On Dismantling the Ivory Tower
When I first embarked on my academic journey and began the harrowing process of interviewing for PhD programs across the country, I quickly realized some academic institutions had made progress in creating a more equitable space for their BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) colleagues while other institutions still had a lot of catching up to do. If there’s one thing I’ve realized now that I’m a bit further in my academic career, it’s that it is far past time for a paradigm shift in academia.
Academia as an ivory tower and science as an apolitical field of study are both outdated and harmful ideas that perpetuate elitism and classism and make it all the more easier for racism to persist under the guise of academic freedom. It’s high time we dismantle this ivory tower and take it apart to show academia for what it really is. It has never been acceptable to claim ignorance for the pervasive racism found in our society because it “doesn’t exist” within this ivory tower that is supposedly our immediate environment, and it especially isn’t acceptable now that our Black colleagues at Stanford have once again spoken up about the anti-Black racism they face at Stanford and how they have managed to thrive despite this. It is past time to show our support and elevate their voices and work to make academia a safer space for our Black colleagues to thrive.
Science and academia are not apolitical — they are reflections of our society. It is beyond unacceptable for programs and departments to expect trainees to display grit and resilience in an oppressive system that places an unfair and unjust burden on marginalized groups. Part of this paradigm shift that academia needs is to acknowledge and remove the barriers to equity that are perpetuated and maintained by those in power. Continued silence and complacency from academics at all levels of the institution speaks volumes to current and future BIPOC trainees and faculty we hope to retain. It is now time for faculty, programs and departments, and higher academic leadership to all take swift and decisive action; to be introspective and recognize how anti-Black racism has been integrated into their culture and to make the effort to eradicate it; to value the service work done overwhelmingly by BIPOC academics; and to give BIPOC academics the respect they deserve. The academic culture can only change for the better if we have more representation on the faculty level and in higher academic leadership, but why can’t it begin to change starting today? Why is the burden for creating this change in academia resting solely on the shoulders of BIPOC trainees who may someday become future faculty? Why is this burden resting solely on the BIPOC faculty who are already at these academic institutions? What are the steps we, as allies, can take today to make the academic experience less traumatic for our BIPOC colleagues?
For years, and especially following this summer, there has been great need for effective and intentional allyship from all levels of the institution but especially from those in power. The burden for advocacy work and anti-racism work falls disproportionately on BIPOC trainees. In my experience as a PhD student in STEM, students are often met with an attitude of this antiracism work being something that’s “taking you away from the lab”, as though advocating for ourselves is just some kind of discretionary extracurricular activity and not something central to making our experiences in academia somewhat bearable. Our identities and experiences affect our daily work in the lab as well and this needs to be acknowledged and respected; as a good friend and colleague of mine so eloquently put it, “our skin is not something we can remove and replace with a lab coat just so [my PI (Principal Investigator)] can get their data and move on” while the student is left feeling unsupported and feeling as though they can’t bring their full authentic self into their work.
Effective allyship goes beyond just allowing your trainees to do this kind of work and granting them “permission to be away from the bench”; this includes things like committing to self-education, to holding those in power accountable, to having difficult conversations with your colleagues and standing up for your BIPOC trainees and your BIPOC colleagues, and for each PI to start having conversations with their BIPOC trainees on what the PI can do better to advocate for their trainees without getting defensive over not doing this sooner. Intentional advocacy is something that is uncomfortable and should be uncomfortable, and as such we should not be trying to avoid feelings of “guilt” for not acting sooner. While it is commendable to increase the diversity in the cohort of trainees, what good is this if the institution is not actively listening to the needs of this community?
Effecting change within our individual programs and departments is a group effort. This work should not rest primarily on trainees, but rather on our PIs and faculty committees who have more power than we do. If our respective programs and departments truly want to serve its current and future trainees, there needs to be visible structural change.
There is a dire need for change to happen. It’s a painful and frustrating process, but I’m still hopeful academia can change for the better. For what it’s worth, when it came time to choose a PhD program I ultimately decided on the Stanford Biosciences Program because so many of the students I interacted with were very active members of the Biosciences community who were dedicated to making Stanford a more equitable place for BIPOC trainees. I felt a sense of belonging, and more importantly I could tell there would be multiple communities where I would receive support for my different identities throughout my stay in graduate school. My identity as a scientist, after all, is only one facet of who I am as a person. As I’ve been growing as an academic, I have also been growing as a researcher, advocate, fighter, teacher, and mentor. Radical resistance has been embedded in the student/trainee culture of Stanford and other academic institutions for decades, and I am deeply honored to join those who are fighting for justice and change here at Stanford and beyond.
