32 min
My life with an accent This Academic's Life
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- Education
As a non-native speaker of English, Dr Susanna Scarparo was told that she would never get a job in an English department, even though she has a PhD in comparative literature.
“I was told fairly early on that if I wanted to have a career in academia, it wouldn't be in an English department,” she says.
In this episode, we explore what it's like to live and work in a second language. Susanna shares her experiences and observations of bias against people with an accent, and how as an Italian woman, she's been a beneficiary of the “hierarchy of disadvantage”. She also talks about a fellow academic who championed her and believed in her abilities, and how her experiences have made her a champion for her colleagues and the students she supports.
As a non-native speaker of English, Dr Susanna Scarparo was told that she would never get a job in an English department, even though she has a PhD in comparative literature.
“I was told fairly early on that if I wanted to have a career in academia, it wouldn't be in an English department,” she says.
In this episode, we explore what it's like to live and work in a second language. Susanna shares her experiences and observations of bias against people with an accent, and how as an Italian woman, she's been a beneficiary of the “hierarchy of disadvantage”. She also talks about a fellow academic who championed her and believed in her abilities, and how her experiences have made her a champion for her colleagues and the students she supports.
32 min