Academic Woman Amplified

I’m in the hot seat on this episode of The Academic Womxn Amplified! I’m sharing an interview of yours truly by Anna Clemens of Scientists Who Write. We cover everything from how (and why) to get writing done inside your work week to changing the patriarchal culture of academia to my coaching philosophy and program offerings.  Key points discussed: Writing as career currency and why academics should put it at the center of their careers Why I work with womxn and non-binary folx and systemic challenges in academia How I started my coaching business and my coaching philosophy What structural changes we should work toward in academia How to move away from fear-based decision making Driving change in a wider arena by focusing on individual career goals How to keep writing time inside your work week and the message you send yourself when you push it to the periphery Why waiting for big blocks of time to write doesn’t work Soaring states, co-writing and how to be more productive in less time The glorification of

What is “mid-career” for academics? How long does it last and where can you go from here? The answer to that last one may surprise you.   In North America, we have a 3-tiered promotion system. Your early career starts at Assistant Professor, you move to Associate Professor after you pass tenure review, and the final stage is Full Professor. (The UK system uses different terminology but is similar.) So what’s considered “mid-career” and why does it matter? How can you move forward after tenure and what does it take to make a push for the final step in the system? Let’s dig in.   Early Career: On a Mission The early career stage for academics lasts about 5-6 years. It’s the period where you’re starting to define your identity, and answering the question: who am I as an academic? It’s also the period when you are pursuing tenure. You may not have a crystal clear criteria for reaching tenure, but you have requirements, a pathway to follow and milestones to meet.    Mid-Career: What Now? Once you get tenure (or pa

Don’t let the wide open schedules of a sabbatical or leave go to waste. Find out how to approach this time to get the most out of it!   It’s something we all dream about—a sabbatical or research leave when you can spend all your time writing. Then you’ll really be productive!   But ask anyone who has actually taken a sabbatical and you’ll soon discover that the big blocks of time that you’ve been craving can actually make you feel more guilty and less productive than you feel in a regular semester.    The solution is to get very clear on your priorities, plan and prepare well. Here are 3 things to do to get set up well and stay the course.   1. Clear the Decks You may be tempted to keep outside projects and responsibilities because you will have “so much time”, but this is a mistake! A sabbatical is meant to be a time to step back from regular duties to allow deep thinking on your chosen project. That is very hard to accomplish if one foot is still in the world of your day-to-day duties. Here’s what I recomme

It’s a fresh, new year and it’s time to leave all the “shoulds” in 2020 and plan to be more you in 2021.   Goodbye 2020! My hopes are high for 2021. I encourage you to make this the year that you stop focusing on what you think you “should” be doing to get your writing done and advance your career and start leaning in to what works for you. I assure you that you will get more done with deeper creativity if you accept the ways that work best for you and structure everything else accordingly.    Your voice, and your influence on your field will have greater impact if you lean in to what makes you and your perspective unique, and then stand by it. Let’s stop struggling to fit into someone else’s mold, and be ourselves in our writing and scholarship this year! Making Your Writing Systems More YOU I encourage you to reflect on what works well for you in terms of writing, and to run with it!   Find and utilize your soar states. What times of the day are you most energized, focused and creative? Use them for your w

Have you ever considered writing a book? I’m sharing the inside scoop on the process for my own book project, from idea to submission.   I know many of you out there have entertained the idea of writing a book at one time or another. So I’m sharing my own experiences with the book process, from idea to proposal writing to submission. As of this writing, I am still in the process of submitting to different academic presses, so part 2 will come after I get a contract and start the next phase! For now, I’m sharing how I got to this point, including my fears, my process, and a few recommendations.  The Beginnings My project process started about 3 years ago with my idea for a writing guide for academics. I felt that through my business I had honed my message about writing and knew I wanted to put it into a book, but I had a lot of fear. I’ve written plenty of articles, and contributed to many edited volumes, but this would be my first monograph. Was I up to it?   “Can I really write a book? Do I have that many wo

There are times, like at the end of a semester, when you might put your writing aside. How do you pick it back up again with the least amount of stress and the most creative potential?   Your workload ebbs and flows, and there are times (like the end of a semester) when you may put your writing aside; in fact, I recommend it. So how do you pick it back up again? If you’re thinking you’ll get all your grades in, finish your semester tasks, then jump right into it again, I’m asking you to reconsider! In order to build your creative potential back up and get back into writing in a way that will feel like soaring rather than slogging, you need to do a few things.   First Things First: Rest and Restore Don’t shake this one off. It’s vitally important, not just to your health, but to the quality of your writing. We all want to create more, write more, get more done and it might seem like the best way to do that is to spend more time, more energy, do more. Not so! A life coach of mine introduced me to the “create-re

What actually “counts” as writing? When you give yourself credit for accomplishing your writing, do you only look at the number of words on a page? I say it’s more than that.   We spend a lot of time thinking “I should be writing,” as academia pulls us in a thousand directions. But we often forget all that writing really is. It is important to re-think what “counts” as writing. Acknowledging progress on a project helps us cultivate positive feelings about our writing, which propels us forward and keeps us coming back. But, the positive feelings don’t necessarily happen naturally. We need to deliberately create them.    It Starts with the Pipeline Try this exercise: Get out a piece of paper and start at the true beginning of your pipeline. Write down all the things that must happen between that moment when you first get your idea for the project and starting to write the first draft. Maybe you’ll need to have grant funding, maybe you’ll need to conduct specific research; whatever those pieces are, articulate t

I am joined on this episode by my fabulous writing coaches, Rocío Caballero-Gill and Gina Robinson. We are talking all about the issues and stressors that are coming up the most in working with clients in our programs right now. What are you struggling with in your career? One thing we can guarantee is that you are not alone. From motivation to time management to boundaries to finding support, we are addressing all the top-of-mind issues from the fabulous womxn in our programs.    Issues discussed: Logistical questions like how do I find and manage time to be able to write? How to sustain writing through proper mindset, priority setting, and boundaries. Worrying about what isn’t being done, and how to find focus. Using structure and systems to create confidence and focus. Scarcity mindset and the fear of not using time ‘well enough’. Digging deeper into lack of motivation to find and deal with the underlying issues. The importance of community for support, energy, and momentum. Rest, and how to structure and

This is a special bonus episode to tell you all about my re-imagined Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap course, the modules, the freebies, and the sign-up bonuses!   I’m giving you the lowdown on the awesome bonuses you’ll receive as one of the first 10 people to enroll when doors open on Black Friday. We’re talking about a bonus valued at $2000! And even if you don’t end being one of the first 10, the sooner you sign up, the bigger the bonuses. To get the jump on enrolling, get on the waitlist here  so you’ll be first to know when the doors open.   Listen in to the episode to hear all about the course, it’s modules, the extra freebies that come with your enrollment, and the juicy details on all the bonuses!   Don’t miss out on your chance to get into the Phoenix Cohort and get all the best bonuses. Get on the waitlist now!   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page

The pandemic didn’t change the course of academia; it has amplified the issues that were already there. As higher ed systems crumble, it’s time for you to decide your own course of action.   As one of my favorite books, “The Slow Professor”, explains: the University system is deeply ingrained in the history of capitalism. The path the University is on wasn’t created by the pandemic, it simply sped up the journey down that path. More demands have been made on professors' time, more unpaid admin work expected, the exploitation of adjunct and grad student labor has become prevalent, support roles have been eliminated; we have been seeing the capitalist system at work, squeezing us for every drop of labor it can.    When the pandemic hit, the process sped up. Now we’re seeing furloughs, lay offs, universities questioning the idea of tenure, institutions closing altogether. Higher Ed is in crisis. But what does it mean for you? I want to suggest that you get to decide.  Creation and the Upsides of This Moment Whil

We have an opportunity, at any time, but especially at this moment in time, to rise from the ashes of what has come before to remake our careers and our lives as academics.   On the next few episodes of The Academic Womxn Amplified I’m talking about how to rise from the ashes of 2020 to make 2021 the year you take control and redefine your career.    Why does writing often fall to the bottom of the list? How can you rethink your vision, mission and goals to help you get your work into the world in a way that feels right to you? We have the opportunity at this moment in time to rebuild, reimagine and reinvent our academic lives.   During Tough Times, Writing Suffers I know what it is to have writing fall to the bottom of the list, or completely off a cliff, during trying and traumatic times.    While I was going up for tenure, my 10-month old son became seriously ill. For a solid week I was in the hospital with him, and completely out of contact with my students. For months afterward, I suffered from total exh

Keeping your relationship with writing peaceful and productive means prioritizing it during your most energetic and focused times of day. I’m coining a new term for those times to get us into the right mindset for the work.   Getting writing done is a key component to the academic life, but it doesn’t have to be a slog. Creating a positive relationship with your writing while also doing your best work is so much easier when you tune in to those times of your day when your energy and focus soar, and you’re ready to take on the world.    Encouraging you to use those times and helping you find out when they are for you (everyone is different!) has always been a main tenet of my coaching. Up until now, I’ve been borrowing a term for these times during the day, but it wasn’t quite fitting my vision anymore, so I coined a new one! Here’s the backstory on what “tiger time” is, how I discovered it, and why I wanted to change it to better fit our needs as academic writers. Tiger Time When I was first building my busin

Dr. Kemi Doll joins me on this episode of The Academic Womxn Amplified, sharing her expertise and advice on everything from how she balances her multidisciplinary career with joy, to power dynamics and privilege to why coaching is so helpful for academics. She shares her own journey to doctor and health academic, and why she decided to add coach to her list of titles.    Key points discussed: Struggling academically through undergrad, going for med school anyway [3:30] How Kemi spends her time, with many different aspects of her career weaving together to form the whole [8:30] The multidisciplinary life [13:00] How she got started coaching [15:00] Coaching vs. the paternalistic mentor/apprentice model [19:00] Power dynamics, privilege, and imbalance in academia, and what to remember about being free [22:30] The glorification of suffering in academia [25:30] Racism and patriarchal systems in academia [28:30] Creating the career you want from the very beginning [33:30] The impacts of isolation and the benefits

Making a change in your academic career can be scary, but is it dangerous? On this episode I’m helping you recognize when deciding not to make a change might be the danger.   I’m an avid podcast listener. I recently heard a story on the How I Built This podcast about an investment banker whose doctor told her that if something didn’t change, she was going to have a stroke, or a heart attack. Staying in that job, for her, was exceedingly dangerous. This got me thinking about our careers in academia, and dangerous versus scary career moves.   Making a change, speaking up, or creating new boundaries in your career can feel scary. At times, these things might even feel like they are dangerous. Will I lose my job? What if my income changes? What about my identity as ‘an academic’? But I am here to tell you, that staying in a toxic, frustrating or overwhelming situation just because it is scary to leave or create change is where the true danger lies.    “So although it’s scary to leave, it’s not actually dangerous

Career coach Dr. Carol Parker Walsh joins us to share her path into and through academia, and to dig into something we are both passionate about: career development for women. Carol helps women figure out their next career steps, in order to make their lives and careers more individual and joyful. She shares about big moments in her own life that helped her realize she was on the wrong path, and gives us three great questions to ask ourselves to reflect on our careers. Key points discussed: Dr. Carol’s career trajectory, including changing her mind from pre-med, practicing law for 10 years, and returning to academia [3:30] Hitting mile markers in life and career that make you pause and think about things [6:30] Being funneled along a career path further and further up the administrative track [8:00] How a life-altering car crash and the death of her father made her pull up and realize she was on the wrong path [10:30] Walking away [12:00] Pivot moments, fear around leaving academia, the idea of the Ivory Tow

Your career, your body of scholarly work, is independent of any ‘container’ through which you do that work, like a university or institution. Have you ever thought about this idea? It’s important!   We often look at our career paths in terms of a certain ‘container’. We make choices based on things like which grad school has a reputation that will position us well in our fields, which institutions provide pre-tenure opportunities, etc. Much of the conversation about career paths gets steered toward what the ‘container’ wants: how do I get tenure here? Or full? If you pause to reflect, you might realize you are contorting yourself and your work to fit the needs of your current container.    I want to flip the script and encourage you to look at your career differently. I’m going to give you some examples to help you see that you are not the container. You do not have to accept the container you’re in, and doing so is not the only way in which to advance your work. There are several ways to make change for your

Are you wondering what your career will be like once you reach that ultimate milestone of tenure? I’m busting 5 myths about the post tenure experience to give you a realistic picture.   Getting tenure is a goal that most academics have had throughout their entire careers. If you are in the pre-tenure process right now, you may be believing one or more of these 5 myths about what it will be like if and when you are granted tenure. I’m busting these myths to give you a clearer picture of the post tenure life, so you can make the best decisions going forward.    Myth #1: Your Workload Will Decrease If you were not able to say no, speak up, and avoid creep during your pre-tenure process, it’s not going to be any different once you are tenured. You might find that you’re expected to take on new responsibilities, your admin duties increase, you have more meetings, etc. You can help alleviate this issue by starting to practice saying no, setting up boundaries, and speaking up right now.     “If you haven’t been flex

We get a lot of questions about academic publishing in our 14,000 member Facebook group. On this podcast I’m sharing answers to the top 5 questions we see.   Writing and publishing in academia is paramount. In our Facebook group we get lots of questions about academic publishing, so I’m breaking down answers to the 5 questions we see the most. Let’s jump right in.   Question #1: How do I respond to reviewer comments if I don't agree with them? First off, I want to say that peer review is important! It teaches you to be a better article writer and helps you hone your craft. That said, many of us have been in the position of receiving feedback that we do not agree with. Maybe the suggestions made are simply impossible to bring about (changes to vital research, for example), or maybe you just disagree on an epistemological level. What then?  First make sure you’ve taken a good look at the feedback. Is it possible there is a kernel of helpfulness there? Realize that this may indicate the journal in question is n

Do you constantly feel like there is not enough time, not enough resources, not enough publications, just not enough? This isn’t a coincidence (and it isn’t the truth). In academia we’ve been conditioned into a scarcity mindset. An abundance mindset means you feel like there is enough of something: enough time, enough resources, plenty to go around for everyone. Scarcity mindset assumes there is never enough, and you better scramble and scratch for everything you can get. We’ve been conditioned to see our careers through a scarcity lens, but it does not have to be that way!  What is a Scarcity Mindset? Scarcity mindset, the feeling that there is never enough, is rampant in academia. When we never know how much is enough, it breeds feelings of never enough.    If it is unclear exactly how many publications you need for tenure, it ends up feeling like there are never enough.  When your department chair sends out the vibe that there is no money for anything and don’t even bother asking, it can seem like there i

How do you keep your writing going during times of upheaval and uncertainty? It’s possible to keep making progress, but you do need to have some tools to draw on.   Uncertainty is a norm in our lives. Some times are rife with upheaval on a large scale, like our current moment in 2020: unknowns and extra stressors due to Covid-19, unrest and striving for change due to a long overdue racial reckoning...it’s an uncertain moment in history. But even in our “normal” lives, uncertainty is a factor. Someone might get sick, you might have a loss in the family or a change in circumstances.    When life takes unpredictable turns, how do you make progress on your writing projects? In a word: systems. You need to have a variety of tools to pull from, that you can apply in different ways at different times, in order to roll with the punches life throws. Here are some of the tools and skills we teach in our programs to help you maintain a practice no matter what is happening in your circumstances.  Parts of a Writing Syste