How can you be successful if you don’t know the rules? How can you advance if you don’t have clear, constructive feedback?
In most situations: You can’t.
In the academic context, this is especially the case for women and underrepresented individuals who seek tenure and promotions. Confusing review policies, unequal mentoring opportunities, and unwelcoming work environments interfere with their chances of advancing.
The consequences are dire. Women and minorities often choose to drop out of academia altogether — a phenomenon known as the leaky pipeline — and departments miss out on much-needed diverse perspectives.
But it’s not just women and minorities who benefit from improved tenure and policies. Everyone does.
Accounting for personal circumstances that all junior faculty members may face, such as raising a family or caring for a sick parent, and recognizing that supportive work environments and strong mentoring efforts can prevent people from falling through the cracks are critical — and possible.
Discover how to shape and implement positive changes in the Improving Promotion and Tenure Practices course, created by SfN’s Increasing Women in Neuroscience (IWiN) project with funding from NSF.
In 13 short videos (most under two minutes), professors and chairs share their own experiences to answer:
- How do you create the best promotion and tenure practices?
- How do you address the leaky pipeline?
- How can you modify your annual review process to set people up for success?
- How do mentoring committees influence tenure and promotion?
- How do you create a positive climate?
- What are examples of success stories?
- What are lessons learned from institutions who have made changes large and small?
