protected class...what should I do

[polly_mer]

moved to 'asides.'

The asides are one way that people are jerks, but don't have to own it explicitly.

While it is possible to disagree respectfully, that's a lot easier when people's lives or at least views of themselves aren't on the line. 

Why would someone want to be respectful when it's pretty clear that what is desired is for people with certain views to just shut up or at least go away?  Again, those calls for civility really mean "make it easier on me to not have to be uncomfortable with your reality".

My "favorite" example is the people who keep insisting that people like me don't have a college education or at least it's not worth even considering changing to have even more people have that type of college education, but then somehow I'm supposed to act as though it's a tragedy that people with liberal arts degrees can't get the jobs they want paying exactly what they want.  That's so personally insulting I have literally seen red at certain times, even without an explicitly mean word like "poopy head" or "bozo".

But, sure, let's all be so mindful of other people's feelings that all we can discuss is the weather or something trivial like cake versus pie instead of something that truly matters and is important enough to have raised voices.

[Caracal]

My "favorite" example is the people who keep insisting that people like me don't have a college education or at least it's not worth even considering changing to have even more people have that type of college education, but then somehow I'm supposed to act as though it's a tragedy that people with liberal arts degrees can't get the jobs they want paying exactly what they want.  That's so personally insulting I have literally seen red at certain times, even without an explicitly mean word like "poopy head" or "bozo".

Without going back and looking at every single things written about the subject on here, I really don't think anyone ever said there was something wrong with your college education. You demeaned the value of a broad based education in a typically over the top style and some of us responded that a lot would be lost if schools simply abandoned the idea that a liberal arts education had value. I can't speak for anyone else, but I certainly wasn't implying that your education was substandard.

I do remember the conversation about liberal arts degrees. Nobody was suggesting that liberal arts majors should get some certain kind of job or paycheck. You were suggesting that liberal arts majors led to dire outcomes. Some of us pointed out that on average liberal arts majors did fine, and that there probably weren't tons of English majors who had the aptitude or desire to be engineers. I'm not sure I really understand how any of that was personally insulting to you, but you often seem to take things personally that are just strongly felt disagreements. You then respond with actual personal insults and ascribe differences of opinion to impure motives or personal dysfunction.

[risenanew]

Fellow Muslim woman (of the born-into-it brand) speaking here.

What you can do is try to find whether your particular college has some sort of diversity initiative in place that may make you less likely to lose your job than your fellow colleagues if you are in a protected class. For instance, I'm at a public community college with a very strong faculty union set within an enormous university system in a highly liberal state. We actually have it written in our retrenchment policy that if staff and/or instructors have to be fired due to financial difficulties experienced by the institution, our college (and all of its sister colleges) must actually analyze what the firings will do to its level of diversity (i.e, will firings decrease the % of staff and/or instructors who fall in protected classes: female, ethnic minority, disabled, etc.)

So theoretically, I (as a Muslim minority woman) have a slightly higher chance of holding onto my full-time tenure track position than, say, a white male professor in my same position who could also lose his job due to budget cuts. And even then, that's really not enough to save me if we lose so much funding that we both have to go. (Although if it's any consolation, the department has to get rid of its adjuncts and lecturers before it gets to me).

I can't think of a more vivid illustration of liberals caring about pet causes (tenure dynasty being one, 'diversity' being another) without caring about people.

Well, that's a hell of an over-reading of my text.

As a person who spent over 10 years as an adjunct and lecturer before I found my place as an Assistant Professor, I'm very sympathetic to adjunct's rights and hope that no adjunct has to end up losing his or her job in my public university system due to budget cuts. However, the retrenchment policy states that the order of cuts, should they be made, goes adjunct --> lecturer without permanent contracts --> tenure-track people without tenure --> lectures with permanent contracts --> tenured professors in order of seniority.

So people in my position are basically in the middle-of-the-firing-squad so far as my university system are concerned. It's difficult for those who have more precarious jobs than my own and I can acknowledge that while also being grateful that I have some job security myself. (Which, again, is nice to have given that my parents are unemployed due to the total lockdown in my state and I have to now support them). Even then, though, my job is hardly "safe" if the budget cuts get severe enough for my specific department.

How that somehow makes me some sort of neoliberal avatar of gloating at adjuncts' suffering quite escapes me. But don't worry -- now that I know I'm cast in the role, I'll be sure to laugh the next time I hear of one of them being fired in my place.

But, seriously, before you go, I think we should all play a game based on your original premise and Risenanew's gauche declaration that she has greater job security than an equally well-performing white man.  It will be fun.  Here goes.

So... I shouldn't try to answer a question from someone because it's "gauche" to mention that my school actually has policies in place to try and retain diversity among its staff and faculty?

Because heaven forbid a minority-serving institution with a student body that is over 75% African American, Latino, and Asian try and retain professors and staff members who resemble the study body?

I think it's ridiculous that I'm supposed to be embarrassed about being in an institution that actively tries to promote and retain diversity among its staff... or that I should be silent about the fact that adjuncts are unfortunately the first to let go during times of crisis in higher education. Do you want me to just pretend these procedures don't happen in my institution so I don't inadvertently offend somebody?

I'm not the one who made these institutional rules; I just survive by them as best as I can and communicate them to others who might actually find them useful.