Artwork by Alesya Zhitkevich (Minsk)
Despite celebrating my tenth year
of feminism, the timeless nature of the feminist maxim coined by Carol Hanisch “the
personal is political” continues to resonate with me. For some time, I have
been cognitively wrestling with questions of my own class privilege as a
graduate student. Once I complete my education and earn a PhD, my title will be
an emblem of my class status. This will come with social capital, job security,
and some degree of respect when interacting with others. I will be trusted to
make decisions for the good of others and will be trained in critical thinking
beyond what the average person will have gained through education. Currently, my
program can cover the cost of most of my tuition fees (I cover about $4200/year
in student fees), and I am secure in my access to paid assistantships. I have a
good relationship with my advisor, receive faculty support in my department,
and have an incredible cohort that anchors me. Not only is having access to
this level of education a privilege, but there are many beneficial aspects of
my department that not all graduate students have.
Amidst this privilege, I recognize aspects of
higher education that exploit what I have to offer. Currently, I’m working as
an unpaid and unlicensed clinician with their master’s degree. I provide
valuable and life saving healthcare in exchange for experience, despite the
marketplace value of therapy services. Further, I have independently taught
three courses as an undergraduate instructor. I know someone with my same level
of education hired as a contracted or adjunct instructor would make more than I
do. I don’t have access to healthcare through my job, even though I need health
care coverage to ensure I receive the medical treatment I need in order to be a
contributing member of society. Luckily, I am eligible to purchase a plan
through the marketplace at a reduced rate that has adequate coverage for what I
need. Furthermore, the economic conditions I will enter as a professional are
starkly less secure and profitable than those who entered this profession in
the previous generation when factoring inflation that is not matched with
increased wages and student debt.
• I am a White, straight passing, cis-woman who is physically able bodied. I’m so safe in my body living in this world due to all the associated privilege, so I have nothing to complain about.
• Talking about aspects that are inequitable makes me an agitator of sorts, and the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
• Centuries of women have been excluded from positions of power like the one I have. Why can’t I just be grateful for what I have?
Yet, as a
counselor I know silencing that which we feel shame towards is toxic. As Bayard
Rustin (gay, African-American Quaker and civil rights activist) asserted, there
is value in “speak(ing) truth to power”. Further, I know I’m one graduate
student of many who are coming to terms with what it means to be receiving higher
education. Recently, I attended the National Multicultural Conference and
Summit. During the conference, I made an effort to engage in genuine
conversations with other graduate students in applied psychology doctoral
programs. The working and learning conditions of my fellow trainees at programs
across the US are varied. Some students have graduate student unions, so they
have access to healthcare. Others do not meet state requirements for Medicare,
since they do not work enough paid hours to be eligible, even though their
yearly income is in the eligible range. Some are dealing with the
reverberations of accusations of interpersonal harassment and violence spanning
years “allegedly” (eye roll) perpetrated by someone from their department. All
of this does not even consider the impact of intersecting identities on the
graduate student experience.
As the environmental conditions of our nation and world
erode,
as the continued forces of US imperialism destroy
communities globally,
as the United States façade of a democracy continues to be
dismantled,
as our physical safety in public settings becomes less
secure,
as our continued commitment to capitalism and “stuff”
supports the exploitation of human and natural resources,
it is still
worthwhile to examine the cost associated with the privilege of higher
education.
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