4 Tips for Female Academic Authors

Overcome Publication Perils for Women in Higher Education

Social progress can be measured by the social position of the female sex. -- Karl Marx

ProQuest's citation counter, an indicator of relevance. Who is citing you?

As we take the time this week to focus on the virtue of strength, as well as the power of women, let’s look at one specific area affecting prestige and promotion within higher education: publication in academic journals. Last spring, Kelly Baker, a columnist at Chronicle Vitae, explored the gender gap in scholarly publication with her article Are You Reading Enough Academic Women? Within the article, Baker discussed the JSTOR gender study conducted by the University of Washington’s Bergstrom Lab, a study that examined data for scholarly article publication from 1665 to 2011. According to the research, while women are outpacing men at earning terminal degrees, females authored only 26% of all single-authored papers published between 1990 and 2011. 

There are many possible reasons for the disparity in the publication rates of men and women. One professor of International Relations, B. F. Walter, shared her opinions with Erik Voeten of the Washington Post. Walter mused, “One could, for example, argue that women are failing to rise through the ranks of elite universities because they are less productive, publish in less prestigious journals, choose topics that are less central to core debates, or because they are more likely to choose to teach at liberal arts colleges” (para. 4). So, the disparity in publication numbers may be partially due to the choices women make within their professional fields rather than solely due to implicit bias or gender discrimination within academia. 

In an effort to take the Bergstrom Lab study further, Walter, along with two male colleagues, explored the actual citation rates of females versus males in over 3000 International Relations publications. (Examine the study for yourself here.) What they found was that female scholars tended to cite themselves less often than males do, and that men tended to cite work by other male authors more often than that by females. 

How can we improve these disturbing statistics?

These four tips were provided to combat biases and improve female publication and citation rates:

• Use your initials and last name only when submitting an article for publication to deter bias within the selection process.

• Cite your own work!

• Ensure the syllabi and bibliographies you construct and use have a gender balance.

• Read more articles by women in your field. If you do not find many, begin to bridge the gap with your own work. 

Let’s all, male and female, take these steps today to help improve the standing and influence of women within academia. 

Until tomorrow,

Melynda

@Melynda_Conner

#TCBHigherEd

References:

Voten, E. (2013, Oct. 1). How to reduce the gender gap in one (relatively easy) step. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2013/10/01/how-to-reduce-the-gender-gap-in-one-relatively-easy-step/

 

Wilson, R. (2012, Oct. 22). Scholarly publishing’s gender gap. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/The-Hard-Numbers-Behind/135236/

Historic Wednesday: 15 Quotes about Women

Historic Wednesdays

15 Quotes about Women in Honor of Women's History Month

My grandmother was an equal rights supporter and strong woman. She served Tennessee as the Executive Director of the state’s first Commission on the Status of Women in the late seventies. One of the relics I have from that part of her life is a sturdy coffee mug designed by Kenneth Grooms. Using colorful fonts, Mr. Grooms highlights the word “WOMAN” within more than 20 quotes about women and feminism. In honor of my CeeCee, Carolyn Pearson Cowan, I share 15 of these quotes with you.

1. There is a woman at the beginning of all great things.
2. Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men.
3. A country that can put men on the moon can put women in the Constitution.
4. Love, which is only an episode in the life of men, is the entire history of women.
5. The woman who has been given sexual freedom without real financial and social independence will find herself still bartering.
6. If we would know the political and moral conditions of a state, we must ask what rank women hold in it. Their influence embraces the whole of life.
7. Contact with a high-minded woman is good for the life of any man.
8. Women are the wild life of a country; morality corresponds to game laws.
9. The most wasteful brain drain in America today is the drain in the kitchen sink.
10. Social science affirms a woman’s place in society marks the level of civilization.
11. Women’s chains have been forged by men, not by anatomy.
12. Women are forcing their way into a system that has dehumanized men for centuries and calling this a great victory.
13. Woman reduces us all to a common denominator.
14. Women’s liberation is the liberation of the feminine in the man and the masculine in the woman.
15. A man of quality is not threatened by a woman for equality.

Which one is your favorite? I’d love to hear! Let me know in the comments below. 

Until tomorrow, 

Melynda

@Melynda_Conner

#TCBHigherEd

Women in Higher Education Administration

Women in Higher Education Administration

The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes. -- Bella Azbug, US Representative

Today there are ever-increasing numbers of women enrolling in and completing college, as well as outpacing men in attaining doctoral and professional degrees according to the Institute of Education Sciences Center for National Education Statistics website, The Condition of Education. Slowly, but surely this trend seems to be turning the tides of male-dominated academia. 

Following the progress of these tides is a very informative website, the WIA Report: Tracking the Progress of Women in Academia. All news of appointments, departures, enrollments, awards, etc. concerning women in the field of higher education can be found there. They also provide a jobs board.

Two women in higher education administration I have been particularly inspired by are Dr. Sherry Hoppe, the 8^th President of Austin Peay State University, and Dr. Alisa White, soon to be inaugurated as the 10^th President of APSU. 

While female higher education administrators are still in the minority, torch-bearers like Dr. Hoppe and Dr. White, as well as groups like these below are supporting women as they achieve more:

Women Administrators in Higher Education, www.facebook.com/WAHEwomen  and http://www.waheweb.info/

 

AAUP’s Women in the Academic Profession standing committee, http://www.aaup.org/about/committees/standing-committees#womencom

 

American Association of University Women (AAUW), http://www.aauw.org/who-we-are/

 

Check these organizations out and contribute where you can. Your efforts will help make a difference in the important issues like reducing sexual harassment, gaining equal pay for equal work, and discouraging discrimination in the promotion and tenure process. 

Until tomorrow, 

Melynda

@Melynda_Conner

#TCBHigherEd

 

References:

Center for National Education Statistics. (2015). The Condition of Education. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/index.asp

Emotional Intelligence in eLearning

Emotional Intelligence in eLearning

Seek first to understand, and then to be understood. – Stephen Covey

There are benefits to teaching online. There are no rigid schedules, no delays in getting to the next appointment due to student questions after class, and no having to deal with emotional student situations in person. Sometimes these benefits result in instructor detachment. Online educators may forget that students are not automatons or just blips on the screen. Instructors also may forget that they themselves are not simply an extension of the computer, not a robotic assessor who delivers static information and only provides numeric scores in exchange for assignment submission. 

Over the past five years there have been numerous calls for the insertion of “heart,” or the human element into online learning because, clearly, it is often missing from the elearning experience. Students are not called by name. Instructors are not actively participating in discussion or are not responding to student needs, requests, and questions with caring and compassion. Why is this? I believe the instructors are forgetting to use their personal power of emotional intelligence. 

If you aren’t familiar with emotional intelligence, I invite you to explore the various resources online including those by Daniel Goleman and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, ei.yale.edu. Perhaps the most helpful quick explanation of emotional intelligence is the TED talk by Michael Benner provided here.



So, how do we use this kind of personal power as online educators? 

Let me provide a personal example. This past week one of my online students contacted me requesting an extension for his assignments because he had been injured while suffering a tragedy. This is a student who is has a family and a job to think of in addition to his schoolwork. He is a senior expected to graduate this May. I felt great empathy for the student and granted the extension.

Another online instructor decided to refuse the same request and suggest the student withdraw from the course. This action is completely within that instructor’s rights and personal power. However, is it a compassionate or human response? We have more than half of the semester left. Is this the best use of power? Is this a response the instructor would give in person? Is this a response that benefits the department, the university, and the student? I’m not so sure. 

In her article, Using Emotional Intelligence to Teach, HigherEdJobs.com Communications Editor, Kelly Cherwin, shares four ideas on how to use emotional intelligence in the classroom. 

• Respect students, their diversities, and their challenges.

• Take responsibility for your emotions within your communication to keep from putting students on the defensive.

• Admit that you are human and do not have all of the answers. Also, apologize when you make a mistake.

• Encourage students by validating their efforts and fostering self-management. 

These are just four ways you can move yourself and your students into a successful 21^st century elearning environment. Yale University has provided an online resource, Emotional Intelligence in the Classroom: Skill-based Training for Teachers and Students. Please review these materials and use your personal power and emotional intelligence to uncover more ways to infuse your world of online learning with humanity. I would love to hear your ideas and stories. Please post them in the comments below. 

Until Monday, 

Melynda

@Melynda_Conner

#TCBHigherEd

References:

Cherwin, K. (n.d.). Using emotional intelligence to teach. HigherEdJobs.com. Retrieved from https://www.higheredjobs.com/Articles/ArticleDisplay.cfm?ID=285

From Pain to Power: Reformat Your Cover Letters

From Pain to Power: Reformat Your Cover Letters

There is no man living who isn't capable of doing more than he thinks he can do. -- Henry Ford

One of our most formidable forces of personal power is the communication we have with prospective employers. We express who we are, what value we have, and why we are the best choice for their open position. Unfortunately, if we are using an outdated format, then we are communicating just that – we have not yet joined the ranks of the current. 

At the beginning of this month, Forbes published an article by Liz Ryan entitled, How to Write a Pain Letter. What on Earth is a “pain letter?” I had to find out! What I learned was revolutionary to my thinking and my job search approach. It is a new way to introduce myself – a new kind of cover letter. 

According to Ms. Ryan, rather than focusing on ourselves as applicants and all of the keyword terms and adjectives of the job posting, focus instead on the pains the employer may be experiencing that you could heal. Tell them about your abilities to improve their situation. 

• Begin by researching the employer thoroughly. (Of course, I already do this!)

•  Brainstorm what pains you relieve. How did you improve your last workplace? What special knowledge or expertise beyond subject matter information do you have? What problems does that knowledge solve?

•  Determine which employers have that pain and could benefit from the relief you provide.

• Use information about the company to begin your letter. Get their attention by demonstrating your knowledge of their work. 

•  Construct a “pain hypothesis.” This piece of the letter mentions a pain you suspect they have.

•  Follow the possible pain point with one or two sentences about how you have solved that pain through your work in the past. Ms. Ryan calls this a “Dragon-Slaying Story.”

•  Then close with a concise statement inviting conversation concerning the position. 

This “Pain Letter” concept has opened my eyes to the changing tides of human resource evaluations and the importance of using my own personal power to introduce myself to potential employers. Now to start brainstorming what pains I solve…

What about you? Have you ever written a “pain letter?” Check out the article for yourself to discover many other tips and hints!

Until tomorrow, 

Melynda

@Melynda_Conner

#TCBHigherEd