Reflecting on The Now: Race, Gender, Socio-Economic Status and COVID-19

Authors

Ariana Montemayor, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Sydney M. Scanlon, Old Dominion UniversityFollow

Abstract

Early in 2020, we began a project for our Women and Technology class at Old Dominion University to highlight women working in health sciences. However, our original project idea drastically changed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 focused our attention on issues regarding societal inequalities and health disparities. Therefore, we decided to create a new project that emphasized the societal inequalities and the disproportionate impact COVID had on People of Color, women and low-income individuals. In this paper, we critically reflect on the journey of our project from conception to completion, as well as how we, and the rest of the world, have witnessed the widespread impact of COVID-19. In the final section, we discuss the impact healthcare professionals can have on improving health equity and equality.

Authors’ note

This piece has been over a year in the making, and while the final product may look vastly different from the original idea, we could not be more proud of the work we have created and are thrilled to share it with our readers. We would have never guessed that taking a Women and Technology course would lead us to a publication. However, we felt compelled to deepen our knowledge by critically engaging with what we saw happening in the world and sharing our findings with a wider audience. COVID-19 has been a great reckoning that continues to highlight the inequalities that exist in our society. It is our hope that by reading this you will become more aware of these injustices and how you can help in paving the way for change. Although publication was a large undertaking, it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. We would like to thank our mentor, Professor Cathleen Rhodes, from Old Dominion University for inspiring us through her Women and Technology course and for encouraging us to pursue publication. Lastly, we would like to thank our editors Steve Grande and Emily Kohl for their valuable feedback and continued support throughout this process. Thank you for teaching us that we are the experts on our own experience.

Recommended Citation

Montemayor, Ariana and Scanlon, Sydney M. (2021) "Reflecting on The Now: Race, Gender, Socio-Economic Status and COVID-19," VA Engage Journal: Vol. 9, Article 3.
Available at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/vaej/vol9/iss1/3