Privileges
Posted on October 1, 2020
by Noon van der Silk
Inspired by this recent paper - Towards decolonising computational sciences - I thought it might be a nice idea to write down a list of privileges that I can identify I have. I’ll probably update this list as I think of them.
My list:
- White, Male, Cisgendered: I don’t often feel out of place.
- Healthy: Nothing has prevented me from finding work.
- Able-bodied: Getting around is easy.
- Somewhat extroverted: Able to engage and network somewhat easily when I want to.
- No dependants: Freedom to move around and spend time as I wish.
- Financial stability from a young age: Able to take (moderate) risks.
- Supportive parent: I know I’ll have a place to go.
- Supportive partner: Financial/emotional support to experiment.
- Live close to the city: Access to events, convenience.
- Good mental health: I’m able to focus when I want; am most of the time moderately calm.
- Language: I speak English natively.
- Exposed to tech from a young age: I had a computer in the house since I was young, and was able to learn programming on my own as a result.
- Well-educated: I went to a private school, and was eventually able to attend good universities and get access to experts and knowledge in this way.
These things have helped me get jobs in the past. Some of them are traits that you can improve, as well as baseline things thare are out of my control to some degree (i.e. mental health; certainly it can be improved, but certainly it’s not all my doing.)
I also found this: Privilege Checklist from this Social Justice Training program, that is a very good starting point for building a comprehensive list. This feels like a great exercise for teams to get together and think about.
What’s your list?