While helping a client with her application for promotion, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a senior colleague when I applied for a promotion many years ago. “The promotion committee will be looking for a trajectory in your research.” I checked the guidelines for promotion from my client’s institution. Sure enough I […]
Read More »tenure
Writing is the social currency of academic life
In high school things like fashionable clothes, knowing the latest hit from a popular band, and being good at sports were the keys to popularity. Getting good grades might have endeared you to teachers and parents but it wasn’t really the currency of peer approval. The world you are in now is like an upside […]
Read More »Do Conference Papers Count?
This is a question I get asked a lot. Whether it is for hiring, tenure, or a research grant, researchers seem unsure of the value of conference papers. It’s all about impact Conference presentations feel like they have more impact than other forms of dissemination. There are real people in the room listening. They ask […]
Read More »Does it matter for tenure whether you’ve published from the PhD?
Recently, I received this query: Hi Jo, I’ve been trying to publish my dissertation for a while now since completing it 7 years ago. The manuscript has been rejected twice and reviewers have noted that the data is too dated. My question is should I keep trying or just let it go? I am applying […]
Read More »How I help mid-career academics
You’d think that once you get that academic job and get through whatever process you have to go through to keep it (tenure, probation, or whatever it’s called where you live), it would be plain sailing. You have been judged by your peers to know what you are doing and be doing it well. Unfortunately, […]
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