Where Asian Americans Need Affirmative Action

Our Focus on University Admissions Obscures the ‘Bamboo Ceiling’ in the Workplace

Zócalo is celebrating its 20th birthday this year! As part of the festivities, we’re publishing reflections and responses that revisit and reimagine some of our most read and most impactful stories. Columbia University sociologist Jennifer Lee continues to explore race and achievement in America—as in her 2014 essay “Are Mexicans the Most Successful Immigrant Group in the U.S.?“

The Supreme Court struck down race-based affirmative action in university admissions early this summer thanks in large part to the charge that Harvard’s practice of race-conscious admissions …

by Jennifer Lee | September 14, 2023

Why Is the Latinx Debate So Fierce?

Gender, Language, and Identity Are Complicated. But Inclusivity Doesn't Have to Be

by Sebastian Ferrada | February 16, 2023

In 2018, I was interviewed for Univision’s morning talk show ¡Despierta América! (Wake up, America!) to discuss the meaning of the identity label Latinx. I was nervous because I had …

Who Should Put a Ring on It?

A Modest Proposal for Rethinking ‘Will You Marry Me?’—And What True Egalitarianism Might Look Like

by Amanda Jayne Miller | February 13, 2023

Over 20 years ago, I covered my face with my hands and shyly told my (now) husband, “I’m moving away for graduate school and I’d love you to go with …

The Female Cooks Who Shaped French Cuisine

A New Generation of Chefs Is Melding the Domestic and Professional—And Moving Toward Equality in the Restaurant Kitchen

by Rachel E. Black | October 13, 2021

As I perch on a stool in her kitchen in Lyon, I think about what makes Sonia Ezgulian’s cooking so compelling. Ezgulian, who is also a journalist, is well known …

What Women Athletes Won When Title IX Became Law

This Landmark Legislation Has Evened the Playing Field for 49 Years—In Fits and Starts

by Jackie Mansky | June 25, 2021

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 decreed, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits …

Feminist Foreign Policy Can Offer a ‘Modern Lens to a Modern World’

To Build a Better Tomorrow, a Small but Growing Number of Countries Are Bringing a Gender Lens to Today’s Biggest Issues

by Jackie Mansky | March 3, 2021

Sweden first introduced the term “feminist foreign policy” in 2014, and since then, a small but growing number of countries—most recently Mexico—have adopted or pledged to implement it.

But what exactly …

gender