{"id":2490,"date":"2019-05-03T11:30:37","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T11:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/i-have-decided-to-never-stop-using-my-dr-title\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T06:35:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T06:35:24","slug":"i-have-decided-to-never-stop-using-my-dr-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/i-have-decided-to-never-stop-using-my-dr-title","title":{"rendered":"I have decided to never stop using my ‘Dr.’ title"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was a bit annoyed yesterday when the decision by the Globe and Mail to update their style guide came across my Twitter feed. I get to be an Associate Professor of biology upon first reference in an article, but become Ms. McDonald on second reference. I guess this is how the Canadian Press have been doing things for years, but I find it irritating and I\u2019m going to tell you why.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a professional and an expert and have earned a credential, namely a PhD, that reinforces these facts. Now you may ask why I need these facts reinforced. It is not because I have a gigantic ego, think I\u2019m better than everyone else, or am a member of the non-existent Canadian \u201celite.\u201d The facts that I\u2019m a professional and an expert needs to be enforced regularly because they are questioned regularly and several times; each term due to the fact that I don\u2019t look like a typical scientist. There are huge social and cultural contexts at play here and that Dr. title is therefore really important to people like myself; that is women and persons with disabilities.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I can only assume that because I look younger than I am and because I am female that people feel free to tell or ask me:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1) That I don\u2019t look like a scientist (hello, stereotypes!).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2) I\u2019m too pretty to be a scientist (umm, these two things are not mutually exclusive like you seem to think they are, and ewwwwww!).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3) Which professor do you work for? (I\u2019ve run my own research lab for 8 years, thank you very much)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

4) I thought you were so and so (insert some other female academic here), I\u2019m so confused! (We are both petite, females presenting so we must be interchangeable then).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The above are interactions that I\u2019ve had at academic science conferences.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

My credentials and authority often also get challenged in the classroom. This is not a unique experience given that it happens to most of the other female professors that I\u2019ve mentioned it to. We were commiserating about it over lunch a few years ago and our male colleagues were in disbelief because it never happens to them.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That doctorate is one item that I can use to level the playing field in academic science. I earned it, I need it, and you can pry it out of my cold, dead hands.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Dr. Allison McDonald (<\/i>@AEMcDonaldWLU<\/a><\/u><\/i>) is an <\/i>Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. This story was published on June 12, 2018, on Dr. McDonald\u2019s blog, Doctor AI<\/a> (available here<\/a>) and has been republished here with her permission.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was a bit annoyed yesterday when the decision by the Globe and Mail to update their style guide came across my Twitter feed. I get to be an Associate Professor of biology upon first reference in an article, but become Ms. McDonald on second reference. I guess this is how the Canadian Press have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1416,"featured_media":33313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2414],"tags":[2454,2671],"new_categories":[],"new_tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-researcher-stories","tag-researcher-stories","tag-stories-of-success"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nI have decided to never stop using my 'Dr.' title<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Allison McDonald is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In this encouraging story, she tells us why she refuses to let go of her 'Dr.' title.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I have decided to never stop using my 'Dr.' title\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Allison McDonald is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In this encouraging story, she tells us why she refuses to let go of her 'Dr.' title.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Editage Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-03T11:30:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-15T06:35:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/I-have-decided-to-never-stop-using-my-Dr.-title-Resized.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"656\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allison McDonald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Editage\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Editage\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allison McDonald\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/i-have-decided-to-never-stop-using-my-dr-title\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Allison McDonald\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/4135d1d3c06f7075bac529dc732e3e80\"},\"headline\":\"I have decided to never stop using my ‘Dr.’ title\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-03T11:30:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-15T06:35:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/i-have-decided-to-never-stop-using-my-dr-title\"},\"wordCount\":461,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Researcher Stories\",\"Stories of Success\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Researchers and Their Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/i-have-decided-to-never-stop-using-my-dr-title\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/\",\"name\":\"I have decided to never stop using my 'Dr.' title\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-03T11:30:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-15T06:35:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dr. Allison McDonald is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In this encouraging story, she tells us why she refuses to let go of her 'Dr.' title.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp\",\"width\":656,\"height\":336},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I have decided to never stop using my ‘Dr.’ title\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/\",\"name\":\"Editage Insights\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Editage Insights\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":324,\"caption\":\"Editage Insights\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Editage\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/4135d1d3c06f7075bac529dc732e3e80\",\"name\":\"Allison McDonald\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ea215d1287825c94765ae7648bb52796d7166f5a2f76df89229e8fb168ffbc3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ea215d1287825c94765ae7648bb52796d7166f5a2f76df89229e8fb168ffbc3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Allison McDonald\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/allison-mcdonald\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I have decided to never stop using my 'Dr.' title","description":"Dr. Allison McDonald is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In this encouraging story, she tells us why she refuses to let go of her 'Dr.' title.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I have decided to never stop using my 'Dr.' title","og_description":"Dr. Allison McDonald is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In this encouraging story, she tells us why she refuses to let go of her 'Dr.' title.","og_url":"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/","og_site_name":"Editage Insights","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage","article_published_time":"2019-05-03T11:30:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-15T06:35:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":656,"height":426,"url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/I-have-decided-to-never-stop-using-my-Dr.-title-Resized.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Allison McDonald","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Editage","twitter_site":"@Editage","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allison McDonald","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/i-have-decided-to-never-stop-using-my-dr-title"},"author":{"name":"Allison McDonald","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/4135d1d3c06f7075bac529dc732e3e80"},"headline":"I have decided to never stop using my ‘Dr.’ title","datePublished":"2019-05-03T11:30:37+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-15T06:35:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/i-have-decided-to-never-stop-using-my-dr-title"},"wordCount":461,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp","keywords":["Researcher Stories","Stories of Success"],"articleSection":["Researchers and Their Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/i-have-decided-to-never-stop-using-my-dr-title","url":"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/","name":"I have decided to never stop using my 'Dr.' title","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp","datePublished":"2019-05-03T11:30:37+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-15T06:35:24+00:00","description":"Dr. Allison McDonald is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In this encouraging story, she tells us why she refuses to let go of her 'Dr.' title.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp","width":656,"height":336},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/aemcdonald.wordpress.com\/2018\/06\/12\/why-i-will-continue-to-use-the-title-dr\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I have decided to never stop using my ‘Dr.’ title"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/","name":"Editage Insights","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization","name":"Editage Insights","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":324,"caption":"Editage Insights"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage","https:\/\/x.com\/Editage"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/4135d1d3c06f7075bac529dc732e3e80","name":"Allison McDonald","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ea215d1287825c94765ae7648bb52796d7166f5a2f76df89229e8fb168ffbc3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ea215d1287825c94765ae7648bb52796d7166f5a2f76df89229e8fb168ffbc3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Allison McDonald"},"url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/allison-mcdonald"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2490"},{"taxonomy":"new_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/new_categories?post=2490"},{"taxonomy":"new_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/new_tags?post=2490"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=2490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}