Unmasking Academia is informed by the expertise and experiences of marginalized faculty and students and exposes inequities in academia through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Unmasking Academia advances a powerful critique of university administrators’ message that ‘we are in this together’ during the COVID-19 pandemic and demonstrates how, in fact, the most marginalized faced additional barriers and precarity. Offering insight from a range of sites within higher education, contributors provide a thoughtful analysis of the intersectional impact of the pandemic—beyond the mainstream focus on the gender gap. This important collection calls out the rhetoric of EDI and offers new understandings and ways forward for a more just academy." Claire Carter, University of Regina
"Unmasking Academia draws upon accounts of those writing from diverse stances and positions within the academy. Each of their narratives is compelling, combining general issues and specific experiences that contextualize academic work and life in the shadow of the pandemic.” Terry Wotherspoon, University of Saskatchewan
As a global crisis, COVID-19 was a moment of reckoning for the academy. Unmasking Academia uses the pandemic as a catalyst for reflection on the intensification and intersectional impacts of white supremacy, colonialism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and misogyny in higher education. Highlighting the expertise of historically excluded and currently underrepresented faculty and students, the collection draws attention to the ineffectiveness of performative university equity policies and the need to address the increasing labour demands of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) on those who are most impacted by exclusionary institutional policies and practices. Using methodologies such as auto-ethnography, policy analysis, and Indigenous ways of knowing, the authors chart new pathways toward social justice and meaningful institutional transformation. By investigating post-secondary institutions’ superficial commitment to EDI, the authors are able to offer critique and also suggest strategies for change. Unmasking Academia provides critical insights on survival and resistance along with recommendations for making higher education an equitable and just space. Provocative and incisive, the book is a rich resource for policy administrators, researchers, and teachers, and, indeed, for all involved in education. Contributors: Ayesha Mian Akram, Pallavi Banerjee, Sepideh Borzoo, Enakshi Dua, Isabel Fandiño, Leah K. Hamilton, Carl E. James, Hee-Jung S. Joo, Erin Keating, Corinne L. Mason, Nardos Omer, Fawziah Rabiah-Mohammed, Irene Shankar, Carieta Thomas, Ethel Tungohan, Gabrielle Ellen Weasel Head.
- | Author: Corinne L. Mason, Irene Shankar
- | Publisher: University of Alberta Press
- | Publication Date: Nov 18, 2025
- | Number of Pages:
- | Language:
- | Binding: Paperback / softback
- | ISBN-13: 9781772128307
- | ISBN-10: 1772128309
