To all those that are below
As a graduate student, there are many conflicts that we face and this story discusses some of the frustration that is experienced in a highly stratified academic setting.
I want to be acknowledged
for My work,
My time,
My energy
spent into ensuring
that your data is Good
I want to feel seen,
and heard
for the effort
I put into the research
I love so dear
I want to feel supported and
empowered by the women around me,
instead of being chastised,
and demeaned by perceptions
that they are above and
I am below,
because I am a student
I am lower class
when We all
are learning from each other,
and working together
for the goal of good science
but it’s rigged against us
This university system,
in its bones, and
what they preach
claims we aren’t alone
but we all know
Their only interest is their own
Much like corporations
emphasizing quantity
rather than quality
pushing research
to be selfish and biased
because we cannot all be equals
when we have the same goals
There has to be a power dynamic
to make us less bold
an authority figure
to maintain control
Why should we question
A system that’s build for us
When it implicitly wants
To exploit our trust
In false senses of security
that we are safe
from intellectual robbery
We are placated,
Our grievances unfiled,
Research ethics ignored,
’Cause tenure makes them stay here,
and why burn bridges
when you’ll work together til you’re old
on the backs of graduate students
that will only graduate knowing
that it is rigged against us
that our status as students
is temporary,
so, we are not protected
as they like to claim
in all the publicity
they use to stake their claim
on your mind and your time,
and all you do with their insignia
on your lab coat and your slides,
No, we are not safe
from being defamed
It’s their word against ours
and they get to stay forever
So why should their colleagues complain
when their student will graduate anyway
Someday, they say
But here we all still are
Fighting to finish
in spite of it all,
and United we stand,
against the system
that claims it’s our friend,
because why shouldn’t we fight
to have power in our intellectual right
why shouldn’t we stand up
for our part in developing
your research plan or
included as a co-author
in a publication in which we executed
your data management plan
So countless hours of lab work
Go unrecognized, because as graduate students,
a university paycheck disqualifies us from co-authorship
and don’t worry, they’ll say
you’ll have plenty of publications when you finish next May
and you’ll be just fine, although,
we know inside that the job market calls for double
what we gave you credit for,
you have to reap what you sow, and
I would rather take credit
than have to acknowledge the work
of someone below,
that did what I didn’t want to on my own
And why should I
when the system tells me I have no obligation to make it known
that I would rather rely on my students,
and in spite of promises, I always know,
that attribution can be what I want it to be,
and the system is rigged against them
Just as it was rigged against me
and they’re going to have to learn
This is how it’s got to be,
because it’s never about producing good research
or making friends in this place
It’s only about satisfying my superiors,
and showing that I am worth keeping safe,
So who cares if they go unacknowledged,
or that they did the research,
it was my idea, my brain all along,
they have plenty of years to get to where I am,
and I don’t care to try to tell them or make them understand,
because the institution is on my side
No matter how much they fight,
I know it’s always my word
Before theirs at the end of the night
and I can continue as I like
No matter how many drop out
Or finish in a fit of fright,
I will always know that I’m right.
I will never get more than a slap on the wrist
from the institution that I defend
Still, I wonder why,
when I go home, I am alone in the end
Still, I don’t regret
that I pursued this career instead,
I am recognized and they never have to know
It was built on all those that lie below.
