#EveryLittleActionCounts Week 43: Recognize Invisible Contributions
Academia often overlooks the behind-the-scenes work and invisible emotional labour that sustains its institutions, disproportionately carried out by women and marginalized groups.
These invisible efforts, such as mentoring, organizing, and emotional support, are crucial but rarely acknowledged. Recognizing and valuing these efforts is essential for creating an equitable and supportive academic environment.
“We situate ourselves in ourselves and in the things, in ourselves and in the other, and at the point where, by a sort of chiasm, we become the others and we become the world.” Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Academics can support the recognition of invisible work by:
Publicly acknowledging colleagues
Highlighting colleagues’ invisible efforts such as organizing events or mentoring students, during meetings and announcements.
Advocating for formal recognition of emotional labour
Become a driving force that supports the recognition of emotional labour and service contributions in performance reviews and promotion criteria.
Ensuring equitable distribution of tasks
Volunteer for roles often assigned to marginalized colleagues and encourage others to do the same.
We would be very happy to hear about your strategies for recognizing invisible contributions in academia.
Anne-Wil Harzing & Christa Sathish