Attending to Silence

Abstract

COVID-19 has burdened many academics with the responsibility of leading children through remote schooling. That academic parents are expected to suddenly and with no specialized training become grade-school teachers exposes the open secret of sexism and racism in the U.S. educational system, which has long deprioritized early childhood educators and their work. At a moment that institutions ask us to "raise our voices," I illustrate structural barriers that keep caregivers quiet. The article raises the provocation that inequity in academia is produced by design, and responds to institutional demands to speak up by asking for better attention to silence.