who want to make campus a richer, healthier, more equitable place for all."
Women in Higher Education
Review
"[Presumed Incompetent] provides a service by diversifying the chorus of voices speaking varied truths and provides a resource with which many can expand their understanding of the realities and evolutions that define our society,inside and outside of higher education."
Stacey Patton, Women's Review of Books
Review
"Presumed Incompetent is undeniably a path-breaking book full of stories of resilience and survival. The editors of this magnificent collection attest to the power of storytelling and add to the testimonios of women in academia such as
Telling to Live and
Paths to Discovery. Each and every one of the authors survived and in telling their stories they offer hope and solace for young women scholars entering the academy."
Norma E. Cantú "Exploding the myth that we live in a "post-identity" world, Presumed Incompetent provides gripping first-hand accounts of the ways in which women faculty of color are subjected to stereotypes, fears and fantasies based on the intersection of race, gender, and class. It reminds us that the mere passage of time is not enough to create equitable workplaces for anyone facing institutional subordination." Kimberlé Crenshaw
Review
" . . . a masterpiece of frank conversation, convincing discussion, accessible prose, and courage. . . At times heartbreaking, at times hopeful, and always powerful,
Presumed Incompetent is a must-read for academics, for those whose friends and loved ones are scholars, and for students of social justice anywhere."
Kate Aizpuru, Harvard Journal of Law and Gender
Review
"Should be required reading for students entering graduate studies. . . Highly recommended."
—R. Price, Choice Magazine- March 2013 Editors Pick
" . . . a must-read for every faculty and administrator who is committed to meaningfully 'diversifying the faculty.' There is a long way to go to achieving that goal in a way that is grounded in social justice and real transformation; Presumed Incompetent can play a significant role in helping us get there."
—John M. Ostrove, Psychology of Women Quarterly