Author: Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD It’s been quite a journey over the past five weeks of our collective work to overcome academic perfectionism. We calculated the costs of perfectionism, we learned what the cycle of perfectionismlooks like and how to disrupt it, and we explored concrete strategies for overcoming perfectionism in teaching, service and writing. I love that so many of you experimented with … Read more
Author: Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD Originally posted on Inside Higher Ed. Recent news documenting the unhappy state of associate professors was unsurprising to me. I travel to different campuses every week and one of the most frequent requests I receive is to help “stuck” associate professors find their mid-career mojo. And there’s nothing quite like walking into … Read more
Author: Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD Originally posted on Inside Higher Ed. One of the most pervasive problems I see among academic writers is perfectionism. It’s so ubiquitous and manifests in so many ugly ways that I’ve decided to dedicate a five-part series to overcoming academic perfectionism. And yes, there’s a unique flavor to academic perfectionism and … Read more
Author: Badia Ahad, PhD As a graduate student, I had a lot of difficulties writing the dissertation. I was told by my readers that I needed to “bolster” my language, that my analysis could be pushed “further,” and that my arguments were too diffuse. These kinds of criticisms are not uncommon for dissertation projects, but … Read more
Author: Joy Gaston Gayles, PhD I have been a full professor for a year now. Recently, I was asked to reflect on my experience, given that less than 2% of full professors are African American women. As the first African American in my program area and department to reach this milestone, and one of less … Read more
The thrill of being hired for a tenure-track job is often quickly replaced by feeling all alone in a new town, far from your loved ones. New faculty often feel so thankful to have landed a tenure-track job that it’s hard to also talk honestly about the fact that there are real challenges to settling … Read more
Author: Badia Ahad, PhD As a graduate student, I had a lot of difficulties writing the dissertation. I was told by my readers that I needed to “bolster” my language, that my analysis could be pushed “further,” and that my arguments were too diffuse. These kinds of criticisms are not uncommon for dissertation projects, but … Read more
Author: Barbara Risman, PhD In the 21st Century with higher education budgets shrinking from state legislatures, and small liberal arts colleges going bankrupt, it’s a stressful time to be a professor. The standards seem to keep rising for getting a job, getting tenured and promoted. Yet, for many of us, this is the life we want. The freedom to … Read more
Author: Barbara Risman, PhD Congratulations on your tenure! You are one of the few Americans left with any sort of job security. After more than two decades of education, and at least six years, and probably more, of precarious employment, you have arrived at your Associate Professorship. You know just how lucky you are. You’ve worked very hard, … Read more
Author: Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD Originally posted on Inside Higher Ed. In the spirit of continuing to question the tired and dysfunctional myths about mentoring that are pervasive in the academy (the meaning of mentoring, sink or swim, the limit of anecdotes, and mentoring underrepresented faculty) let me move to one that is both organizationally ineffective and individually debilitating: once professors … Read more