Discrimination is a disease that plagues many organizations and often causes more damage to the organization such as profit loss, economical issues, and natural disasters. This is because discrimination destroys the people who make up the organization and causes damages irreparable by money or promotion. Career paths and patterns are things most affected by such a plague because they damage people mentally, emotionally, and socially. If a person is mentally and emotionally damaged by discrimination, this person becomes paralyzed and unable to function properly within the organization. Also, socially, victims experience role malfunction and resort to isolation for comfort rather than ask for help from colleagues.
The following tells a short story that reflects how discrimination in the academe and the workplace can negatively affect a person and cause problematic career patterns:
On an interview for a Ph.D. position at a university in Netherland, John, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was met by a professor who utterly undermined his professional capabilities just by being mean and dismissive. During the interview, the professor commented on his subject grades and thesis grade to be quite higher than usual compared to Netherland standards. He sounded surprised, but not impressed.
While scrutinizing his CV after a few discussions, the professor was shocked to discover that John is currently taking up a second degree in economics at the time. John expressed his reasons freely with confidence, explaining the benefits of having a second degree in economics. However, the professor took it differently and concluded that the second degree puts John at a great disadvantage because he might forget all about physics—the major he’s applying for.
Though the physics major remained John’s focus for 11 years, the professor thinks that the economics degree can easily overwhelm him and redirect his focus away from physics. Sharing his point of view was understandable for John; however, the professor commented about something that is quite irrelevant to the interview’s topic—his age. At 27, he’s pretty young and obviously puts him at an advantage over other older applicants, but the professor thought otherwise. He said that John is too old for a Ph.D. because by age 30 when he finishes his Ph.D., he thinks John will have less time to contribute to the science. This came to a shock to John because he met many other Ph.D. candidates and students who are way older than him and yet he is considered too old? It made no sense to him but he just calmly put up with the professor’s irrelevant and somehow mocking comment (based on the tone of the professor’s voice). Things got worse when John later received an email from that same professor. The email stated that John was “a bit lost in life” and unfit for the position. This bothered him greatly and left him wondering how on earth did he end up being judged like that? He was not even tested for his knowledge and skills yet, but he’s already been dismissed as unfit or incapable for the position. The experience caused him feelings of depression and resentment. After all his hard work and aspirations in the field, he was suddenly and rudely judged by someone who didn’t even try to understand him.
Continue reading “Zalina Ametova:* How discrimination destroys academic careers”
