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Black and Latina boffins regularly mistaken for janitors, study finds

We're eggheads just like you guys, dammit, say women in lab coats

A survey of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers has found that black and Latina boffins are being mistaken for janitors.

The study [PDF], conducted by California's Hastings College of Law, found that women in STEM careers continue to face sexism and discrimination, with women of color particularly subject to mistreatment.

The report, published this month by researchers who polled 60 women in STEM fields, noted that one of the more persistent assumptions is that black and Latina brainiacs are assumed to be janitors rather than lab workers.

"Latinas encountered persistent assumptions that they were janitorial staff, even if they had on white lab coats," the college's researchers wrote.

The report goes on to recount the story of one female researcher who says she has repeatedly been mistaken for a custodian and has had to tell her peers she "only had the key to the office, not the janitor's closet."

While women in general have faced an uphill battle in STEM careers, the study found that women of color are particularly subject to discrimination and racial stereotypes.

Overall, the study paints a bleak picture for women of color in STEM fields. One third of the respondents reported having experienced sexual harassment, while 66 per cent of those interviewed feel they face a "prove it again" bias that requires them to provide more evidence for their research claims than their male counterparts. This sentiment was particularly true for black women in the study, 76.9 per cent of those interviewed reported a "prove it again" bias against their work.

Latina researchers reported having to overcome "lazy" stereotypes from colleagues and superiors, while Asian-American women reported having to work harder than their male colleagues and having their successes discounted.

The Hastings study is far from the only evidence that women face discrimination in STEM fields. Technology, in particular, has proven to be a male-dominated field. Data from big names like Google, Apple, and Twitter show that engineering and management jobs in particular are overwhelmingly male and are, on the whole, occupied mostly by whites and Asians. ®

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