I was interviewed on Monday for an Inside Higher Ed piece about how the pandemic had affected women faculty. The resulting article distorted what I said so I requested that my contribution be with withdrawn. The author graciously did so. (thread)

I think it was a case of crossed wires, not ill intent, and because my bit was so promptly withdrawn, I decided not to say anything publicly. However, that article has now been reprinted elsewhere, with my bit in it, so I want to say something now, as a matter of public record.

There were a few problems with how I was represented. The most mundane but surprising: the quotations attributed to me don’t represent what I actually said. For example, one of the quotations got the gist right but I never said those exact words in that order.

Me: “my understanding of quotation marks is that it is a word-for-word representation of what someone said. You’ve captured the essence of what I said but I did not say those words in that order. It’s not a big deal but it points to the problem of accuracy I’m trying to address.”

(That’s what I wrote to the author.)

Another issue: during the interview, I told the author that my husband does *all* of the shopping, 95% of the cooking, and most of the housework, while I work and do most of the kid-wrangling. My point was that I have a ton of help at home and I’m still struggling.

In the article, it became: “Derkatch’s husband has a flexible schedule and does a lot of the household labor, but Derkatch is still doing most of the hour-to-hour parenting.” The difference isn’t huge but it distorts: “a lot of” household labor and “nearly all” are not the same.

The biggest issue was that the article says I’m “definitely doing more affective labor than before — and perhaps more than her colleagues.” The first part is 100% true. The truth of the second part depends on how you define “colleagues.”

To me, this reads as immediate colleagues—my own department and faculty. I might be wrong. But our conversation was much more expansive than this—I was talking about sectorwide norms re: affective labour and was very clear that my own dept is wonderfully collegial and functional.

I did say many students have told me that they appreciated me being flexible and caring, and that not all their professors were doing the same. I also talked about how I’m consumed with anxiety about my students’ welfare, a feeling I’m not sure all faculty share.

But I never made such a stark claim. Again, I don’t think there was any ill intent. Timing is likely a factor: we got off the phone just before 6 pm on Monday and the article appeared Tuesday morning.

Maybe I’m just naïve about talking to the media because the point I wanted to make was subtle and perhaps subtly doesn’t translate well in journalism? So let me tell you what my point was.

As I said in our conversation, I’m a tenured professor at a university with strong union protections and good pay, I live in a house with decent space, I have a partner who does the lion’s share at home, and I’m *still* struggling to work during this pandemic.

If it’s this hard for me, with all those privileges, to get through the bare minimum of my job, then how hard must it be for early career faculty, contract faculty, single parents, those with other family care responsibilities, and others?

Universities are providing tons of support to students – counseling, financial assistance, extensions and other accommodations, etc. Faculty are expected to carry on as usual. We were given time and (too) much advice for transitioning online but, beyond that, we’re on our own.

I’m talking about sectorwide trends, not specifically at my university. How do you give an online lecture with a toddler on your lap? How do you grade essays while cajoling a tween to do homework? How do you focus on research while worrying about your parents, friends, family?

How do you focus when there’s a pandemic unfolding around you, when going to the grocery store feels like suiting up for battle (not that I would know, since my husband goes!), when it feels like your world is closing in?

Faculty are told to be flexible with students but some faculty need flexibility too. My kid and I both had suspected COVID in March. I let my chair know, and he was very kind, but I still felt the pressure to be there for my students, to keep teaching, and finish the semester.

(Interestingly, I mentioned that last bit, about having COVID, to the interviewer, who didn’t pick up on it at all.)

Anyway, that is a muddled, pre-breakfast summary of what I had hoped to convey. Instead, I think what I said was shoehorned into a specific, conflict-oriented narrative. I’m grateful the author honoured my request to cut my bit and am still glad she’s covering this issue.