How to Navigate Academic Arrogance Without Burning Bridges

If you've ever been talked down to, punished, etc., in academia—not because you were wrong, but because you didn't know your place—then this video is for you. In this video, I'll show you how academic arrogance actually works, why it damages careers, not just feelings, and how to protect your future without burning bridges or derailing your path. I'm Dr. Steve Tippins, Ph.D. And I've spent over 35 years in academia serving in roles from assistant through professor, department chair, as well as on many committees such as hiring committees. In addition, I've coached hundreds of PhDs to reach fulfilling and stable careers, and those careers are both inside and outside of academia. I've seen how culture quietly influences who gets to stay in and who gets pushed out. Let's break this down into 3 parts. First, what actually is academic arrogance, how it harms careers in real ways, and what you can do strategically to protect yourself and to move forward. So, I'm going to begin with early in your career. If you're beginning your career and trying to navigate the power dynamics of academia, join our free Scholar Career Network for help with exactly these types of things. It's where PhDs get real guidance on how to survive and thrive inside academia and beyond. Just click the link below. So what is academic arrogance? Arrogance does not equal confidence or expertise. It's basically the belief that status equals superiority. This can be reinforced through things like isolation, closed office doors, —and pretty rigid hierarchies. We start with graduate students on the bottom, and then adjuncts, then instructors, then assistant professors, associate professors, and at the top are professors, which some people call full professors, but technically there's no rank of full professor. It's just professor. In addition, tenure and promotion guidelines seem to quietly reward dominance and not mentorship. This isn't really about bad personalities. It's about incentives. So how does academic arrogance impact careers and potentially ruin careers? Many times in meetings, graduate students are silenced, not even allowed to speak up. They can be punished for asking the wrong questions or asking the questions that nobody else wants to ask but are pretty obvious. For example, we might have a professor who's presenting something in a departmental meeting that is not up to date, hasn't considered the most recent research, but they're allowed to continue doing it and the faculty just let it happen. But a graduate student who's new at this might say, "Wait, you haven't taken into consideration the work of..." and talk about stuff that's published in the last 4 or 5 years or maybe even more. and that can tend to embarrass that faculty member without you even knowing you were doing it. You were just bringing in what you thought was current research. Doctoral students can also be used as proxies for faculty conflicts. When I was in my doctoral program, I was in a department that I shouldn't have been in, so I switched over to another department. Well, one faculty member got— was irate that I would switch. And because he thought I was taking a route that I shouldn't take, or basically because it reduced the numbers count for that department. And he stopped another doctoral student, not me, another doctoral student in the hall, and yelled at him about the switch that he made. So he had no idea who I was, but he was just upset because somebody left their area. Junior faculty can get frozen out of collaborations, undermined in tenure reviews, and potentially publicly humiliated at conferences. Someone once told me, and I think this is pretty good advice, when you start at a university, do not make friends with anybody for the first year. Now, that can be a little limiting, but basically what they're saying is if you start making friends with certain faculty members before you know if there are any factions if there are any battles within the department, you can get branded as being on one side without even knowing it, and maybe not even willingly on that side. So make sure you understand the lay of the land, who likes whom, who doesn't like someone, what people are powerful before you fully dive in to be involved. The long-term effects of this, these forms of arrogance can include burnout, imposter syndrome, and ultimately many people decide academia is not for me because of this. This is how talented people just seem to disappear and what's written up as attrition. So, so here's some examples of how academic arrogance is used as a power strategy. So, posturing at conferences. I remember the first academic conference I went to, within about 15 minutes of being in a session, I thought, oh my God, what have I gotten into? Because somebody had stood up and said, you know, you have not cited my work on this important area. And they were taking this person down for not citing their own, their work. And it seemed like, oh gosh, this seems kind of petty. So just be aware that things like that can happen. That kind of goes along with what some call citation politics. You know, you gotta cite the right people and maybe you can cite me more because then I get more I get more bang for the buck because I'm cited more often. There can be methodological turf wars. You didn't use the right methodology. You should have used— because I'm familiar with it, basically. I once served on a dissertation committee where I was the chair, and a member of the committee was not willing to let the document move forward because the methodology was wrong. Well, it turns out the person was not familiar with the new methodology. So we had to spend a lot of time educating that person in order for them to let the proposal move forward. And ultimately, you know, people will say, "We need more rigor," and it can also look a lot like bullying. Arrogance in and of itself has nothing to do with scholarship. It's a form of control. So you're in your career. What do you do if you start experiencing academic arrogance? Well, the first thing is to keep really good written records. Save every email. Interactions, write them down from department meetings, things like that. What you don't want to do is be in a department meeting and say something like, "Oh yeah, you want to step outside and talk about that?" That's not one of the smarter things you can do as an academic. You want to separate behavior from your worth. Don't let them get to you. Having good strong records protects you moving forward, especially if there's any sort of escalation. Stop confusing authority with accuracy. And you see this in students too, who seem to tell all the other students what the right thing to do is without even knowing what the right thing to do is. You're also going to see it with faculty who will try to influence things through authority without being maybe even the right way to do things. This is academia. You are a researcher. A critical thinker. You are allowed to think independently. So just because it's always been done this way doesn't mean it has to continue this way, but it also doesn't mean you just willy-nilly decide to change things. Understand why things have been done this way before you then try to make any changes. You wanna choose your battles strategically, not Every interaction, every difference is, you know, that hill to die on. You wanna make sure that this is worth using your political capital, so to speak, on. If it's a minor curriculum change and you kind of think it may not be the right way to go, but it's just minor, you might wanna let that pass. But if it's something incredibly important, like allocation of funds, and you have a way that seems more fair, you might wanna be talking up on that. Basically, it's long-term outcomes over short-term wins. You can win a battle and maybe lose a war. Just think about that. You can also think about building power, what people call outside the room. Within your department, there may be defined power structures, but you might be able to find mentorship outside of your department that can help you navigate things like that. It can also be even across the university, or maybe it's even with co-authors. If you're writing with other people that your department respects, that can also bring you respect. So how can you be the counterculture or make the changes that are needed? Well, first, start there. Be the change that needs to be made. Show up for the students or show up for the curriculum meeting, whatever it is That's important that you show up and show everyone that you are going to act in an ethical manner. Clear communication is important. The reason you have academia is because there are learners, so respect the learners. And this is really important with junior colleagues as well as students. When it comes down to it, it is most likely the system that is broken and not you. Feeling discouraged is rational, but it's also something that you can combat. Look at why you're discouraged and see if there are changes that you can be involved with making. Anxiety and withdrawal are, you know, pretty common responses, and it's okay to pull back for a while and then observe and see how you can reinsert yourself to help be and make the changes that are needed. This is not your failure in any way. It's systemic. For practical support, peers can be wonderful help and guides along this way, especially if there's someone in your department or in your school that is a year or two ahead of you in the process. They can help you understand what they went through and how they have survived and flourished in the system. Many schools are now assigning mentors to new faculty. And if these mentors take their job seriously, they can be a big help to you in this process. And some people look for mentors outside of school who have the experience to be able to help them navigate many different situations within academia. If you're looking for help navigating the academic culture and the academic world without sacrificing your career, you might want to join our Scholar Career Network. The network is free, and it's built to help PhDs make smart career decisions, both inside academia and out in the real world. Just click the link to become a member.