In “Academic Symbiosis: A manifesto on Tenure and Promotion in Asian American Studies”, Wei Ming Dariotis, the author claimed that academia should ultimately be about resisting pain, domination, and shaming as norms of academia while creating an academic symbiosis. Academic symbiosis is “the antithesis of academic competition, hierarchy, and parasitism.”(386) In this academic symbiosis, we are sharing things with each other, not fighting over for scarce resources. The author talked about his own experience of academic failure in tenure and promotion as samples for academic symbiosis. Although academic symbiosis could help your success on your tenure and promotion, it helps you go out of the “fear of failure, fear of not being good enough, and fear of shame.” In other words, we have to recognize and take responsibility for our own. As the author mentioned, “Resistance movements can flourish only when those of us on both the inside and the outside of power structures choose to connect, work together, and trust each other.”(389) Academic symbiosis will help people to keep on their dream and fight for themselves.

Question: what is the disadvantage of Academic Symbiosis?

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.