The Black Woman's Guide to Advancing in Academia

By Jennifer J. Edwards and Ndidi Amutah-Onukagha

Black Woman’s Guide represents a timeless source of strategies to help you advance in academia. Navigating the academy as a professor offers an opportunity to build a prestigious full- or part-time career as you transform the knowledge and attitudes of today's students. The Guide will allow you to:

• Gain knowledge to help

• Language: English
• Publisher: Upstream
• Release date: Nov 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781970079739

Book preview

The Black Woman’s Guide to Advancing in Academia

© 2019 Upstream LLC

ISBN: 978-1-970079-73-9

All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Publisher: Upstream LLC

Formatting and editing: Opportune Independent Publishing Company

Welcome!

Navigating academia as a professor offers an opportunity to build a prestigious career and transform the knowledge and attitudes of today’s students. This book equips Black women and those interested in teaching at a college or university with the tools to consider the best academic setting, define effective topics for teaching, consider and understand the realities of academia, and make your next move. You can turn the tide on your career in academia, whether you are submitting a competitive job application or strategically deciding the next steps in your tenure pursuit.

Twelve notable Black women professors will share their stories, successes and hurdles regarding advancing in academia. We share this collection of stories to spark inspiration and remind you that the path of success within the academy is certainly attainable for you. No two stories or lives are the same. Each path to enter and succeed in academia is different. This Black Woman’s Guide offers keen and timely wisdom about advancing in academia. By reading this guide you will gain critical insights on becoming a competitive faculty member, promotion, work-life integration, as well as race, gender, and intersectionality and their influence on the Black woman’s faculty experience.

The two editors met over ten years ago at a training at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. We are national Pan- Hellenic greek sisters, who pursued parallel careers in public health and have had the pleasure of staying in touch over time. When you meet someone with similar and drive and goals, you stay connected. We want to share our energy and further empower ladies who are proficient in this field. This guide is intended to help you learn effective strategies to give you the inside track to landing an interview and advancing successfully in your career. Get ready for a straightforward, actionable, transparent conversation about advancing in academia. We’re here to equip you to teach, earn, and advance in academia. Enjoy!

Together in the journey,

Dr. Jennifer J. Edwards

Dr. Ndidiamaka N. Amutah-Onukagha

Co-Editors, The Black Woman’s Guide to Advancing in Academia

Table of Contents

Where To Start

Creating Competitive Application Materials

Your Teaching Philosophy

Pursuing Research and the Research Statement

Your Curriculum Vitae

The Classroom Climate

Advancing in Academia: 12 Inspirational Stories from the Field

A Master’s Degree Path

Technologist in Academia

Liberating Women in Academia

Success is a Feeling

The Adjunct Experience

The HBCU Perspective

From Military to Teaching Online

Work-Life Integration

Master’s Degree and Many Hats

Career Shift into Academia

Tenured and Tenacious

Intrinsically Inspired

Just Do It

Where To Start

Guest lecturing is a great way to jumpstart your career in academia. Guest lecturing means you get to take over a professor’s class and teach their students. The benefits of guest lecturing are that you can focus on a topic that is of special importance to you and speak passionately about it to an audience of students who are engaged. It’s important to reflect on your interests–choose courses that are of interest to you and that relate to your professional experiences. With guest lectures, you gain teaching experience, practice in managing a classroom and facilitating dialogue, and the classes can be added to your resume to demonstrate your capability for future faculty applications.

Guest lectures are also a great way to build relationships with departments that may be hiring in the future. They will know who you are and may share information and invitations for future faculty hiring opportunities.

When entering the classroom, keep in mind that the students have never seen you before and you are offering them new information. You have never given them an exam or graded their homework. They are simply a captive audience that you get to expand your teaching skills with. Guest lectures are often guided with powerpoint slides that include videos as well as interactive discussion, with plenty of time for questions. You are likely representing the perspective of a professional from the field in which they would like to work in one day. You have the chance to share your heart and expertise as an example for those entering your particular field in the future.

Guest lecturing is also a helpful way to determine the school profile – faculty and student characteristics, mission alignment, and other school features – that works best for your own preferences. When applying for faculty positions it is important to consider that each institution has its own personality. You want to enter into a journey that aligns with your beliefs, instructional skills, and goals. Consider whether a state or a private institution fits your needs best. Would you want to serve at a historically black college or university (HBCU), religious institution, or university focusing specifically on certain student needs like the deaf community? Would you thrive better at a community college or a four-year commuter school? How large of a university and what size classroom would you be most successful in? Gain clarity on the institutional profile that works best for you. There is no room for compromise in this area, as it can often affect how you interact with students, acceptable conversations in the classroom, as well as your own professional and personal schedule.

What is the best way to get started with guest lecturing? Start with your professional relationships. Do you know someone on faculty already at the local community college, college, or university? If so, ask them if you can join them in their classroom one day. If not, reach out to the local institutions to see if their relevant departments have an interest in guest lectures. Put together a solid CV, research philosophy, and teaching statement to reach out directly to department chairs. If faculty member names and their courses (or at least research areas) are listed, e-mail faculty members who mirror your interests directly, as they will likely be teaching a course that could benefit from your guest lecture. E-mail addresses are often publicly listed on the departmental webpages. It’s as simple as that. Just ask.

Creating Competitive Application Materials

What atmosphere and experience will you create for your students? Your teaching philosophy is a vital guide that illustrates your classroom operations, standards, and energy. It reflects your values, personality, brand, and priorities. The teaching philosophy illustrates what you find to be most important in the classroom and how you will execute and maintain appropriate strategies to ensure you practice what is enclosed in the statement. The philosophy defines expectations for how you will engage with your students and how you will manage your classroom.

The teaching philosophy is a core document to develop for your competitive faculty application. Some applicants are unaware of the importance of this collateral, but now you know that it is truly a feature of a standout submission. Your philosophy must convey three to four, definitely no more than five, key areas of focus. It should have a strong opener that connects to the mission of