Cheryl Mai, A01, Week 9

If academic symbiosis was uphold, then academia would not be so toxic. Academic symbiosis is more prevalent in the earlier school years and the community is more supportive. Starting in high school and in college is where I noticed individuals competing against one another. In a perfect world, if students and teachers supported one another, there would be a more positive outlook in life. Wei Ming Dariotis state that in order to build an academic symbiosis, one must not become victims of the oppress system, but to build alliance. People who have gained tenure do not recognize their power and feed into the system that causes others to feel oppressed. Even though I believe that complete removal of competition in academia is not ideal, people should be more supportive of each other. Universities should give tenure to the professors who are deserving and the best, but the process to achieve this should not be so toxic. It is interesting how Dariotis describes a matriarchal leadership style as seeking justice and liberation, whereas a patriarchal leadership is oppressive and aggressive. This shows that there needs to be more diversity and women in academia to reduce competition and toxicity. The university should become more supportive of professors who are working to get tenure. If the university requires a professor to publish their studies, they should at least aid in grants and getting it published. There needs to be less corporatization in the universities for it to become a supportive environment. Since ethnic studies are more likely to have people of color, do the professors have a harder time getting tenure than non-ethnic studies professors?


source: google images

References

Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline, and Wei Ming Dariotis. Fight the Tower: Asian American Women Scholars' Resistance and Renewal in the Academy. Rutgers University Press, 2020.