One Foot In, One Foot Out

Academic Aunties

For many in academia, there is always a certain ambivalence about being here. And historically, institutions have been pretty ambivalent about our presence here too. Academia has traditionally never been a place for those who are Black, Indigenous, women of colour. For many scholars, a pragmatic approach is to have one foot in, and one foot out, of the academy.

In today’s episode, we talk to Dr. Chavon Niles and Dr. Nicole Bernhardt. Both Chavon and Nicole had found themselves having one foot in, and one foot out, of the academy while they pursued their PhDs. They both worked outside of academia throughout. Yet the academy called them back. We talk about why they came back and what they’re doing to stay true to the values that made them keep one foot out of the academy in the first place.

Related Links

• The Leak in the Academic Pipeline: on Black Women Sociologists
• The leaky pipeline of diverse race and ethnicity representation in academic science and technology training in the United States, 2003–2019
• Scientists from historically excluded groups face a hostile obstacle course (PDF)

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