Meet the Expert | Gender, Race, and Academia with Bruna Pereira

In this insightful interview, Dr. Bruna Pereira, a postdoctoral fellow at the Complutense University of Madrid, explores the structural and cultural barriers to gender and racial equality within academia.

She begins by challenging the perception that academia is inherently open and progressive, arguing that this belief masks ongoing issues of discrimination. According to Dr. Pereira, one of the most significant barriers is the denial of the existence of sexism and racism in academic environments.

She highlights the hierarchical nature of academic relationships, which often favors individuals who share the dominant gender, racial, and class profiles—leading to the reproduction of sameness in mentorship, hiring, and promotion. Social capital and informal networks play a critical role in academic advancement, often disadvantaging women and racially minoritized individuals, who are frequently perceived as intellectually inferior.

Dr. Pereira also critiques the academic canon for its strong bias towards white, Western male scholars, reinforcing exclusionary norms. She emphasizes that these inequalities manifest not only in curriculum content but also in how discrimination reports are received—often with skepticism or inaction.

She calls attention to the precarious nature of academic careers, especially for early-career scholars, and how dependency on short-term contracts and personal networks exacerbates vulnerability to discrimination and limits access to justice.

To address these challenges, she advocates for participatory policymaking, anonymized selection processes, and both qualitative and quantitative data collection on discrimination. She stresses the importance of creating safe environments for affected individuals to share their experiences without fear of reprisal. Finally, she underscores the value of collaborative projects, like international alliances, in raising awareness and building a more inclusive academic culture.