Call Me Doctor
By: Dr. Tanya Harrison
Tags: Women in STEM, Academia, Opinion, PhD, Jill Biden

Dr. Jill Biden. Image Credit: Obama White House Archives

This week, The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece by Joseph Epstein that the institution with which he is (or now perhaps “was”) honorarily affiliated, Northwestern University, themselves called “misogynistic.” I’m not even going to link to the piece here because it doesn’t deserve the internet traffic, but Google it if you wish to read more. Epstein opens with:

“Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo: a bit of advice on what may seem like a small but I think is not an unimportant matter. Any chance you might drop the ‘Dr.’ before your name? ‘Dr. Jill Biden’ sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic. Your degree is, I believe, an Ed.D, a doctor of education, earned at the University of Delaware through a dissertation with the unpromising title ‘Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students’ Needs.’ A wise man once said that no one should call himself ‘Dr.’ unless he has delivered a child. Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc.”

This entire paragraph could not sound any more condescending, from addressing 69-year-old Dr. Biden as “kiddo” to seemingly not bothering to look up what her Ed.D. (Doctorate in Education) is in based on the statement “Your degree is in, I believe…” He then goes on to purport that doctoral degrees “were once given exclusively to scholars, statesmen, artists and scientists,” and the expansion to other fields and honorary degrees has watered down the prestige holding a doctorate once had.

To put it mildly, this is both sexist and elitist bullshit. This attitude belittles Dr. Biden not only as a woman, but as an educator. It also seems to look down upon the community college system based on the calling out of her doctoral dissertation topic. If her doctorate were in something like chemistry or physics, would his tone have been as vitriolic toward her? It is ironic that Epstein both holds an honorary doctorate and is a university lecturer, and yet so blatantly disrespects the field of education with his attitude toward Dr. Biden’s doctorate in Education.

A doctorate should not be a mark of elitism. It is a mark of passion and dedication so strong that someone was willing to take both the financial and opportunity costs of choosing to spend an additional 4+ years in university to hone their skills on a highly specialized topic. It’s not even necessarily a mark of being a genius—it is a mark of work ethic and stubbornness. (For some, it is also perhaps a form of masochism, knowingly choosing to put yourself through the stress that is pursuing a Ph.D.)

But it is also a mark that comes with the title of “Doctor” according to our educational system. If you have put in your time and been deemed worthy by your doctoral institution of receiving such a title for your work based on your performance, then you damn well get to wear that as a badge of honour. This especially matters for women, who are significantly less likely to be introduced by their titles than men.

This may seem trivial, but it’s hard to ignore as woman if you’ve repeatedly experienced surprise or disbelief at your credentials. It is a microaggression with effects that compound. After a meeting where one of my male colleagues introduced me as “Dr. Tanya Harrison,” another male colleague with a Ph.D. told me that the title felt unnecessary as there were plenty of people with doctorates in the room—all of whom were male. Mind you, I had not asked the other person to introduce me with that title, they did so on their own. My response to him was something along the lines of, “It’s easy to say that when you’ve likely never been mistaken for a student, or secretary, or assistant.” All of these have happened to me in professional settings after receiving my doctorate. My presence in meetings has been questioned before introducing myself. Once I even had a male professor ask how I’d gotten one of my jobs in the space industry. When I replied with, “I applied for the job and interviewed like everyone else,” he looked surprised and said, “Oh, I thought it was because you might be [redacted]’s daughter.” (I was not.)

So yes, if I am referring to myself professionally, I am going to call myself Doctor. And so should Dr. Biden—because she has earned those credentials and the right to show them.

Dr. Tanya Harrison. Image credit: Canadian Space Agency.

Join on Twitter with the hashtag #CallMeDoctor to promote women with doctoral degrees.

Edit: Corrected Dr. Jill Biden’s degree to note Ed.D. where I had mistyped with Ph.D.—old habits as a Ph.D!