Faculty Share 5 Tips for Climbing the Academic Ladder

Post by Jennifer Leopoldt, Communication and Technology Co-Chair

“Academic life is complex. That’s no surprise.” With that, moderator Carolyn Bronstein kicked off DePaul Women’s Network’s Winter Faculty Event, “Life on the Academic Ladder,” on Jan. 25, 2013. By featuring panelists at different stages in their academic careers, the event was intended “to demystify some of the rungs on the ladder,” explained Bronstein, associate professor in the College of Communication.

Attendees heard from a diverse group of four faculty members: Rana Husseini, an adjunct instructor in the College of Communication and assistant director for Teaching Support; Rebecca Johns-Trissler, an assistant professor in the Department of English; Kelly Pope, an associate professor in the Driehaus College of Business; and Bibiana Suarez, a Vincent de Paul Professor in the Department of Art, Media and Design. Although each brought her own story of struggles and triumphs in academia, common themes emerged:

Tip #1: Know what works best for you

The panelists talked about how understanding your personal preferences can help you accomplish more. Pope knows she works better in the evening, while Suarez is a morning person. Husseini talked about using a timer to set limits on repetitive tasks such as grading papers. The panelists also discussed the need to realize what makes you happy, whether that is reading for pleasure or having a creative outlet. Finding projects that energize you can help prevent burnout.

Tip #2: Ask for help

Don’t buy into “Superwoman Syndrome” and think you need to do everything perfectly, Suarez says. Instead, be willing to delegate, whether to coworkers in the office or to a partner at home. Also, know your limits. As Johns-Trissler has recognized, “There always seems to be one thing that has to be moderately neglected” so others things can be attended to.

Tip #3: Say “no” strategically

The panelists touched on the importance of saying “no” to projects in a strategic manner. A few noted that women could learn from their male colleagues, who often seem better at weighing pros and cons of assignments, rather than automatically saying “yes” in order to be seen as helpful or likeable.

Tip #4: Get to know others throughout DePaul

Meeting others at DePaul can help you form good relationships, find a mentor or advocate, or find someone who understands your situation. As Suarez told her fellow panelists, “I have known and experienced your pain at most every level.” The panelists suggested resources for meeting colleagues across departments, including the Teaching & Learning Certificate Program, interdisciplinary programs and centers, and, of course, DWN.

Tip #5. Keep track of your accomplishments

The panelists talked about potential pitfalls while advancing on the tenure track. They discussed the importance of keeping detailed logs of your accomplishments, in case superiors leave amid your review process or there are shifts in your department. With clear records, you can show the extent of your work no matter how tenure standards might change.

Through the program, attendees learned that while there is no magic recipe to surviving in academia, practical advice from others can make climbing the academic ladder seem less daunting.

Did you attend the Winter Faculty Event? Please leave a comment about what you enjoyed or the lessons you learned. We’d love to hear from you. To see more photos from the event, visit our Facebook page.

The moderator and panelists at the event.

What to Expect at DWN’s Winter Faculty Event

Post by Lark Mills, Communication and Technology Co-Chair

DWN Faculty committee co-chairs Carolyn Bronstein, Maria Ferrera and Rebecca Johns-Trissler share what to expect at their upcoming event, Life on the Academic Ladder, on Jan. 25. They also provide advice for faculty starting their careers and for staff who may be interested in teaching.

Who will be speaking at the event?

The panel of speakers for this event includes women at various stages of their academic careers at DePaul University.

Panelist Moderator

• Carolyn Bronstein
  • Associate Professor (College of Communication)
  • Author (“Battling Pornography: The American Feminist Anti-Pornography Movement, 1976-1986”)

Panelist Speakers

• Rana Husseini 
  • Adjunct Instructor (College of Communication)
  • Assistant Director for Teaching Support (Office for Teaching, Learning & Assessment)
• Rebecca Johns-Trissler
  • Tenure-track, Assistant Professor (English Department)
  • Award-winning novelist (“Iceberg,” 2006 and “The Countess,” 2010)
• Kelly Pope
  • Associate Professor (Driehaus College of Business)
  • Award-winning Filmmaker (“Crossing the Line”)
• Bibiana Suarez 
  • Professor (Department of Art, Media and Design)
  • Vincent de Paul Professor

What is the format for this event?

Mingling

The event will begin with breakfast and informal networking.

Panel Q&A

Carolyn, the panelist moderator, will ask the panelists to share an opening statement to identify where they are at on the academic ladder. Are they starting out relatively fresh from graduate school, mid-ladder, or close to the top in terms of rank and academic experience?

Next, Carolyn will ask the panel to share insights that have helped them move from rung to rung. This may include the best choices they have made as well as some choices that, in retrospect, did not yield hoped-for results. Furthermore, Carolyn will prompt the speakers to share what has been rewarding at each stage of their careers and also what challenges that they have faced along the way.

Open Questions

Attendees will have the opportunity to address their own questions toward the panel.

What have you learned that you wish you had known early on in your academic career? What advice would you give faculty who are first starting out in their career?

Carolyn: I advise junior faculty to be very clear about their research agendas and to try to focus on projects that advance those agendas in clear, defined ways. I was very open to projects in different areas when I was a junior faculty member, and although the intellectual exploration was pleasant and led me in mostly productive directions, I could have benefitted from a sharper focus.

What are the most common obstacles that faculty face in their academic careers?

Maria: The landscape of expectations to receive tenure seems to be changing and diverse between departments. It is difficult to really know where you stand within the process sometimes. There also seems to be little dialogue about the challenges of balancing and raising a family as an academic, particularly when you belong to a collectivist culture that inevitably will breed internal conflict in response to the demands of this position.

Rebecca: This answer is different for different specialties, but a common issue women faculty face is that they’re building their careers at the same time they’re beginning to build their families. Faculty work provides a generally good work-life balance, but that balance can be more difficult to create while you’re working your way up to tenure, needing to spend a great deal of time on publications and research. I wrote the entirety of my second book after my daughter was born, feeling enormous pressure to do so. Having a child put a tremendous damper on my ability to research for the book. I was not able to travel to Europe to do on-the-ground research I might have done if I hadn’t had an infant at home. And yet, I was more efficient with the time I did have, using it to better purpose than I had previously, knowing I had to pay a babysitter if I wanted to write.

What do you hope that faculty and staff get out of this event? Why should people attend this event?

Carolyn: Academia is a complex career with many formal stages. Our hope is to demystify some of the “rungs” of the ladder for those who have yet to climb them. You can feel very alone during the tenure process and alone afterwards when you are confronting the “now what” questions that are common among mid-career faculty. Therefore, connecting with others who have shared similar experiences is valuable and comforting. For staff who may be contemplating a move toward teaching and research, this event is great opportunity to hear about the realities of academic life, which can be different from what people may picture or imagine. People should attend to hear diverse perspectives on the academic life from a wide range of talented colleagues who represent all stages of the ladder.

We’d love to hear from you.

• Will you be attending this event?
• What do you hope to get out of it? 
• Which rung are you at on the academic ladder?

Registration for this event closes Monday, January 23, 2013.

Brown Bag Event Teaches 5 Tips for Effective Networking

Post by Jennifer Leopoldt (Communication & Technology Co-Chair)

Networking can be intimidating, but with the right advice and mindset, anyone can succeed. That’s what participants learned at the DePaul Women’s Network fall Brown Bag Luncheon, “Effective Networking for Success,” on Oct. 24, 2012.

DePaul’s MBA Career Management Team: Jennifer, Christa and Brooke

Three members of DePaul’s MBA Career Management Center team—Christa Hinton, Brooke Gugat and Jennifer Kopczynski—led female faculty and staff through a presentation about how to prepare for and perform better at networking events. You can find a copy of their networking presentation on the DWN website.

1. Recognize your barriers. What keeps you from networking? Find out what is stopping you and work past that. The presenters gave a few common examples of what people say:

• “Networking is a waste of time.” Hinton, assistant dean and director of DePaul’s MBA Career Management Center, disagrees. She urges people to put a positive spin on attending events. “Make yourself promise to stay until you find something worthwhile. And you will find something worthwhile,” she says.
• “I’m shy.” It may be difficult, but try to push through feelings of shyness. “You learn a lot about yourself during networking in addition to learning about the other person,” says Kopczynski, assistant director and career specialist. There are also ways to ease your anxiety at the event. Gugat, an associate director and career specialist, suggests volunteering at an event so you have an easy opening for talking with people, coming early to scope out the room, or spending time in the food line so a conversation starter is built in.

2. Create your story.

Participants took time out to write their own stories.

Thinking up an “elevator pitch” before an event can help you from feeling like you don’t know what to say. Use a few simple steps to create one:

• Write down answers to these questions: 1) Who are you? 2) What do you have to offer? Why should they be interested in you? 3) Call for action: The ask.
• Practice what you’re saying with different people and change your story based on their reactions.
• Don’t expect to instantly create a relationship with someone just by meeting at a big networking event. Instead, follow up afterward and ask to get to know someone through an informational interview.

3. Be comfortable with yourself. Participants at the event wanted to know how to handle certain etiquette situations at business events. Hinton urged them to be honest and polite.

• If you don’t want to shake hands, explain so tactfully by saying something like, “I would shake your hand but I’m sick so perhaps we shouldn’t. It’s nice to meet you, though.”
• Hinton also urged people to be true to themselves. “If it’s not you, don’t do it. But if it is you or you want it to be you, practice it.”

4. Start networking anytime and anywhere. A few Brown Bag participants took the opportunity to get to know one another and share similar interests. Networking does not have to be scary. It can be casual and fun and can happen anywhere.

5. Reach out to DWN. At the end of the event, DWN President Christine Gallagher Kearney encouraged participants to reach out to any member of the group’s planning committee. DWN board members are good contacts for networking and welcome questions from faculty and staff at DePaul.

DWN President Christine Gallagher Kearney

The event was designed to give participants a few networking techniques they could use going forward. Most of all, DWN Brown Bag Chair Erin Higgins encouraged people to just go out and network, despite any worries or fears, because they could gain experience and look back with clarity: “You did it. You didn’t die. It’s going to be better next time.”

Did you attend the event? Please feel free to leave a comment about what you enjoyed or the lessons you learned about networking. We’d love to hear from you.