Karen and Kel talk about the 7 ways the academy resembles a cult and how that creates a debilitating culture of shame around productivity and Imposter Syndrome.
The trouble with academia is, you set out to master a field but you end up demanding perfection of yourself, forgetting that perfection is not possible. Real mastery is not an outcome but a process, ie, embracing continual curiosity and being unafraid to confront what you don’t know to open the door to learning more. Karen and Kel talk about recovering this beginner’s curiosity by asking: Who is the inner/outer critic telling you you’re not good enough, and remembering that no external validation will make you achieve “perfection” -especially when the systems of validation are racist, sexist, classist, and exclusionary. As Toni Morrison says: the goal of racism is distraction. In the end, you can say this: I don’t have prove it to you I just have to deliver it. ...
We are delighted to bring back Allante Whitmore, PhD candidate in Civil Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, impresario behind the podcast and website Blk+In Grad School, and founder of the 4-years-running virtual Grad School Success Summit, coming up June 14-16. Allante tells us all about the Summit, and how it covers all the things she wished she had known as a first-gen, Black graduate student when she was starting out–especially about how to prepare for grad school, managing finances, and staying healthy. As she explains: it’s not just the knowledge that is critical, but the community, and knowing you’re not alone. New and current BIPOC grad students welcome for an amazing, TOTALLY FREE, lineup of speakers and some “wine down” time afterward on IG Live. The Professor Is In is thrilled to be able to sponsor the Summit this year. [Become a subscribing member for just $3.99 a month and get access to our subscriber only goodies like free webinar recordings, AMAs, the chance to suggest topics, early access to the podcast video that we record in our house in Oregon, and — new from this week – live videos with Karen and Kel on Friday mornings, all on our dedicated podcast member page on Mighty Networks! Not ready to subscribe? Donate here to send ...
We did a survey recently and the message loud and clear was: please give us more advice about just… surviving in academia! So today we are talking about managing your transition into your new academic “thing,” whatever it is. We talk about managing your fear and keeping connected to your own values and motivations. Academia […] ...
