Predictor of the recession, analyst of the economy and recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award at Humber College and the Teaching Excellence Award at Ryerson University, Dr. Khyati Antani talks to Generation Next about her recession-proof career as a professor.
A perfect balance of modernization and eastern tradition is what composes Professor Antani. Born in Delhi, ranking first in every grade throughout her schooling career, Antani managed to become a professor at the tender age of 22! When asked on why she chose to pursue Economics as teachable, she sternly says, “I loved it in high school.” She continued her degree in bachelors followed by masters and thus, discovered her passion for the subject.
Her career started in Mumbai in 1980. After teaching in India for 10 solid years, she immigrated to Canada, fought stereotypes and resumed teaching in 1992. She elaborates, “I started part time at Ryerson and Centennial, followed by a fulltime position at Humber. It will be my 18th year at the continuing-ed at Ryerson in September.”
I then asked the obvious, if she ever faced any hardships as a female visible minority. She strongly replies saying, “when I went into class, people were like, what does she know as a brown woman. Firstly there aren’t that many women in Economics. I familiarized myself with the Canadian sports teams and once you build a good reputation, people follow through.” Antani continued with a nostalgic look on her face, “You have to hear this story. I went to Human Resources, where they asked me if I was support staff, amidst knowing that I was an employee. Long ago, at Humber, someone asked me for a professor’s authority when I went to pick a test. She wouldn’t believe I was a professor. She immediately assumed I was a student and couldn’t be part of the faculty.” She boldly confesses that about 15 years ago, the faculty was predominantly white. Now, things have changed. Professor Antani believes she has paved the path and continues to being an inspiration to plenty of South Asians. She recollects how numerous colleagues from various ethnic backgrounds have stated that she seems to be a lot like them. She was the first Indian woman to be hired full time at Humber’s business school.
When it comes to the racial pattern amongst students enrolled in economics, she claims to be observing a huge growth amongst the South Asians. Antani proudly says, “We have 125 students who came in the summer, and 94% of them are South Asians. I can hear Punjabi music in the hallways.” Since this seems to be a growing trend, I questioned the credibility of South Asians being stereotypically smart. Antani responses with a grin, “yes and no. While they tend to be book-smart, they are not smart with presentations and communication. Compared to other students, South Asians sincerely do all assignments but do not participate in leadership and aren’t forthcoming.”
On the notion of few South Asian professors in Canada, Antani firmly believes it is due to the negative perception of professors in India. “It is not considered to be glamorous. Here, the perception of a professor is high and different.” She personally loves her job since she gets to balance her professional and personal life. “I got to take vacation when my kids did. Now it’s no longer an advantage because they don’t want the same vacation as me,” she giggles.
With the current fluctuation in the economy, Antani finds this profession recession proof, since “once the economy slows down, there’s more enrolment in colleges.” When caught off guard on why the recession wasn’t predicted, she tilted her head and thought for a moment. Antani claims that nobody’s been able to predict the recession. “Canada controlled it well since in the last 17 years, policies like taxation were placed. Our banking system is far more stable and we have had a V recovery, rather than a W or U.” As we would all like to take precautions for the next recession, Antani laughs that economists aren’t able to predict recessions. Hopefully it will take another 70 years for another recession to occur. “Unemployment rate in Canada in 30s was 30% compared to now, which is 8-9%.” Compared to this, Antani confirms that the Canadian economy recovered faster and with a higher growth rate than any other G8 countries.
Seeing how the G20 has created lots of interest and caused the government to spend huge amounts, Antani blames media for focusing on the monetary aspect. She confidently states, “look at the positive domino aspect. It has created jobs and incomes for some people as 1000s of delegates will be living in hotels, eating in restaurants, and spending money in Toronto.”
With the HST tax approaching, Antani firmly believes that in the short run, it’s no good for South Asians. “There will be 13% tax on everything, including haircuts and gym memberships,” she laughs. On the macro level, Antani calmly states it will be beneficial because of the simplicity of paying one tax and more jobs will be created.
On a lighter note, I asked her about funny test answers. She jovially recollects, “for the definition of invisible hand, a student wrote, the invisible hand is something that should slap me for not knowing the answer.”
Overall, Antani loves what she does and finds it rewarding when people understand the concepts. When South Asian students at orientations ask her if she speaks Hindi, it makes a huge difference to them that they can turn to someone. “I look forward to work. I wonder how many people actually say that. I think teaching’s the most rewarding career.”
Author: Yesha Shah
