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I am extremely done with this myth that you have to be able to withstand aggressive and argumentative questioning in order to be a good/worthy scientist. It is the year 2021!!! We deserve supportive, empathetic, and wholesome scientific spaces!!!
Like normally I really enjoy grad student journal club, but the prof running it this quarter is the kind of person who gets mad when people don't have random astrophysical constants memorized, so now I'm up at 2am bc I'm anxious about presenting tomorrow!!!! This is bullshit!!!
I'm all for healthy debate, but I know I'm personally more willing to ask questions and have more meaningful discussions when I feel supported. What is the point of grilling people and making them feel stupid for not knowing things? What does it accomplish?
For folks reading this thread and thinking, "hm, yeah, why IS aggressive/argumentative questioning such a mainstay in science? what could we do instead?" here are some readings you might be interested in:
(1) @lauren_marietta's Astro2020 white paper, which encapsulates several of the cultural norms in science (especially physics/astro) and how they're tied to a white male colonial hegemony: https://assets.pubpub.org/ba7gnrz3/51598545408055.pdf
(2) Patricia Hill Collins' work describes the "Eurocentric masculinist knowledge validation process" and how a Black feminist epistemology could be different: dialogue rather than adversarial debate! centering emotions/empathy! http://www.woldww.net/classes/Principles_of_Inquiry/Collins-AfrocFemEpistemology+.htm
(thanks to @leahmfulmer for reminding me of Collins' work!) https://twitter.com/leahmfulmer/status/1352634469430288384
(3) Carlone & Johnson (2007) suggest that cultural norms in STEM culture (including stereotypically masculine communication behaviors) can disrupt the development of "science identities" for women of color: https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/H_Carlone_Understanding_2007.pdf
(and if you're interested in how women of color can be supported in developing their science identities, I strongly recommend @VanguardSTEM's new paper! https://twitter.com/VanguardSTEM/status/1352383015096348682)
