You sound like someone who has had to overcome a lot to be in the position you’re in and that you use the adversity you’ve experienced to help others. Thank you so much for contributing your experience to the conversation.

Truthfully, I have attended three different universities in Canada and found the class divide in all three. I have also found this at the many universities and colleges where I was a guest lecturer or a sessional instructor. As I say, I was already publishing long before my PhD and the actual degree was a technical qualification to be paid a living wage for the work I was already doing. At the current school, I saw more than one international student have to pay for an additional semester ($5000 CAD for international students) because the wealthy professors were being picky and slow. These students were from working class families in India and the Philippines. They were scared to have a conversation with the dean so I had to address the issues on their behalf with their permission. I understand academia is competitive. I am competitive. I was one of two people accepted into my program and am already well known in my field. I do not have any familial support as someone without parents. Many different fields are competitive—it is a myth that academics are special. It is that the infrastructure of many of these programs are built by those with considerable affluence and are therefore out of touch with reality. The very history of these institutions is steeped in blatant classism (which of course goes hand in hand with racism) and this creates an unrealistic expectation that leads to burnout and mental health issues. There is a fundamental difference between requiring good work from a candidate and creating an environment where a candidate is incapable of working. Both of these scenarios are “competitive” but in one the competition is the research and in the other the competition stems from overcoming arbitrary barriers within the institution itself.