I've been thinking a lot about this piece since I read it earlier in the summer. I read it for a nonprofit board I'm on (a local feminist healthcare provider), but it's so, so applicable to academia. https://tzedeksocialjusticefund.org/white-women-doing-white-supremacy-in-nonprofit-culture/

One of the biggest insights for me was "Confusing Informality with Equity." I see this play out so often in labs (for white men, too). There are a lot of ways this plays out, but it boils down to: pretending a power structure doesn't exist doesn't remove it.

One thing you learn on a board is that a conflict of interest isn't inherently bad: it just needs to be disclosed. Similarly, in a lab setting, a power dynamic isn't inherently bad: how you communicate it, acknowledge it, and work around it is what can make it harmful.

PIs make lots of decisions that affect students' careers, livelihoods, and safety. We make funding and admittance decisions. We assign grades. We write letters of recommendation. We're also responsible for grant money, safety, and the climate and culture of our groups.

We can talk about whether this is the best way to train students, or identify all the ways that limited resources, or structural problems contribute to inequities. Higher ed has plenty of problems that are baked in. I'm focusing on how we handle those power dynamics, though.

We don't do anyone favors if we pretend we don't have power. I'm not saying the solution is to lean into power structures or formality! It's good to create a supportive environment, to celebrate together, etc. But boundaries, clear expectations, and transparency are necessary.

As I've said before, if you're not thinking about power dynamics in your interactions with others, you're almost certainly causing harm. Mistaking informality for equality means you're aware of those dynamics, but you're obfuscating, rather than dismantling them. That's a trap.