“Sick and tired of being sick and tired”

Abstract

In the words of civil rights activist, Fannie Lou Hamer, “I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Hamer made this declaration at the 1964 Democratic National Convention when she described the discrimination, violence, and injustices against Black people, including herself, in Mississippi (Hamlet, 1996). Just like Hamer, we, critical Black science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education scholar-activists, are sick and tired of being sick and tired. We are sick and tired of existing university and college approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in engineering, specifically regarding how these practices perceive and treat Black women. There exists a body of research that specifically calls out the racist and sexist culture of engineering and its implications for the success and well-being of Black women (Blosser, 2020; Charleston et al., 2014; DeCuir-Gunby et al., 2013; Roby et al., 2022). This body of research specifically attends to structural and cultural change efforts that must occur to ensure Black women can thrive and peacefully exist within engineering. Despite this work, the overall practices and strategies implemented within undergraduate engineering programs tend to be additive, engaging efforts that support recruitment of Black women and allows their development of coping mechanisms to persist. Few practical efforts focus on transforming the environment and culture of engineering in ways that ensure that Black women can flourish and exist within oppression-free learning spaces. In efforts to redress the injustices that continue to happen to Black women in undergraduate engineering, or at least mitigate the impact of oppression, we offer practical solutions that work toward transformative, cultural change. These recommendations are twofold. First, they offer tangible practices that engineering programs can implement to ensure that Black women are being provided with relevant and meaningful support specific to their needs. Second, these recommendations provide tangible practices that engineering programs can put in place as steps toward a radical STEM overhaul (McGee, 2020).