I remember a group of Black students badmouthing a Black woman I knew because she said no to mentoring someone. As if she didn’t have a right to set boundaries. And people were taken aback when I told them she did. It’s like she didn’t own herself but belonged to them.
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The number of stories I have heard from Black women faculty and research staff in the last two years about the way they were mistreated and targeted by Black students in particular — & non-Black POC colleagues and students as well — makes me sad. This isn’t what we fought for.
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If I could have one wish granted about the dynamics between people in the academy it would be that every time someone interacts with someone else, their behavior reflected a serious relationship with the idea that the person on the other end is human, no matter what their role.
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In the meantime, part of what’s very lonely is that esp if you’re a Black woman in STEM, there aren’t a lot of people like you and who understand the particularities of your experience, and it’s less safe to talk openly about your experiences than it was when you were more junior
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But to the larger point of why are postdocs more lonely: there are fewer of you, fewer structures in place to help you find others, fewer commonalities in experience, more people who are in married/parenting family units, and more very individual situations.
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You’re not taking classes together or moving through programmatic stages together. You may be the only one in your group or even departments. There probably aren’t a bunch of postdoc groups for you to choose from — there may only be one. Student groups are not an option.
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All of this is heightened when you’re faculty!
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The Disordered Cosmos by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein Retweeted The Disordered Cosmos by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
When I said “the only one” I meant postdoc. If you’re Black, you’re maybe the only one in a bunch of other ways .... https://twitter.com/ibjiyongi/status/1281929957149638657?s=21 …https://twitter.com/IBJIYONGI/status/1281929957149638657 …
The Disordered Cosmos by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein added,
The Disordered Cosmos by Chanda Prescod-WeinsteinVerified account @IBJIYONGIYou’re not taking classes together or moving through programmatic stages together. You may be the only one in your group or even departments. There probably aren’t a bunch of postdoc groups for you to choose from — there may only be one. Student groups are not an option.Show this thread1 reply 2 retweets 63 likesShow this thread -
So the other thing is that these feelings can be incredibly distracting from getting your work done. It’s easier to forget why you’re there in the first place. Or to feel distracted and disconnected from the sense of wonder that drives your work. But you can’t let it happen.
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You have to stay engaged with your work. Keep doing your calculations, measurements, writing. You must stay in touch with your deeply held interest in particles, exoplanets, graph theory, whatever it is. Your whole life cannot become about academic pain!
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