Research careers – the danger of self-editing

I didn’t know I did this, but recently I’ve become aware that I tend to change things about myself that I don’t think are valued.

It seems to happen particularly when I am in a new environment or situation, just to make sure I ‘fit in’. For example, I am very conscious about my accent – I am Dutch, but I always strive to sound as English as I can. Its not that people find it hard to understand me – but, in my mind, I feel that it sounds more credible and therefore, people will take me more seriously.

Maybe that sounds strange, but I was glad to hear from an expert recently that I don’t appear to be the only one. During our annual Women of Influence meeting, allyship expert, Suzy Levy, explained that this is a phenomenon called ‘editing’. Apparently, we all do it, but some more than others. Marginalised groups, for example, are more likely to self-edit than others to assimilate to the norm… or what is perceived as the norm.

Easier said than done…

Levy suggests that people edit when they don’t feel safe to be themselves. This made me wonder what this means for researchers working in academia where there is a significant lack of diverse voices.

It’s easy to say that everyone should be able to be themselves, but for a lot of people, that is easier said than done, especially if the norm is ‘white’, ‘able-bodied’ and ‘middle-class’. The following quote shared by a panel member during the discussion on allyship at our Women of Influence meeting illustrates particularly well how ethnic minority groups might feel on a daily basis: ‘A white workplace is like an itchy sweater – only once I’m home, I feel safe, and I can take it off’.

This illustrates the many facets of why diversity in the workplace is important, and how it can be overlooked as we all too easily assume that people experience things in the same way as we do. It also means that some people might spend a lot of energy on ‘fitting in’, energy that could be spent on driving scientific progress.