What Troubles me about Academia and What We Can Do About It
A few months into the first year of college, I had a meeting with one of my professors about academia. Although I had planned to go to graduate school, I hadn’t viewed academia as a career option, and in that meeting I was told a startling truth. Please note that many years have passed since that first year, so I am paraphrasing when I quote this, but my professor told me “Academia is a terrible place, students and professors in the liberal arts are underpaid and unappreciated, and it is an incredibly difficult journey to any form of career success. However, I think that you would enjoy it”. While this may sound like a strange way to introduce a student to a possible career path, as someone who grew up loving “A Series of Unfortunate Events” and who once told a professor that I didn’t like “when teachers were too nice to me”, this was exactly the kind of pitch that piqued my Saturnian interest. “A terrible place” I thought, I wonder what makes it so terrible?
Listening to the most recent episode of Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast, titled “5 Methods to Reverse External Negativity & Practice Forgiveness” I was reminded of the story above and what I have come to understand about the aspects of academia that make it feel like a terrible place. Reflecting on my own experiences, and those that others have shared with me, the academic journey can feel like a never-ending series of unfortunate events. Below I have outlined what I am calling “The 5 Troubles of Academia”, as well as the counterparts which can bring greater peace to those troubles. While there are quite a few more than just 5, the number 5 is a number of changes as well as the number of the new year (2021). As this current year comes to a close, I wanted to think through what I have come to learn since that first year of college, and consequently many other first years throughout this journey, in order to offer the potential of change at both an individual and institutional level.
The 5 Troubles of Academia
Competition without Acknowledgement
One of the primary ways that negativity foments within academia is through the unchecked spirit of competition. It has become common sense within the academy to engage in a scarcity mindset when it comes to every aspect of the profession. Limiting beliefs around the scarcity of jobs, the scarcity of funding, the scarcity of awards, recognition, etc constantly circulate through interpersonal and internet based discourse. As I am sure that many of you know, scarcity mindsets tend to be based in fear, and fear is generally understood to be “False Evidence Appearing Real”. Regardless of how many jobs, opportunities, funds are, or are not, available at this or any given time, engaging in competition with one’s friends and colleagues does not improve the chances of receiving a coveted position nor does it release you from the limiting belief that there is not and will never be enough for everyone. In many ways, this belief only serves institutions who can continue to raise their expectations for the academic (without raising the wages of labor), by creating false competition through privileging accomplishment at all costs.
Therefore, the foil or potential for change when it comes to competition is acknowledgement. Ask yourself, When was the last time that you were genuinely happy for one of your colleagues? Do you allow the accomplishments of your colleagues to make you feel inadequate or that there is more that you should be doing? Do you unconsciously go into a mentality of competition or can you genuinely acknowledge the good work that others in your field, discipline, department, institution, etc are doing? In what what ways might you need to shift your mindset from one of scarcity to one of abundance?
Comparison without Investment
One of my favorite quotes comes from Teddy Roosevelt and it is the simple statement that “Comparison is the thief of joy”. Within academia, we see comparison constantly in how we view ourselves and how others view us, especially when it comes to academic timelines and milestones. The moment that you step onto a college campus there is a ticking time clock, phrases such as “finishing in four” and “out in five” are constantly repeated to and amongst students as the only acceptable paths forward. Discussions of data collected by academic institutions and departments pride themselves on graduation rates and other rigorous standards. Your success in the field is based on the comparison inherent in these statistics. What is the average? If you take too long to do something you reduce your chances of being viewed favorably in comparison to individuals who moved through their careers at break-neck speed, hitting all of the milestones right on time. On this point, I would of course have to ask, What is time? It’s a favorite question of mine, and I am known to advise students that your timeline is yours alone and that you should never let the perceived norms of the institution rush your own internal clock. You will know when it is your time, and comparing yourself to others only thwarts your natural rhythms and intuition.
Comparison is also the precursor to competition. When we compare ourselves to others there are usually three options which exist on a continuum of severity: work to be better than the other person, work to improve upon ourselves, or just stop working. This final option is why I believe that investment is the catalyst of change when it comes to the habit of comparison. Instead of comparing ourselves to others, what does it look like to truly invest in becoming the best versions of ourselves? If you are working on investing in yourself, at your own time and your own pace, then comparison loses its stronghold. While it is common for us to believe that comparison will motivate us to be a better version of ourselves, in reality it is just as likely that the comparison will result in more feelings of not being enough. Amongst all beings there is truly no comparison, which is why we should all focus on running our own race, with blinders on.
Critique without Work
The role of critique is foundational to academia and it is needed in so many ways. However, looking at the relationship between critique and work it is important to note that there should be no critique without first doing the work. As James 2:14 states “Faith without works is dead” and in my opinion the same could be said of critique i.e. Critique without works is dead. What do I mean when I say this? There is a tradition within academia to critique for critique’s sake, some might even call this taking the devil’s advocate position. Instead of working to further a thought or point out a valid claim, critiques can be levied simply for the fun of the game. While this form of critique is not the most egregious aspect of academia, it can become quite toxic in the realm of discussion and debate in spaces both within and outside of the classroom (social media comes to mind). There is also often a sense in critique that we separate the physical form of the author from the work. I have often been surprised to learn that certain academics are still living in light of the ruthless way(s) that they are critiqued within the public sphere. Disagreement is a part of the job, but there is a way to disagree that is diplomatic.
Remember to be collegial in your critiques when you can, and ask yourself: What is the purpose of this critique? Am I critiquing the work or the person? Is this critique productive i.e. will it move the field forward, is there a glaring omission that my critique will expose, will this critique help others or am I just showing off, etc? Am I willing to do the work necessary to support this critique i.e. is my work operating as an offering in response to the critique? And my favorite question, did you do your due diligence? Sometimes critique without work is also critique without research. It is a common occurrence within academia for students and scholars alike to critique scholarship with only cursory knowledge of the work itself or the many others who have probably already offered the same critique. As I often say to myself, it is important to know when you do, or do not, have the range to levy a critique i.e. when you have not done the work (reading, research, reflection, etc). To solve this problem, simply do the work and the critique will follow.
Complaint without Action
Similar to the concern about critique without work, another common yet troubling aspect of academia is complaint without action. This is a much larger topic that I plan to write about in more depth at a later date, because complaining about academia without problem solving is a favorite pastime. In observation, I too find myself slipping into this engagement with negativity, especially in the therapist's office. Offering all of the things that are wrong with academia but not working towards solutions or actions that could make things better for people outside of myself and my students. For many of us, it is easy to focus on all of the injustices of the world and do the work of making those injustices known by contributing our efforts to societal struggles. However, when we look at our own place in this very unique space, we don’t always keep that same energy. This is an important time to take the log out of our own eyes and work on the actions necessary to make academia a more just space for everyone. If not, well . . . I’ll save that for the coming months.
Copying without Credit
Some years ago, I spent my entire college career as both a writing tutor and a member of my school’s Honor Council. For those who do not know, Honor Council is a Judicial Board where you hear the cases of your peers and then meter out punishments for violations of the honor code. Due to this combination I always had an eye for plagiarism and I enjoy offering advice on the topic as it is the one part of my syllabus that I always make sure to note. In this sense, plagiarism and intellectual property are two of my personal areas of advocacy as I generally believe that plagiarism happens due to a lack of creativity, time, and/or education and that there are many things that can be done to circumvent this issue when addressed in advance and head on. With that being said, there are many ways that copying the ideas or work of others occurs both within and outside of the field and that is a primary concern in a space where one’s work is based on the production of ideas and other intellectual goods and services. Similar to journalism, the scoop is real, and the colonization of thought privileges those who have access to the means of production i.e. presses, publication outlets, platforms, etc. For example, If someone writes about something “first” what are the assumptions of that firstness? Similar to the assumptions of first authorship and many other aspects of making a statement of first, we give the most credit to whoever is first and ask few questions about what that might mean. Therefore, the counterpart to copying (which is probably the simplest and most obvious of the five) is credit. In my own work, I have begun to play with what it looks like to not only cite those who I am quoting but other work I think might be relevant to the reader. Through footnotes, acknowledgements, artist statements, etc I think we should get more creative in how we give credit [1]. Now, most of the people who read this blog are grown, so I’m not going to link my favorite citation spaces here, but I will offer you some final questions on the topic, such as: What do we mean when we say that something is “common knowledge”? How do you want your work to be cited by others? And, How do you get creative in how you give credit in your own work?
As Jay Shetty states in his podcast, “Real freedom is letting go of things not wanted” therefore, the question I will leave you all with is: What do we need to let go of i.e. habits, ideas, responsibilities, mindsets, etc to begin changing these norms? One thing that I like to do, and which is covered in the Black Living Data Booklet, is the concept of keeping a data diary or daily journal (pp.48 specifically offers journal prompts that you can work with as well). For myself, I keep data on a lot of aspects of my day to day which I consider to be an important check on myself and my daily thoughts and habits. Therefore, it might be helpful to think about keeping a data grid or running journal entry focused on how you might be engaging in some of these vices and what you can do to change through working with their counterparts. This particular post is the first in a new series that I am calling “Academia and Abolition”, so I look forward to the continued exploration of these themes with you all.
[1] In the case of this post, I want to also acknowledge Michelle Tran, who I have the great pleasure to mentor and think with every week and who encourages me to write about our discussions of education, academia, and justice oriented work.
