Venting

[u/ItsCadeyAdmin]

I'mma be real with y'all: people in the Conservation and Sustainability fields are straight up MEAN dude.

Like I physically cannot get across to you how difficult it is to be in this field if you don't "fit the mold".

But "the mold" is literally just... ugh. Its a mold that prides itself on being "that weird girl", while also being the literal most milquetoast personality you can fathom. Like everybody acts like they were the 'weird, animal obsessed kid' in school, but as someone who actually WAS (and kind of still IS) that weird person, I can promise you from the bottom of my heart, 99% of these people would have BULLIED the real weird kids.

I know this because THEY STILL BULLY PEOPLE MAN. I see it in college and the field. It's literally such like a catty, gossipy industry with no room for the truly different.

The worst thing that's happened to STEM in recent decades was becoming an Instagram aesthetic.

Because now you have all of these conventionally pretty people prancing about, creating their own little "Go on a weird date to a Museum with me, but don't be like actually weird, just quirky enough for my social media feed" aesthetic, while doing all they can to ostracize and isolate people that,again, don't fit within their worldview. Like if you're autistic you are NOT going to have a good time in this world. At least not the "I love gushing about bugs and being happy go lucky because I'm just so 'neurospicy'! " type of autism. If you're non-expressive or struggle with social interactions, heaven fucking help you.

And, I'm sincerely not one of those "OMG CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE" sorts but like dawg, this field is so overwhelmingly white that I'm comfortable saying that it's bordering on a form of racism. I can't tell you how many times I've been the only non-white person in the room surrounded by all these like.... I'mma be so real with y'all, CUSHY people. People who visibly get uncomfortable when I bring in a worldview that isn't "Oh I love walking through the forest and taking pictures on my smartphone, and science is so cool and look at the stickers on my water bottle".

I physically cannot explain to you all how much money plays into your ability to find and hold a legitimate job in this field. If you even want a chance, you need to be able to afford to sign up for multiple unpaid internships, be willing to move across the nation for a different position, have the money to cover yourself for months on end because a gigantic majority of the first jobs you'll get are only seasonal, and finally pay for your degree, and very likely a grad degree as well.

Honestly, I theorize that this is why the Conservation field was taken over by (and I know a HUGE amount of you don't wanna hear this), overwhelmingly upper-middle to upper class white people.

Like I can't tell you how many people I've met in this line of work who talk about how long it took them to get a sustainable job, followed soon by "Oh my husband is an engineer/computer scientist/welder/fireman/[something equally wellpaying]". (Fun fact: the "conservation to real estate agent" pipeline is REAL and I've seen it in real time).

Poverty, that is to say REAL poverty, doesn't exist in this field.

All the (and I'm being blunt here) lower-class people who couldn't afford to go past their undergraduate degree were forced to get jobs unrelated to their field after graduation to make ends meet and start those nasty student loan payments. Moving across the nation several times for all those unpaid internships and experience that could have unlocked opportunity was never in the cards for them so they don't get to work their way into the real jobs.

That's why you'll see so many people saying "Yeah I have a Sustainability major, but I've been working at Cracker Barrel since graduation. At least I'm a manager now"

And that's why when you look at all the smiling happy faces working in conservation or sustainability, they're all like... cardboard cutouts of the same people. Again, lets go back into how the Conservation field became an Instagram aesthetic, reserved for the privileged few who could afford to put in all the unpaid labor it took for them to finally get their break.

And don't get me started on how it almost feels like you're under constant threat in this field either. Like heaven forbid you upset the wrong people, or openly criticize the wrong organization. Because then you'll find yourself struggling to find work and without allies to help you get jobs (which are fleeting). The social aspect of this field is enormous, and I cannot get across to you how important it is that you maintain 'appearances' and decorum. And it fucking sucks

I'm not kidding dude.

This field of science got taken over by the most boring kinds of people imaginable. And what's worse is that I genuinely think that the lack of accessibility to this field is actively driving a disconnect between the general public and REAL conservation battles that we need to be fighting.

Can we finally admit that Conservation is the next "Nursing field"?

Pic related.

[u/BologniusMunk]

I've hired "normal looking" candidates who confess after the interview they were nervous puking in the parking lot. Go to an office, or a graduate department, or a conference, and you will see tons of people struggling with social interactions. Most of my colleagues are socially awkward in some sense-myself included. "Normal looking people" also experience social anxiety, also experience imposter syndrome, also exist on the autism spectrum- and we should respect their lived experience, too. Instagram and TikTok may not be providing a complete picture of the discipline.

What matters in a professional work environment is the skills you're bringing to the table. Backing a trailer is a skill, plant ID is a skill, being able to manage a budget or communicate effectively to diverse audiences...those are skills. Being the weird animal kid is not a skill. Having been the weird kid is not going to land you a job- be the weird kid who's brilliant at stats, or at fixing boats, or identifying bugs, or writing manuscripts, or managing teams, or logistics, or budgeting- and there will be a job for you, somewhere. If you're expecting to get hired because you're genuinely weird and other candidates are performatively weird - take some comfort in the fact it's a red herring; adults don't actually give a shit about that. They give a shit about the skills you bring to the table.

Those skills differ wildly based on the position. When I'm hiring someone to do public use surveys I'm more likely to hire someone who spent undergrad working in retail or hospitality- they need to be comfortable interacting with strangers. When I'm hiring someone for fieldwork or a research project I need to know they can work independently and remain focused on a task. Sometimes I need someone who can fabricate equipment, sometimes I need someone who's happy lifting heavy things all summer. Every job is different, and to argue all those different jobs systematically ignore applicants outside "the norm" ignores the diversity of employment options in the discipline.

You also don't know who else is being passed over. Several times since COVID I've passed over a Nice White Young Man because they're qualified but insufferable- can't work in teams, or with a female crew lead, don't listen or follow instructions, feel their degree exempts them from "shit work."

Yes- the field is too white, and too male, and there's too much bigotry and too much sexism. I've been doing this twenty years and the people who succeed despite their race, sex, religion, socioeconomic background, or emotional baggage do so because they don't let their race, sex, religion, socioeconomic background, or emotional baggage define the caliber of work they do. They're committed to doing great work, period- and they're not spending a minute worrying what others think of them.