The Psychological Cost of Code-Switching
Please join the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) this February in celebrating Black History Month. This year’s theme is Black Resistance: Equality through Justice. Our first event is a fireside chat with Dr. Jean Lud Cadet and Mr. Kevin Williams, Esq. Portfolio Strategists Kiana Atkins and Patricia Sauceda Kramer will ask important questions on the use of code-switching at work. There is a Q&A session at the end of the event. You won’t want to miss this!
Code-switching, or adjusting one's normal behavior to fit in, has long been a strategy for Black people to successfully navigate interracial interactions. Code-switching often occurs in spaces where negative stereotypes of Black individuals run counter to what are considered appropriate or professional behaviors and norms in that specific environment. Black people regularly feel the need to code-switch in the work environment. In the article “The Cost of Code-Switching,” Courtney L. McCluney, Kathrina Robotham, Serenity Lee, Richard Smith, and Myles Durkee explain that "While it is frequently seen as crucial for professional advancement, code-switching often comes at a great psychological cost."
Speaker Bio:
Jean Lud Cadet, M.D. is presently a NIH Tenured Senior Investigator and the Chief of the Molecular Neuropsychiatry Research Branch and of the Molecular Neuropsychiatry Section at the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) intramural research program (IRP).
Dr. Cadet attended medical school at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He subsequently did psychiatry residency at the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University and Neurology Residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He did a post-residency fellowship at the NIMH and was an assistant professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at Columbia University before coming to NIDA IRP. Dr. Cadet has co-authored more than 500 papers, reviews, and book chapters on the molecular neurobiology of substance use disorders, cognitive aspects of cocaine and marijuana use disorders, clinical neurobiology of schizophrenia and tardive dyskinesia, as well as on mechanisms involved in models of neurodegeneration including Parkinsonism.
Presently, his laboratory studies the epigenetic mechanisms that potentially regulate stimulant- and oxycodone-induced changes in the expression of genes in specific neuronal cells and brain regions within the reward pathways. Dr. Cadet has served on the Editorial Board of Synapse, is presently on the Editorial Board of Neurotoxicity Research, Current Neuropharmacology, International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, Scientific reports, and the Journal of Addictive Diseases. He is a reviewing editor for Scientific Reports and associate editor of Frontier in Public Health. Dr. Cadet is also a member of the Society for Neuroscience, ASPET, National Medical Association, Black in Neuro, Neurotoxicity Society, AMHE (Association des Medecins Haitiens a L’ Etranger), Society of Haitian Neuroscientists (SHN). He has received several awards including the NIH Director’s Award, visiting professorships including the Grass Foundation Lectureship, The Associated Medical Schools of NY for dedication and service to the promotion of Science and Health among minority youth, and the NIH Harvey J. Bullock Award.
ASL and CART is provided for this event. Individuals who need other reasonable accommodations to participate should contact Patricia Sauceda-Kramer at 301.496.6301.
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