Fobazi coined a term for this—vocational awe—and wrote an academic paper about its prevalence in librarians. In the paper, she defines vocational awe as the belief that workplaces and institutions like libraries “are inherently good, sacred notions, and therefore beyond critique.” In other words, the halo effect of the industry prevents people from seeing—or acting upon—problems that may exist within it. When workplace issues crop up, such as undercompensation, racism, or sexism, they are seen as isolated incidents rather than systemic flaws.
