Thread by @MsEntropy

“The COVID pandemic hit female academics the hardest,” says @chronicle — asking what universities plan to do.

Like me, many have stellar CVs & records lost jobs but can’t land new ones due to massive budget cuts.

Hire us.

#AcademicTwitter
chronicle.com/article/the-pa…

COVID budget cuts don’t just hurt unemployed professors. They hurt students.

Not a day goes by without hearing from a former student asking if I’ve got a new one because they want to follow me for a PhD, asking for mentorship, advice, etc.

And I lost my job a year ago.

I worked since I was 14, and taught university students since starting my PhD - 15 years ago.

I’ve never lost any job, or had trouble getting full-time academic positions - even in an already nightmarish market.

26 years.

Until COVID. #AcademicTwitter

Last year, I landed a one-year adjunct position. 2 classes per semester earned around $6000 for the entire year. I had to cave and sign up for a Patreon.

For the first time since I was 14, I can’t find a job - so I’m living on… donations.

An indescribable shame for me.

For non-academics, here’s why that last Tweet matters.

Our resumes can have short job gaps (maybe), but they CAN’T survive publication / conference etc. gaps. And that means:

Landing a new job is impossible without working for free as you try to find one.

#AcademicTwitter

If you’re not an academic, likely you don’t know what a nightmare the impossibly competitive job market is and was pre-COVID.

I say this as someone who’s always maintained full time employment, even in that situation, until the pandemic.

And it’s far tougher for women.

Point of thread: show non-academics how this pandemic reality works for unemployed faculty, and how it hurts students & higher education in general.

And as a red alert (and reassurance) for #AcademicTwitter.

If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. You’re not alone.

https://twitter.com/MsEntropy/status/1420380447544995840

I still serve on committees for honors exams. I still serve on thesis committees. I still supervise student research.

Most for no pay. At most, a $150 honorarium for a semester of work.

Even unemployed academics must do this — if they ever want another job.

Unpaid work is a prerequisite to get another job — but that’s not just a penalty unemployed faculty have to concede.

Students suffer if experts in the field aren’t there to supervise their research and development.

So it’s an ethical obligation as well.

And even worse - that unpaid work described above, which is required to ever land another academic job, well…

It cuts down time for other unpaid ans required work like faculty research and publication: also required if you want to ever get another job.

Devastating cycle.

“Get another job to survive while you are applying for other academic jobs,” you might say.

Well, that means: never sleeping again because… with what time can even a machine pull that off?

And… what jobs during a pandemic?

#AcademicTwitter

Now, let’s take on the question of the job market’s invisible hand, and the assumption:

“You obviously aren’t competitive and distinguished enough or you’d have a new job already.”

You’re going to want to sit down for this next tweet.

#AcademicTwitter

My CV (academic resume) is 25+ pages, with no employment gaps (since I was 14).

It includes: 2 Fulbrights, a Javits, multiple Mellons, numerous teaching awards, pages of publications, and much more.

And I rely on donations through a Patreon to afford my medications.

On top of that part of my CV, I’m regularly asked for my expertise by the United Nations, the State Department, and others.

Universities all over regularly invite me to give lectures and talks.

I regularly appear on media like BBC, CNN, Jazeera, Intercept, etc.

https://twitter.com/MsEntropy/status/1420388537279520772

So, as you can see from the above, “if you were a competitive candidate, you’d have a job” is insulting advice and — demonstrably false.

That’s my clearly distinguished (I hate anything near self-praise, but those are facts) career record.

And I rely on a Patreon to survive.

Other unemployed academics, remember:

1) it’s not you
2) you’re not alone in this

#AcademicTwitter

https://twitter.com/MsEntropy/status/1420390730904735746

Now to answer “well then just quit academia and do something else”:

I do what I do (combating political violence - not to mention teaching because it’s critically needed.

If I weren’t extremely good at the important work I do, the UN, State Dept, BBC, etc., wouldn’t call me.

When @chronicle asks “what to do” for female academic because of the pandemic — they need to include those unemployed because of it, in an already broken system.

A New Deal job program should be considered.

Don’t just hire us. Bring back eliminated jobs. And Create more.

https://twitter.com/MsEntropy/status/1420373873065746442

The reality of COVID and higher education means that through (less than) zero fault of my own:

I now need Internet donations to pay for medication that keeps me alive.

This system is broken — so what will you do to fix it?

#AcademicTwitter

The US Department of Education invested nearly $250,000 of tax payer money in my academic career when they selected me as a Javits Fellow.

So I hope @usedgov reads this thread, and considers how much other tax-payer money will be wasted without urgent higher ed reform.

/End

PS: that $1/4 million @usedgov invested in me (alone, in just one fellowship I’ve received) is YOUR wasted taxpayer money.

My situation isn’t unique; your financial loss doesn’t impact just me or you, or anyone else in this situation, but:

Our children’s future education.

My #WednesdayMotivation comes from a belief that people care about education, wasted tax dollars, and the collective future of our country.

If those people are you, please consider reading and sharing this thread about COVID & higher ed.

FB link:

facebook.com/2615502/posts/…

All of that aside, students from underrepresented and marginalized groups suffer the loss of supportive faculty doubly — beyond the specific educational training they receive.

If you don’t believe me, you can ask my former students. @hayleyarlin and @chrissytheehoe are just 2.

https://twitter.com/msentropy/status/1420383151658917895

I’m devastated by higher education’s broken (especially post-pandemic) system for all students.

But when those obstacles impact the best and the brightest of my own former students, I feel blinding outrage.

Like all students, she DESERVES better. Her future demands reforms.

https://twitter.com/chrissytheehoe/status/1420417656520327168

You deserve better than me, Mel. You deserve a system willing to reform for all students, because you all deserve nothing less.

My unemployment is just a symptom a much bigger problem from which faculty and students all suffer.

#AcademicTwitter

https://twitter.com/melmakaiii/status/1420418570085863432

My former students are so incredible and sweet with these comments that they’re focusing on me and my unemployment.

BUT:

I’m just an example, one symptom of a much, much bigger problem that’s causing harm to faculty and more importantly — ALL students.

#AcademicTwitter

https://twitter.com/jakedanzer/status/1420418934386216962

I’ll add other student responses later if I see them (off to cry now), BUT:

It’s not about me: it’s about every student like Leila who I don’t know.

They deserve the best education possible, and your tax money should support go to higher ed reform, not waste.

#AcademicTwitter

https://twitter.com/leila_ismaio/status/1420424260535922689

To clear up any confusion, a related thread.

And now: goodbye!

https://twitter.com/msentropy/status/1420430321116278788