Thread by @DisInHigherEd

The next topic here is something that undoubtedly feels familiar to everyone who is disabled, but is nonetheless an important conversation to keep having with non-disabled people: how higher education destroys work-life balance and prizes working at the cost of health. (1/13)

for some context, I am linking to the free access paper "Ableism in academia: where are the disabled and ill academics?" from Nicole Brown and Jennifer Leigh from 2018 [tandfonline.com/eprint/TNKmvGU…]. (The webpage in this link has a built-in e-reader that can read the article). (2/13)

It is no secret that complete and utter devotion to higher education is expected of faculty and staff in terms of hours worked at the cost of little or no social life, unhealthy eating habits, coping mechanisms triggered by stress, and so on. (3/13)

As a postdoc researcher, I worked 70-80 hours a week and would work a month straight. Doing that for 4 years took a toll on me and my health was okay for the most part. After my postdoc ended, it took my body 6 months to learn to sleep longer than 5 hours a night. (4/13)

Why did I work so hard? I wanted to be a professor and the stakes were high. You have to publish a certain amount of papers in certain journals. Even then, it is not enough to have a sterling publication record. It still came down to who you knew, not what. (5/13)

I was very lucky to finally find a small university that is a wonderful place to work with a supportive department and administration that truly values diversity, mental health, and diversity. Sadly, this is still the exception and not the rule. (6/13)

If the conditions to succeed in academia are so enormous that they can cause stress-related illnesses in non-disabled people, what hope do disabled and chronically-ill people have? How can you truly have diversity in academia if this system doesn't change? (7/13)

This system is not promoting the best and brightest scientists in our country. It is promoting the luckiest scientists and the scientists with the most privilege. I would go so far as to say that this system is IMPEDING scientific progress. (8/13)

There are brilliant minds in disabled and chronically-ill bodies. They hold amazing ways of looking at scientific problems differently that could lead to a breakthrough. How can we be leaders in science at this rate? (9/13)

We are pushing people away that can help further scientific progress. We are pushing people away who want to lead a life of helping to improve the quality of human lives and the environment for future generations. (10/13)

We need all hands on deck to solve the biggest scientific issues that our species have ever faced. How can we meet these goals if we don't provide an environment for every single person, disabled and non-disabled, to thrive? (11/13)

Change must occur and this burden should never fall on the shoulders of disabled, chronically-ill, and neurodivergent people (and others). If those at the top truly care about science for the greater good of society, they must help dismantle the current system. (12/13)

I don't have all the answers here, but I do know the current system is not working. We must provide an inclusive environment that allows every single person to send less time trying to survive and more time making discoveries that can help all of humanity. (13/13)