Workplace Trauma, Tone-Policing, and Racial Bias - What to Do?

2026-02-17

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Have you ever been tone-policed as a Black woman or woman of color? Or appointed to a role only to be removed when someone's discomfort outweighs your credentials? In academia, experiences and patterns like these that shape professional identity, leadership access, and psychological safety are not isolated incidents. In this This Prof Life episode, I sit down with Ms. Ruth Abban, an integrative psychotherapist based in London, for Part 1 of a critical conversation on workplace trauma, racial identity, and bias in ...

Have you ever been tone-policed as a Black woman or woman of color? Or appointed to a role only to be removed when someone's discomfort outweighs your credentials?

In academia, experiences and patterns like these that shape professional identity, leadership access, and psychological safety are not isolated incidents.

In this This Prof Life episode, I sit down with Ms. Ruth Abban, an integrative psychotherapist based in London, for Part 1 of a critical conversation on workplace trauma, racial identity, and bias in academic spaces.

In the episode, we discuss:

Tone-policing and respectability politics in higher education.
The emotional and professional impact of racial bias.
How workplace trauma manifests for Back women and women of color.
Deconstruct identity-based stressors in institutional environments.

Join me for an honest and necessary discussion about navigating academia while protecting your mental health and sense of self.

To learn more about Ms. Ruth Abban follow her on LinkedIn.

To find out more about me and my journey, visit drpatsanders.com

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