Dear Yaz,

I think this is a very pertinent question in the context of today’s academia.

Based on my personal experience, I would say that biases of different sorts (in my case, mainly race/ethnicity and gender as a Mexican female academic living and working in Australia) do play a role in the way academic peers perceive the relevance of your work or the potency of your intellectual argument.

That said, I would also say these discriminatory biases and racist attitudes are also contingent on the theme/conference organization/host institution/country as different academic centers possess different academic cultures which affect the ways in which scholars interact among themselves. This also impacts the approach towards diversity of different sorts, beyond the merely discursive level.

On a different note, ideological biases are also a very recurrent and sometimes even more powerful.

I hope this sheds light on biases at academic conferences.

Kind regards,

Dear Yaz,

I think this is a very pertinent question in the context of today’s academia.

Based on my personal experience, I would say that biases of different sorts (in my case, mainly race/ethnicity and gender as a Mexican female academic living and working in Australia) do play a role in the way academic peers perceive the relevance of your work or the potency of your intellectual argument.

That said, I would also say these discriminatory biases and racist attitudes are also contingent on the theme/conference organization/host institution/country as different academic centers possess different academic cultures which affect the ways in which scholars interact among themselves. This also impacts the approach towards diversity of different sorts, beyond the merely discursive level.

On a different note, ideological biases are also a very recurrent and sometimes even more powerful.

I hope this sheds light on biases at academic conferences.

Kind regards,

Yes, Yaz. There is bias in every social setting. Blind peer review helps mitigate these factors somewhat, but it does not eliminate them. The best reaction, from my perspective, is to simply do the best work that you can do. Quality work will eventually earn respect from your professional colleagues even if you do not have the connections to move you into the inner circle.

The more conference you attend, the more examples of bias that will become apparent. I have seen junior academics being pulled along on the coattails of disciplinary stars because they went to the "right" school or because of a minority status connection. I have seen senior academics get accepted to present because they found a way to violate blind peer review in their proposals. And the most common form of bias is the dismissive reaction one faces when others note your institutional affiliation.

None of this matters in the long run. Quality work will earn its own reward, although at a potentially slower pace. I would rather work in a small program with colleagues I respect (and who respect me). I would be doing the same work regardless, but here I can enjoy my life as well as my work. And I have noticed that even those that benefit from bias are eventually evaluated on the quality of their work.

Academe is imperfectly meritocratic, but quality work will help you earn the reputation you deserve.

Bias, wherever it is found, is a problem for scientists. Bias can be particularly complex in a research environment. Research environments should be (1) bias-free and (2) and the research podium considered an opportunity for young investigators should feel proud to present, not in any way quashed or made to feel ill-at-ease by the experience.

Dennis

Dennis Mazur

This largely depends on the type of conference, the thematic areas espoused and it's venue. Generally, oral presentations slots as I have realized are awarded to professors and Drs with a wide repertoire of experience and not necessarily the quality of papers. I have seen this bias in many academic conferences where excellent papers of Mphil and PhD students are offered poster presentation slots though they should have been given the opportunity to showcase their research as amateur researchers so that the experienced professors and researchers could assist them.

Yes, I always notice "academic" and "race" discrimination even at local conferences I have attended. However, the discrimination at the beginning of the conference tends to reduce as the program proceed because everyone now discover what individual is made of. You can now see new alignment and realignment. This is expected because higher qualification commands respect but 'good brain' sustain the respect in our society.