As part of a feature film called “Picture a Scientist”, Dr Raychelle Burks reflected on her journey to becoming a chemist which included a lack of Black female chemistry professors and personal discrimination.
All the way through college, no, there were no black women chemistry professors that I had. I heard that they existed though. But I never had any. I went to get a PhD in chemistry so I would have more employment options. There are lots of things I love about the sciences and I love about academia, my job, but then there’s also some real bullshit. In academia, as women of color, we’re gonna have different types of abuse from different people.