Student and Postdoctoral Affairs Committee Workshop: Low on the Totem Pole – Power Structures and Power Struggles in Scientific Careers

In theory, scientific inquiry has a “flat” power structure, where anyone is able to contribute to knowledge building. In practice, scientific inquiry often takes place at institutions with deeply ingrained power structures. Students and trainees may not fully appreciate that such power structures exist, and are typically at the bottom of them to boot. In this lunchtime session sponsored by the SICB Student and Postdoctoral Affairs Committee (SPDAC), we will discuss the potential problems that can arise from power struggles (that students and trainees might not even be involved in directly) and how to navigate systems of power that are often in place in research institutions.

January 5, 2017, 12:00-1:30pm (brownbag), Room 214

In theory, scientific inquiry has a “flat” power structure, where anyone is able to contribute to knowledge building. In practice, scientific inquiry often takes place at institutions with deeply ingrained power structures. Students and trainees may not fully appreciate that such power structures exist, and are typically at the bottom of them to boot. In this lunchtime session sponsored by the SICB Student and Postdoctoral Affairs Committee (SPDAC), we will discuss the potential problems that can arise from power struggles (that students and trainees might not even be involved in directly) and how to navigate systems of power that are often in place in research institutions.