See, I don't find this argument compelling at all, and why I have a problem with this whole line of argument. I as an an African American male don't find graduate school at this major SEC PWI school very "inviting" as a holder of a HBCU undergraduate degree, but I ignore this trepidation because I just accept it as a place that wasn't initially intended for me to be there (during segregation). I am an anomoly. Yet none of this seems to have affected my performance as a student at all. I've got the best grades I've ever gotten here, even with all the mildly offensive things professors/students sometimes say to me. I think I'm doing so well here precisely because they don't "expect" (subconciously) me to do well. Then I surprise them with my abilities. I'm an underdog of sorts, and they constantly underestimate my ability to thrive in their environment. I like that. I appreciate the winds blowing against me.
However, I was essentially raised to be this way. I grew up on the "white" side of my hometown, with only a handful of black friends I knew from school (none of whom lived near me). The few white friends I did have in the neighborhood either drifted away or their families outright ostracized me when I became older (one parent actually calling and saying "I don't think boys and girls should play together"). Pretty soon we were a pretty alienated family on the block, especially when one of my black friends moved into the neighborhood. Thus, being an "outsider" in the white world (and the black world, too because I grew up on the white side of town) is not only normal for me, I don't really know anything else.
I also don't find the argument compelling because of my own mother's experience. She is a "STEM woman" (and also black) and completed her computer science degree at the same HBCU I did. After graduating, she went to USC and eventually to Bell Labs and more. Certainly back in the days she was initally working, the environment was MUCH tougher for her as a black woman in the early eighties than it is for me now. But she powered through it, and is currently very successful in the field. And that's my point. Instead of trying to get everyone else to change, why don't we teach women to "power through" adversity rather than change the minds of people who are not trying to actively attempting to impede their progress. I would make a different argument if there were actually legal barriers preventing women from entering STEM fields. But I disagree with the notion that we should alter STEM culture to suit women.
I'm not trying to alter SEC PWI culture to suit me. I couldn't really care less about it (though there are some aspects I like about it). I understand that the things they do (though they may alienate me) are fun for them, and I just have no interest in entering that world. The reverse is also true. I don't want white people altering my HBCU's culture because they feel alienated- precisely for the same reason I don't want to alter theirs. Moreover, I don't want then entire field of STEM to become a bunch of suit-wearing prudes. For many men, the removal of the "everyday is casual day" removes alot of the attraction to the field for men (and probably women too). People should be able to be themselves at work, college, or anywhere. That includes wearing tees that might offend a few viewers.
