Thanks everyone for your responses. Why do I want to write this? No, this is not because I want to publicly vent, as I think that would be pointless. I’m writing this because I believe that academia can be hypocritical, and that these abuses, contradictions should be told. The public has been led to believe that the higher education is for the benefit of the public good; however, when those of the community are being taken advantage, then the institution itself has defaulted on its contact and obligation with the larger community to which it should be held accountable. As some have mentioned here, the building and resources are not even available to meet the expectations involved in completing a program. If you challenge that problem, then what would happen? It seems that challenging systemic obstacles is met with responses that indicate that you are not intellectually or emotionally strong enough to persist, but that could not be farther from the truth. It is the intellectual and emotional strength that causes one to speak up. And yes, unfortunately, that means you will be kicked out of the program from within the system itself - using some type of review period that uses subjective data to kick you out.
I realize that writing this would be the end of my career in some ways, but not so much. The career it would end would be a career I would not want because of its hypocritical nature – If I work within a system and am paid by that system, then I am responsible to making sure that I am not part of the abuse; however, it is rare that other faculty will speak up and advocate for students to another student, although I do believe they do at times. The point is that who is helping those faculty who are trying to speak up – perhaps, public exposure would provide more support to those who are working within academia, trying to make it better.
Although I hear that people believe that when others get the degree, they can then change the system, I do not think that realistically occurs. Otherwise, the abuse would stop and it doesn’t. My concern is not with too much work or too much challenge, it’s with the discrimination within the system. The fact is that everyone does not have the same experiences because we are treated differently. Should we be treated differently? Only if it is relative to our ability or interest. My problem is the different treatment due to the way someone looks, their skin color, their gender, or their accent. What is disheartening is when those who do not have to endure different treatment because of these attributes fail to see that this discrimination occurs. Rather you hear from others, “oh- that’s never happened to me—“, implying that it is your fault or something wrong with you that is making that happen, and if you would be like them, then this would not occur.
I am writing this because I believe that speaking up is about being true to what higher education is about – willing to learn and to voice the truth, even in the face of adversity.
