In a society built on White ideals, contributions of minorities are often devalued. In Brett J.
Esaki’s Attack on the Spirit by the “Rational World” (and Spiritual Recovery from It), he
discusses how the white colonialist idea of rationalism negatively impacts Asian American
women. Community building that empowers marginalized peoples, challenging Western
thought and superiority, is seen as countering rationalism and therefore devalued in academia.
The necessity for time in community building, in response to the exploitation of minorities, is
seen as inefficient. The perceived threat of community building leads to faculty of color being
barred from promotions and funding. In my opinion, it is hypocritical that questioning the
foundations of academia is actively suppressed when academia is about asking questions and
when many of the philosophies that built academia questioned foundations of power at their
time. Esaki also discusses the emotional work Asian American women professors practice, as
they are expected to counsel students even beyond academics. In Care Work, Wei Ming
Dariotis and Grace J. Yoo discuss the devaluation of care work in academia. Asian American
women professors are not only expected to do care work for students, but also for other faculty.
They often take these responsibilities due to the lack of services for Asian Americans in the
university; however, it often leads to an emotional and physical toll. This work also takes time
and energy away from their academic careers. Since the work is feminized and racialized, white
male professors are not required to perform care work and since they make up most of the
administration, care work is not valued in academia. I think this issue is very present in UC
Davis. UC Davis only has 5 community counselors and, from my experience, not many people
know about them. Expanding and promoting the CAN program will not only help students get
the counseling they need, but also help alleviate the emotional work that faculty of color have
to do.
Esaki’s Attack on the Spirit by the “Rational World” (and Spiritual Recovery from It), he
discusses how the white colonialist idea of rationalism negatively impacts Asian American
women. Community building that empowers marginalized peoples, challenging Western
thought and superiority, is seen as countering rationalism and therefore devalued in academia.
The necessity for time in community building, in response to the exploitation of minorities, is
seen as inefficient. The perceived threat of community building leads to faculty of color being
barred from promotions and funding. In my opinion, it is hypocritical that questioning the
foundations of academia is actively suppressed when academia is about asking questions and
when many of the philosophies that built academia questioned foundations of power at their
time. Esaki also discusses the emotional work Asian American women professors practice, as
they are expected to counsel students even beyond academics. In Care Work, Wei Ming
Dariotis and Grace J. Yoo discuss the devaluation of care work in academia. Asian American
women professors are not only expected to do care work for students, but also for other faculty.
They often take these responsibilities due to the lack of services for Asian Americans in the
university; however, it often leads to an emotional and physical toll. This work also takes time
and energy away from their academic careers. Since the work is feminized and racialized, white
male professors are not required to perform care work and since they make up most of the
administration, care work is not valued in academia. I think this issue is very present in UC
Davis. UC Davis only has 5 community counselors and, from my experience, not many people
know about them. Expanding and promoting the CAN program will not only help students get
the counseling they need, but also help alleviate the emotional work that faculty of color have
to do.
Question: Are there universities that compensate faculty for care work? If so, how did it happen?
References
Esaki, B. J. (2019). Attack on the Spirit by the “Rational World” (and Spiritual Recovery from It). Unpublished manuscript.
Dariotis, W., & Yoo, G. J. (2019). Care Work. Unpublished manuscript.
Rothenburg, S. [@violetclair]. (2019, March 8). [Instagram digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/BuwWusgBmi-/.
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