How do I advocate for myself at work when I don't have the cultural capital others assume?

Cultural capital—the invisible resume of knowing which fork to use, what to call your boss, how to network at the right events—isn't merit. It's inheritance. Sor Juana never had the luxury of inherited legitimacy. She had to argue for her right to think in writing, in public, against people who'd never questioned theirs. Here's what that teaches: your actual work doesn't need translation to count. You don't have to soften it or frame it in their language to make it real. That said, strategic clarity helps. Know what you want—the specific ask, the timeline, the reasoning—and present it as fact, not request for permission. You might lack the casual confidence that comes from never being questioned. But you often have something more useful: you've had to articulate why you belong here. You've thought about it. Use that. If you're the first in your family to do this work, you're also navigating without a script. That's not a disadvantage—it means you notice what others take for granted. Bring that precision to the conversation. "Based on [specific metrics], here's what I'm requesting and why it's aligned with [organizational goal]." Impersonal. Documented. Harder to dismiss. The cultural capital you lack? Sometimes that's clarity about your own value. Start there.