Of Carleton University’s 37 full-time law professors, five are members of a racialized group—making up just 18 per cent of the faculty. Only three of them are women.
As a queer, South Asian, female-identifying individual, I often feel underrepresented in the spaces I occupy. Between my peers and professors, it is quite easy to notice when I am the only person of colour in the room.
It has become increasingly important for Carleton to make a concerted effort to hire and retain more Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) professors, especially when these spaces (specifically law classes) are looking to facilitate conversations around race.
It is more difficult to learn about topics such as inclusion, equality, and diversity in the legal world when the person teaching them has no lived experiences of discrimination, code-switching or other difficulties many members of racialized groups experience. This is why diversity is especially crucial in schools and universities. Representation matters and fundamental change will not occur without ample input from BIPOC academics.
Particularly in the legal field, a historic lack of representation can present barriers for young BIPOC striving to achieve leadership positions in the legal profession—particularly BIPOC women. Women of colour make up 8.57 per cent of all attorneys, while Black women make up just 1.73 per cent of all attorneys.
The statistics become bleaker at the partner level, with a representation of just 6.6 per cent of equity partners at law firms being women of colour.
Carleton’s law department is a particularly important place to emphasize BIPOC representation. Not only would this likely secure a larger percentage of BIPOC individuals in the legal discipline, but the connections we make at Carleton facilitate our careers. For many BIPOC, including myself, it is important to make lasting connections with people who look like you and who can understand your perspective.
Diverse role models are crucial at this point in our lives. These role models are what make BIPOC students feel like they are welcomed and included at the table.
Additionally, as many graduates from the department go on to hold positions in the government and various legal professions, non-BIPOC students in particular must have enough formal education on diversity and inclusion. Without this, they will not have the knowledge to implement equity and diversity practices in the future.
By ensuring a significant number of BIPOC professors make up Carleton’s law department, the university would be taking a serious step in the direction of countering systemic racism in the legal and administrative workforce.
Historically, Black and Indigenous people in particular have faced both explicit and implicit discrimination at the hands of the Canadian government and its legal institutions. Including BIPOC in legal education creates a gateway for diverse voices in positions of power, giving them the ability to make significant changes to these oppressive systems.
As these conversations about race and inclusion begin at the university level, it must be acknowledged that students will likely find few BIPOC in positions of leadership as they move through their careers.
One study by the University of Sydney in Australia found biases in academia decrease with better representation of BIPOC people, resulting in better representation of minority groups at a higher institutional level.
For the numbers of BIPOC representation in the legal field to increase, there must be fundamental change—starting at Carleton. The university must make a stronger effort to ensure BIPOC students feel welcomed and validated in historically white spaces. Hiring a diverse faculty and diversifying the curriculum taught by Carleton’s law department are both crucial moves for these changes to occur.
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
