Thanks to the @LLKCenter for the honor of being named a Kopenhaver Center Fellow and for today's incredible programming for women junior faculty moving forward to promotion, tenure, leadership positions & a more justice & equitable academy.

Some things we learned...

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In her keynote, @jdgreer1 covered 3 pithy points:

1. You do you. Set your own timeline. Find the right place & job for you.

2. Know yourself, be yourself. If you have to change yourself for a job (or person/relationship), it's not the right one.

...

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For her 3rd point, @jdgreer1 emphasized:

3. You can’t control other people or circumstances, but you can control your reactions. As a woman leader, folks will watch your reactions, perhaps unfairly closely.

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Important advice for women in the academy and everywhere else:

*Always* ask for more money when you’re negotiating a job. The worst they'll say is no.

Gather salary data from public sources, AAUP, Chronicle, etc.

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And @jdgreer1 emphasized too:

Know when to say yes and no to requests and opportunities. You don’t need to offer a list of good reasons. Just saying "sorry, no" is fine.

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Insights from the faculty panel:

Maria Len-Rios: When assessing ops to say yes to, make sure they're things you can take w you. Your research & pubs are your currency if you want to move around/up in academia. Also, go where you have purpose/make a difference.

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*Everyone* said: FIND MENTORS! And stay in touch with them.

Find mentors inside & outside your department, especially folks in/near your discipline who recently went through T&P and can advise you.

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Another repeated theme was the value of data. It's the language of higher ed administration, so you need to gather & use it to make the case for more resources, whether for course releases as an individual or to support diversity in hiring & in leadership positions.

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Most on the panel didn't imagine careers in higher ed administration. If you're a person who "gets things done," folks will notice and likely encourage you to go into admin. @jdgreer1 advised: If you're not sure, say yes, try it. You can always return to the faculty.

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For navigating tenure & promotion, ask for and carefully study whatever guidelines your dept & university have. Get advice from others who've recently been through the process. Review CVs of folks at peer institutions from when they went up for tenure & promotion.

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Be aware that while the guidance and mentoring for promotion and tenure can sometimes be vague, it hardly exists for promotion from associate to full professor. We need better mentoring to make sure folks, especially women, make it to this top level.

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Make sure you advocate for yourself with your university's PR team to do press releases and stories on your research, public scholarship, etc.

Make sure your relationship with your dept. chair is a good, strong, and trusted one. They can be your biggest advocate.

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University tenure & promotion committees (+ deans, provosts) are often outside of your discipline. Clearly mark/explain how your publications & conference presentations are weighted, e.g. list the conference, division & that year's acceptance rate for context.

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Tenure & promotion is a blind process, but you can still ask people to be on your external reviewers list:

“I’m putting together my external reviewer list for tenure and promotion. Would you feel comfortable being on my list?”

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We are in an unprecedented time, especially for women faculty with children. Higher ed is in a moment of disruption when we could be having proactive conversations about revising the academy, inc. tenure & promotion criteria & diversity, equity & inclusion efforts.

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Women of Color panelists & attendees spoke of the additional challenges they face, esp. when they're the only POC in their department or even one of few on the faculty, period. Can be viewed as a token or only in limited ways, issues with student evals, service, etc.

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Just like our feminism, our efforts for women faculty need to be intersectional at every step. The workshop offered a good model: qualifying advice when it was based on white women's experiences, sharing WOC perspectives, making space for all to be heard, etc.

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Thank you again for an amazing day, @LLKCenter!

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This great conversation continued during #AEJMC2020 on a panel with University President @StephensPrez, Dean @mariehardinpsu & Dean @amylreynolds:

Climbing the Ladder to Leadership in the Academy

Their great advice included...

Mentoring, again, is v important, but note: men are sponsored, women get mentored, said @mariehardinpsu & emphasized @StephensPrez. It’s not just about talking & making us feel good. It’s having someone who puts you forward & supports you when you’re not in the room.

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Dean @amylreynolds reflected that she personally was conflict adverse, but conflict is inevitable & sometimes necessary as an assoc dean, dean, etc. Make sure to build up skills, if you need them, to be able to directly address conflict so to problem solve for all.

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Fundraising is an important part of a dean & uni. president's job. You're not "asking people for money," you're asking people to share your vision. You're providing people with $ meaningful investment opportunities. You're telling great stories to the right audience.

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From @stephensprez: You'll have self-doubt at times, but be careful to not over share those feelings. Fake it till you make it. Engender confidence. If you made a mistake or need to backtrack, you can just say, "I changed my mind. We're going to do this instead."

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Being in higher ed administration means less contact with students. Panelists balance by teach 1-credit courses, consult with student leaders, and keep candy/chocolate in their office to welcome students in for treats & when they need it to discuss issues/problems.

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Ambition can be viewed as gendered but it shouldn't be.

You can look ahead to future goals/positions, but you need to full invest in your current position. Do your best & with joy where you are now.

@amylreynolds @mariehardinpsu

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In all jobs: there’s competence & then there’s personality and fit. Don’t let moving up change who you are and how you respond to things. Take your obligations seriously. Be a good colleague, be thoughtful & empathetic. That matters. Be a good human. @mariehardinpsu

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