Friday evening thought: I just want to get this off my chest for once (and also see what others think of that). This is the season where institutions are looking for faculty, PIs for postdocs and students, and posting adds to share and retweet 1/n

and most likely, despite my recent increase in followers, you won't see me retweet most of these ads * (sorry typo in prv twt). Why? It weights on my conscience, truly. But knowing that I'm Black, and followed by other Black scientists 2/n

I wouldn't advertise positions in institutions that I know are toxic to Black people and other marginalized groups. I asked myself, do they think I have no memory, or that we are that desperate, we would try to work in ... 3/n

such terrible environments? For instance, would I share postings from Google, knowing how they treated @timnitGebru ? NO. For institutions in Earth Sciences and Oceanography, if I didn't have a positive experience personally, then ... 4/n

I won't share the ad. The issue then becomes that the most "prestigious" unis also tend to be quite toxic and treat Black scholars and students especially bad. So while some opportunities may look stellar on paper ... 5/n

How much is one's mental health worth, when it means prestige and a great CV, at "prestigious" places? How much suffering should be weighted in against the gamble of maybe end up in a bad group, a bad uni, for many years? 6/n

This thought has been on my mind for some time, but the latest ad of Caltech for faculty triggered me to post now. Am I not supposed to remember what happened following the Black Townhall last June? 7/n

What? 0.9% of Black students in their grad school?? A quiet and stubborn refusal to rename buildings named after known eugenists? Less than 5 Black professors total across the entire faculty (closer to 3, if I'm correct)?? 8/n

I am a postdoc. Admittedly not ready yet to go look for faculty jobs. But would I ever consider a faculty job there ? NEVER. There's a limit to self-inflicted suffering. Would I recommend this? NO. There was a mention of "diversity" in ... 9/n

the posting, yes. But I know how it is, I've been on Caltech grounds, and that's not a place a Black scholar would necessarily feel welcomed. Standford? Did I not read the posts from Black faculty there, struggling? This year? 10/n

WHOI? I'm sorry, I read the report on the state of the institution re racism. I read all 15pp, if I remember correctly, and had to tell my mom "this is not the place, I can't work there". Granted, I had a great time as an intern, 11 years ago. 11/n

But I was there for 4mo only. All these talks abt diversity, but no one is asking whether these envrnmts are conducive to have more diversity in the 1st place. Please consider this when sharing job postings in the future.
Thanks ! 12/12