What are your barriers? by Racha Cheikh-Ibrahim

Funding

2026-02-17 15:49:00 UTC

Less university funding made me do more TA work which resulted in less work on Research

2026-02-17 15:50:49 UTC

My biggest barrier in terms of being inclusive is probably my own ignorance! I have so much to learn about inequities in academia.

Admission to University

2026-02-17 15:51:17 UTC

In one of the class, One of my friend who represents black community, raised a question that she sees very less people from her race. (Those people can not afford the high cost of GRE/GMAT). Is it the only reason very few black people in PhD programme? Or is there anything else?

Family Responsibilities

2026-02-17 15:52:29 UTC

I live with my family and have many responsibilities at home, such that I sometimes need to work from home or work outside of normal 9-5 hours.

2026-02-17 15:54:05 UTC

My biggest barrier is language; I am a native speaker of a language other than English, and this slows me down in many ways, and I have to put more effort into my research activities.

Not giving priority to Equity or Inclusiveness in Specific Sectors

2026-02-17 15:54:30 UTC

In research related to operations, they more focus on profits or cost, so even publishing or doing research which involves equity etc. when you go in market for job in those sectors, those things won't matter much...so students are more oriented to do research which often less thinking about these equity and Inclusiveness concepts.