Sharing another post in our new semi-regular series, “Missives from the Editing Trenches” written by long-time TPII editors. They are the real MVPs, working in the trenches to catch you in all your job document pitfalls — from the self-deprecating to the self-aggrandizing. They’ve seen it all and are happy to share their knowledge and give you concrete tips on how to make your documents shine.
Today’s post is by Dr. Petra Shenk.
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Your diss is dead, baby, dead. But don’t weep. It went through a remarkable transformation into the book and/or journal articles (present, future, and past) that derive from it. And here is the other kicker, all the research that culminated in your diss and all that never made it into the tome, which nobody else will ever read, are also no longer your diss or your diss research. They too are simply publications (in review, in progress, etc.) and your previous and ongoing research.
So, for example, if you have finished your degree, STOP writing variations of:
“My dissertation, How the ponies reversed climate change, explores how the power of friendship among diverse individuals coheres into a group of influential ponies that fight for the betterment of all ponies and non-ponies…”
“My dissertation is under contract with UC Press…”
“UC Press has expressed interest in my dissertation…”
AND INSTEAD DO VARIATIONS ON THIS:
“My book manuscript, How the ponies reversed climate change, explores how the power of friendship among diverse individuals coheres into a group of influential ponies that fight for the betterment of all ponies and non-ponies…”
“My first book, How the ponies reversed climate change,”
“My manuscript is under contract with UC Press…”
“UC Press has expressed interest in the project, and I will submit a proposal in June 2021…”
If you are not in a book field, then write variations on:
“My current research examines a remarkable reversal of climate change. Using mixed-methods, including X and Y, I explore how the power of friendship among diverse individuals coheres into a group of influential ponies that fight for the betterment of all ponies and non-ponies…”
“I currently have two forthcoming journal articles, one published book chapter, and another article under review. My article, “TITLE,” appears in Journal and argues…”
I must say when I started The Professor Is In I didn’t expect to spend so much of my time blogging about a jumpsuit.
However, there is more to say. (And yes I’m aware today is Thursday but in my defense I just finished three marvelous but tiring 8 hour days of talks and 1-1 coaching on the U of Michigan campus).
First: just when you thought the Old Navy Breathe ON Jumpsuit (about which I have blogged repeatedly, and which by the way, has been restocked!) couldn’t get any better, they come out with a Breathe-ON cinched wrap in matching fabric (matching the dark and light grey that is). Throw this wrap over the jumpsuit, and you transform it from a Spring-Summer item to a Fall-Winter. You also have a supremely comfortable item for the crap-shoot that is flying: too hot? It’s breathable and loose and balls up into a tiny, non-wrinkling ball to shove into your bag. Too cold? Grab it and put it on, and it comes out of the bag as fresh as when it went in! Also cozy for sleeping in.
Some more pics:
Second: today the jumpsuit got put to the ultimate Karen travel test. First off, there are the facts about Karen that have to be mentioned, to wit, I am a person who:
gets a peanut butter and jelly donut with my coffee in Ann Arbor
bites into the donut and immediately releases a massive glob of jelly onto the table
fails to notice that half that jelly actually has fallen onto my lap and the chair
gets up to get a napkin to wipe the jelly off the table without realizing I am dragging my left leg through the jelly on the chair
notices a mass of now-smeared jelly on the chair when I get back
deduces that — ONCE AGAIN — I have managed to smear my food all over my outfit, in this case, all over the butt and legs of my Old Navy Jumpsuit.
has at hand only one small square dry Espresso Royale napkin.
Friends, I used that napkin, and discreetly at the table (because I didn’t want to walk through the coffee shop with jelly on my butt), wiped the jelly off the leg and behind of my jumpsuit.
Et voila:
nary a mark
That jelly just…. ROLLED OFF the fabric. You can see a few specks of white paper napkin, but absolutely no jelly.
So, while I didn’t plan to keep blogging about the jumpsuit, circumstances gave me no choice.
If you haven’t tried this jumpsuit yet, especially for travel, I once again I recommend it. (And for those who have not followed the lively FB dialogue from previous posts, it’s a cinch to roll down in a tiny aircraft lavatory, and the performance fabric is so springy it never loses its shape even after a 12 hour travel day.)
Bonus tip: The Walgreens in Ann Arbor is one of only 11 locations in the country to feature in-store BirchBox cosmetic sign up and stock. Ie, you can BUY BirchBox IN STORE, and not just one option, but several different options, as well as a special “Create Your Own Box” using samples that they have right there on hand.
Beyond that (and maybe related, I’m not sure) the Walgreens features a sizable selection of prestige and indie cosmetics, skin and hair care on regular sale–>
I found an Eyeko (remember–my favorite brand!) Brow Marker, a Love Of Color Glowsquad Quad highlighter combo and a Lipstick Queen RearView Mirror Lipcolor that were all, actually and without hyperbole, revelatory. The Eyeko Brow Marker fills in my brow gap (where I pull out hair due to life-long trichotillomania) with an effortless naturalness that I’ve never before encountered in any product. The LOC highlighter finally threads that needle between over-shiny and invisible on my skin while also not being too silver/cold or too champagne/pink or too glimmer/gold (Goldilocks, anyone?) but just a perfect delicate flush, and the Rear View Mirror lipcolor, which I bought ENTIRELY on a whim just for the bright fuscia color, turns out to ACTUALLY STAY ON THROUGH MEALS WHILE ALSO BEING HIGH-GLOSS AND HIGH-PIGMENT. I did not believe this was possible, and that’s after spending a fortune on the ill-fated Prestige/Luxury Berry-colored Lipcolor debacle (scroll back for posts).
Honestly I’m still reeling a bit from the whole thing. I went back to Walgreens before leaving, and got a neutral color (downside, there are only 8 colors in total) which is what I’m wearing below. Sorry for the weird selfie but I was self-conscious and rushing in the Airport Lufthansa Lounge.
I am pleased to host this guest post by Professor Margaret M. Quinlan and Bethany L. Johnson, authors of a new book, You’re Doing It Wrong! Mothering, Media, and Medical Expertise(Rutgers U Press, 2019). See below for additional info and links related to the book.
Margaret M. Quinlan (Ph.D.) is an associate professor in the department of communication studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She explores how communication creates, resists and transforms knowledges about bodies. She critiques power structures in order to empower individuals who are marginalized inside and outside of healthcare systems. She has authored approximately 40 journal articles, 17 book chapters and co-produced documentaries in a regional Emmy award-winning series.
Bethany L. Johnson (MPhil, M.A.) is an instructor in history and an associate member to the graduate faculty and research affiliate faculty in the department of communication studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She studies how science, medicine, and health discourses are framed and reproduced by institutions and individuals from the 19th century to the present. She has published in interdisciplinary journals such as Health Communication, Women & Language, Departures in Critical Qualitative Research and Women’s Reproductive Health.
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I [Maggie] sat in the pediatrician’s office with my two children texting my husband with updates on results for sore throats, high temperatures and ear infections. I made the mistake of checking my email to learn that Bethany and I received a MAJOR Revise and Resubmit (R&R) on our latest journal article under review. The supportive editor urged us to “let [them] know if [we] would like to revise…in the next three weeks because my term as an editor is about to end.”
I panicked and texted Bethany while I waited for the nurse to report the results of a urine culture. The following is a transcript of the ensuing text message exchange:
Maggie: We got a MAJOR R&R. CHECK YOUR EMAIL
Bethany: “I’m driving with DO NOT
DISTURB while driving turned on. I’ll see your message when I get where I am going”
Bethany: Wait, what?! I am in drop off
line will read when I get home
Maggie: Did I forget to say congrats?
Oh yeah, congrats. I have a pit in my stomach
Maggie: We HAVE NO CHOICE but to do the revisions. All I see is $$.
Bethany: The fact that [Editor] wants it back so soon must mean that [Editor] is supportive, right?
Maggie: Well, Reviewer 2 basically said REJECT. And [child’s] last day of preschool is Thursday. When will we do this?!
We both text our sitters (we each have a toddler and a baby) to figure out what days work for them so we can pump out the revisions. At this time, we both still pumped breastmilk; we completed all this pumping simultaneously. After a phone meeting we make a plan: Maggie will create the revision chart while Bethany begins to rework the introduction.
Writing about the dangers of maternal death in the early postpartum period (the first six weeks) took on a new meaning as we worked to meet deadlines in the very period in question. We meant to advocate for others in our situation, but doing so meant we had to bring the book to publication as soon as possible, and that required us to work during those six weeks.
Our Press would have given us more time and everyone there was very supportive. However, the penalties for delays impact opportunities for advancement in our careers (e.g., research visibility, promotions, grant funding), even if these penalties aren’t obvious until later. For tenured professors, there is the option to “stop the clock,” but there is evidence that this is more beneficial for those without primary caretaking responsibilities.
Maggie is a tenured associate professor who went back to work with her second child at three months and Bethany is an instructor and had to take semesters off unpaid as she was due at the end of a semester twice. Although Maggie was able to take paid leave and did not teach, she remained on masters and doctoral student committees and skyped into defenses because if she took time off those committees it would have erased years of mentorship and emotional labor. This resulted in more than 50 hours of work the semesters she went unpaid and without health insurance.
We are also aware these stopping the clock, altering teaching schedules, and all the other ways we modified or rearranged our schedules reflect economic and other forms of structural privilege. We have colleagues who managed to juggle shifting deadlines by handing off childcare to partners. We realize we are fortunate to have supportive partners; however, they have work constrains as well. Bethany’s partner travels weekly and often at the last minute, so schedules time-off in advance. Maggie’s partner has a family manufacturing business with no vacation time, so taking on more childcare than planned equates to lost business.
We conducted a cost-benefit analysis of a R&R with Major Revisions to Press. Here it is:
2 Academics
20 hours each for childcare
a Total of 40 hours at 15 dollars/hour
Total:
$600
Compensation for academic publishing:
$0 from publisher, journal, etc.
From university:
tenured party: $0; expected tenure and promotion
untenured party: $0; neither recognition nor job security.
Untenured party also has to absorb childcare cost ($300) against adjunct pay ($3500 per course before taxes) and can’t afford not to publish, in hopes of future job stability (also believes in the work).
Before our first children, Maggie and I discussed how hard it would be to balance the demands of an academic job where you have to complete teaching/mentoring, researching/publication, committees/service work—and that’s if you don’t work in a lab. Our jobs have some flexibility in that we can teach online or work from home, but this comes with expectations (from ourselves and others) that we are available around the clock. The result is often 60 hours a week of work, to complete with time leftover for our families and the ever-elusive “self-care.” In some cases, there are real consequences for taking leave (paid or unpaid) as it can lead to accusations of not “pulling your weight” in a department.
It is easy to forget that academic publishing still has deadlines when individuals are on paid and unpaid leave (and Family Medical Leave Act leave) as one cannot control when article feedback arrives. Even after we returned from maternity leave, publishing (research, writing, editing, conference travel) means we need to pay for additional childcare and when that cannot happen, we are still expected to meet deadlines (even with extensions, although we never ask for them), the work piles up) so we work around the clock to meet deadlines.
Struggling with less sleep and more to balance in our families didn’t improve our writing, even if it forced us to be more efficient with our time. Social media complicates this already precarious balance as it is both a boon and a burden, allowing us to commiserate and celebrate with other academic mothers and parents, but potentially enabling students and colleagues more access to our daily lives and thus, critique and surveillance of our “off hours.”
What’s worse—sharing our experiences here could feel like an indictment of someone else’s postpartum period. Someone who asked for extensions, missed deadlines and did the hard work of disappointing others to maintain some semblance of balance in this critical period. We want to celebrate those decisions. Our point is that the system is broken, and no matter which path you choose (round-the-clock or clocking out) someone will say, “you’re doing it wrong.”
Because of the financial commitment of preparing our research
for peer-reviewed submission, we remain dedicated to completing revisions to
the editor and reviewers’ satisfaction and seeing our articles go to press. We
both love our work; we are passionate about teaching, committed to our graduate
and undergraduate students, and we enjoy the challenge and discovery of
research and publication, but
we are tired. Our responses are concise to maintain our professionalism,
but what these messages omit are the economic, personal and relational costs of
maintaining our standards
in a system that “taxes” us, directly or indirectly, for reproducing.
Dear
[Editor],
Thank
you for the opportunity to revise our manuscript. Yes— we will complete revisions
by the deadline.
Respectfully,
Authors
[1] In our book, we discuss at length the problem with the label “mother,” even while we acknowledge the theoretical, legal and political weight of the title. As we say, “We most often use the term “mother” to reflect historical terminology, self-identification, and the direction of the medical gaze, yet we acknowledge that gender/sex is a continuum and motherhood is a state of flux. This word is both sufficient and wholly insufficient to describe the experiences of many today…we hope to examine how power and oppression impact individuals who wish to identify as a mother or identify themselves as mothers or parents across diverse social strati (see also Griffin & Chávez, 2012)” (p. 3).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is some information about our book: “You’re Doing it Wrong! investigates the storied history of expertise around mothering in the media, from the newspapers, magazines, doctors’ records and personal papers of the nineteenth century to today’s websites, Facebook groups, and Instagram feeds. Johnson and Quinlan find surprising parallels between today’s mothering experts and their Victorian counterparts, but they also explore how social media has placed unprecedented pressures on new mothers wrestling with familiar concerns and crises from pre-conception through early toddlerhood.”
This post and a companion post on the Non-Academic Job Market are summaries of two talks I gave at the University of Durham in the UK, generously compiled by Katie Harling-Lee, who attended. For anyone curious about my in-person talks, this is how I spend the one hour (followed by 30 minutes of Q and A). Thank you, Katie, for taking the time to provide these.
Katie Harling-Lee is a PhD student in the Department of English Studies at Durham University, UK, funded by The Wolfson Foundation. Her primary research is in musico-literary studies, exploring the thematic use of music in the contemporary novel with a particular focus on the use of Western classical music in conflict situations. In the early stages of her PhD studies, she is preparing herself for the academic career market, but also co-runs the blog Object [https://medium.com/objects], endeavors to find time for ‘fun reading’ alongside her research, and tweets on the academic and nonacademic world as @KatieOsha. Find her at her personal website: k.harlinglee.com, and also here: academia.edu and here: https://durham.academia.edu/KatieHarlingLee
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In just an hour and a half, Dr Karen Kelsky presented a room full of budding PhD students with enough advice to warrant over 2,000 words worth of notes. This post is the boiled down version, highlighting the points that I wish all PhD students could be taught during their studies.
To Begin
The most thought-altering point of Karen’s talk: turn your PhD into a job. Yes, academic study can be a passion, but it is also job preparation, packed full with training opportunities. This idea is often frowned upon in the ivory tower of academia, but like it not, universities are in crisis — and there is no time like the present for starting your job preparations, both for academic and nonacademic routes. This post focusses on Karen’s tips for hacking the academic job market, but you can see next week’s post for a summary of her tips on preparing for a non-academic career.
How to use grad school (PhD study) as a means to get a job
First and foremost, remember that the best dissertation is a finished dissertation. Write your dissertation with an eye to the publications that it will become, and strategize these publications, because dates of publication have an effect on the tenure track/REF requirements. PhD study is also the perfect time for getting as much useful experience as possible, and you will be able to take advantage of numerous opportunities which will aid your CV. Alongside publications, these include conference papers and organizing a panel for a national conference, teaching undergraduates, applying for grants, and organizing academic events. To keep on top of the vast amount of opportunities available to you, you should seriously consider making a 5-Year Plan – I’ve started building my own after hearing Karen’s talk. In brief, this plan will mark out the next five or so years of your life, noting important deadlines for things such as conference papers, grants, exams, PhD defense (viva), abstract proposals, and journal publications. Your commitment to planning and execution can overcome all other hurdles, so when you’ve finished reading this summary post on hacking the academic job market, read Karen’s posts on the 5-Year Plan here [http://theprofessorisin.com/2014/05/02/why-you-need-a-5-year-plan/] and here [http://theprofessorisin.com/2014/05/09/in-response-to-popular-demand-more-on-the-5-year-plan/].
The Application
The academic job market is brutal: there are jobs which may get from 200 to 1000 applications. When that happens, the overworked academics on the hiring committee have to work as fast as possible to shift through application after application, rejecting as many as possible. In Karen’s words: “If you don’t grab hold of them in the first minute or so, you’re toast”. To do this, you have to get out of your own head. An academic job application (and in fact every job application) is not about you or what you love. It’s about whether you will make the search committee’s life easier in concrete ways if they hire you by demonstrating that you are the best person to fill the role, so they need to be able to understand this in a minute’s reading. Below are summaries of tips on how to do this by building a successful record and CV and performing well in interviews.
The Application: Your Record
Ultimately, your record needs evidence of your success with peer review, because peer-reviewed output proves that you are a ‘pre-vetted’ candidate by other members of the research community. This means that you need to have:
Peer-reviewed publications in major refereed journals
A list of grants received, preferably national rather than campus
A history of high-prestige conference presentations or panel chairing
You will also need a well-known recommender (known as a referee in the UK), potentially someone from another university, and you will need to show that you can teach — but don’t use teaching awards as a cover for a lack of articles or conferences. And remember, records of your professional and personal life are now easily accessible via the internet, so you need to manage your image online and on social media. You will be googled, so google yourself on incognito mode to see what a stranger will see and remember to check your privacy settings on Facebook. Social media isn’t always a bad thing though, and you should consider curating a Twitter account. As Karen says, “Twitter is like the watercooler of academia”. It is an active, engaged space, providing great opportunities for making contacts and finding collaborators around the globe, so make sure to use it, and present yourself as an academic peer in your field. It is also a very good idea to have a website or academia.edu page, for example, which includes your research interests, publications, and conference papers, which you can then link to on your Twitter profile.
Bearing all this in mind, these are the qualities of a successful record which you should achieve when building your own:
Intense productivity — look forwards by mentioning your planned articles
Professionalization — be a faculty peer, not a student
Autonomy and self-respect — claim your authority in the field
Effective self-promotion/entrepreneurialism — make yourself known at conferences and online (use Twitter!)
Affable collegiality — show that you know how to talk about things other than your dissertation
The Application: Your CV
Yes, you need a full CV. But don’t let the fear of trying to fill your CV make you say yes to every opportunity. “Avoid the temptation of the cheap”, as Karen says. Critically evaluate how each and every opportunity will fare on your CV, because your time is valuable, and not every opportunity is the best opportunity. This includes considering the ranking of journals, academic presses, and conferences — the more established, the more prestige, the more CV power.
When writing your CV and cover letter, be concise, be confident, and above all, focus on facts not feelings. So many of us (myself included) fall into the trap of using emotional words like excited/eager/enthusiastic/thrilled/passionate to describe ourselves and our achievements, but this is, in Karen’s words, “bragging without substance”. For example:
Don’t write
‘I have always been fascinated… and that led me to… and then I realized… That inspired me…This important and under-studied area…. remarkable new impact…’
Do write:
‘My work is the first to examine …. Using methods x and y. An examination of z in this manner has yielded the insight that, in contrast to previous studies,…’
Remember: focus on facts, not feelings. Academics are critical readers and, just like when you write an essay, they want argumentation and evidence, not an emotional narrative.
Your Interview
Like in all of the above, be concise, be organised, be well-rehearsed. When you’re being interviewed, “don’t be yourself”; don’t be insecure, defensive, paranoid, self-involved, or communicatively challenged, qualities we all share in some way. You need to act like a faculty peer, not a grad student, and you operate like a faculty peer by demonstrating your contribution to the discipline. So be ready to talk about what you’re working on now, and what you will be working on in the near future. Claim authority in your field and have a strong but brief statement of your academic contribution. Display a disciplined research programme, a calm confidence in your own contribution to research, a clear and specific trajectory of publications, an innovative approach, and above all, that you meet the needs of the hiring committee. To do this, you have to prepare, and preparing for likely interview questions is the first step. Karen gave these examples:
Tell us about your dissertation, and its contribution to the field
Tell us about your five-year publishing plan – what’s on the back burner?
How would you teach our intro/methods course?
Briefly describe two courses you would develop for us
How would you mentor grad students?
How do you deal with diversity in your work/teaching?
How do you see your work fitting into the work we do here at the department? (i.e. why do you want to work here?)
And lastly:
Do you have any questions for us?
This last question is a very serious part of the interview: do not say “No”. Calibrate your prepared questions in line with how the department sees itself. For example, if you are interviewing at a tiny teaching college in the US with no money for anything else, do not focus on asking about funded research leave. You must have questions, and they must be fitting to the institution – so use your well-honed research skills to find out what they focus on at that institution.
Final Points
An academic career in the twenty-first century may seem daunting, and there’s no denying that it will require a huge amount of work and planning. But remember that this is your career. Academia fosters a dependency on the approval of others, which often leads to negative evaluations of yourself. Despite this, you can reclaim your autonomy, whether you stay in the academy or not. If you are considering leaving, read next week’s post for a summary of Karen’s tips on preparing for a non-academic career — because it is 100% okay to do something else.
I mentioned last week that in the last year it has suddenly come to my attention that my hair has, at some point, transitioned from its previous shiny glory to well on the path to shapeless old woman frizzy poof.
Because my hair is so short, and I don’t color it, and it’s such a perfectly equal salt-and-pepper mix, I think I didn’t notice this fact as quickly as I otherwise might have.
But once I noticed it, I was horrified.
This is what my hair used to look like.
This is what I realized it’s been looking like lately.
Here’s another:
Oh dear.
Even when I was working hard to look cute it STILL looked all dry and frizzy….
Once you see something like this, my friends, you can’t unsee it! I leapt into action.
First, I found a Living Proof Timeless Anti-Aging Shampoo and Conditioner trial set (unfortunately discontinued) on sale at TJ Maxx in NYC. I bought it, used it, and right away, I could see a difference in texture.
Then, after some initial reading and one very long afternoon browsing the previously never-visited hair section at Ulta testing loads and loads of products for their texture and smell, I got a Kenra Platinum Blow-Dry Spray trial size, and an Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Trial Set (I ADORE the former and dislike the latter). I also found a $5.99 Rusk Thermal Protector Serum at TJ Maxx that has become a great love. I started seeing results right away. My hair was instantly smoother.
I’ve been hedging my bets, as I do, buying things cheap and small until I find my way among this forest of new products.
FYI: Just like with cosmetics and skin care (and honestly I think even more so), hair care products really do perform differently on everyone. Ratings and reviews will get you started, but in the end you have to depend on trial and error. I don’t know why Rusk works for me and Alterna doesn’t… Oh and BTW the standout product line for me in all this is Living Proof. I’m heartbroken that they discontinued the Timeless Anti-Aging line, at least for shampoo and conditioner, but I think I’m going to be happy with their newer Frizz line.
Sadly, I also immediately realized that my new true love, Surfer Girl Dry Texturizing Spray, was undoing all the shine I was adding in…. And that texturing sprays, which I adore, MATTIFY and DRY! Ughhhh…..
I need a texturizing spray for my spiky haircut!
Luckily my hairdresser came through with a Davines salon product (“This Is A Dry Texture Spray” is actually the name) so I could get some spike without losing sheen:
Convinced about the impact the right products can make, I finally sprang for full-priced Olaplex #3 Hair Perfecter and #6 Bonding Oil, which seem to be cult items (people on Sephora kept raving about them in discussions of flatirons), and did a treatment:
I also replaced my old no-name damaging flatiron with a GHD Gold Professional Performance Styler (I tried out the Bio-Ionic 10x Pro Styling Iron at the same time, but returned it).
Good lord, did THAT make a difference! (but see those stubborn pokey flyaways!)
Then I went to NYC and scored that totally ridiculous deeply discounted Peter Thomas Roth 24K Gold Hair Mask and Bonnet System (entails a giant black bonnet on ur head that’s attached to your blowdryer on low for a 30 min heat treatment, lol) at Ricky’s going out of business sale (mentioned last week), and tried that (while doing the Glamglow mask, natch!)
I was definitely seeing a dramatic change at this point. Not just in smoothness and shine, but also the color and feel of my hair. The color was brighter: my dark hair was returning to a rich brown, and my grays were starting to sparkle! Even more so, my hair felt soft and pliable. I could run my fingers through it without a single tangle. It started taking the flatiron instantly on a single pass, and best of all, holding its shape all day without frizz, even in humidity! Even my cowlicks (I have 7 of them!) were a little less stubborn!
Randomly I found a DryBar Sparkling Soda Shine Mist trial size somewhere, which added an amazing final shine without weighty oils or dampness. (FYI: I notice most shine sprays are so oily/wet that they instantly undo any styling you just accomplished… very annoying!)
And last night, I went back to the Olaplex #3 and did an overnight treatment as I saw mentioned on Sephora comment threads.
Check it out! Pleased I am!
Look at the shine! Even my cowlick side is smooth!
I realize there are three things that will keep my hair from ever glowing the way it did in decades past: 1) I don’t color it, and only salon color really brings frizzy graying hair back to a truly youthful sheen; 2) its salt and pepper combo means I will always have two textures competing up there; 3) my spiky short style and texturizing products means I will never have a totally smooth surface to work with.
But working within those parameters, I’m so glad to see my softness and shine returning!
Here’s the thing, though: it takes a LOT of product! First, Timeless Shampoo and Conditioner. Then, a smoothing/conditioning leave-in cream (I’m trying out a Living Proof No-Frizz sample I got just now). Then Olaplex Oil, and Kenra Blow-Dry Spray. Then the Rusk Thermal Protector Serum and a high-end straightener. Then a non-mattifying texturizer, and finishing with TIGI BedHead Masterpiece Shine hairspray and a final spritz with the Drybar Shine Mist.
I’m going to assume (hope) that with repeated deep treatments some of these temporary fixes can go by the wayside, but right now I am just piling it on and my hair is slurping it all up! The amazing thing is, so far, nothing has been too much. Not a single thing has weighed down my hair or made it greasy or flat or heavy… which for me indicates JUST how dried out my hair has actually gotten, and how thirsty it is for oils and moisturizers, etc.
UPDATE: I decided to leave the Olaplex #6 Bonding Oil in overnight last night. Wow–another upgrade!
(different lighting)
So that’s my old hair update! If you are someone with gray hair who has found products that work, share them on the FB thread! I’ll gladly try them out! I particularly want to hear about Kerastase–give me the 411! (And I’ll do another drawing.)
Karen Kaplan reached out to share thoughts on the academic job market. We had a great conversation and I learned a lot about STEM career paths which I am already bringing to clients and audiences. Then, she kindly allowed me to persuade her to do this interview for TPII. Read and enjoy.
Tell us about yourself–what is your current position and what do you do there?
I’m senior Careers editor at Nature. As such, I produce the weekly three-page print (-to-online) issue of Careers, which includes a feature story and another article or two, depending on available space in the print edition.
The feature might be about managing fieldwork with your infant or child, how to write a first-class paper, how to launch a startup business, how to balance a hobby with your research programme (and still publish and not get thrown out of your lab). The secondary articles might be a news story, a Q&A with a scientist or a how-to column by a scientist who has navigated whatever quandary or obstacle s/he’s writing about.
I also produce up to three additional online-first (or -only) articles weekly, usually a newser or column, sometimes a Q&A. I commission and edit all of this, write headlines, subheads and photo captions for each article (separate for print and online), and write social-media blurbs (for Twitter and other platforms) for each.
Careers’ mission is to provide advice, counsel and support mainly to early-career scientists (in a PhD program, a postdoc or a non-permanent or otherwise unstable position). So everything in the section (nature.com/careers) is extremely service-based.
How did you come to this position?
I came to Nature in 2008 as associate Careers editor in our Washington, D.C., office, and ascended to then-sole editor of the section in 2014 (I have a team lead and two colleagues now, although none of our work overlaps).
I’ve been a journalist since 1987, launching my career at a daily newspaper in Connecticut, where I covered municipal and tribal government, business and big pharma. I also spent several years there as an editor, honing my editing, layout/design and headline- and caption-writing skills.
From there I moved to editing business publications in Maryland and South Carolina, and later to a national physics magazine, where I was an editor and covered the US physics community.
In your capacity as Careers editor, what is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone considering doing a STEM Ph.D.?
Don’t expect to land a tenure-track position in academia – they’re unicorns.
During your PhD program, hone and refine your skills in teamwork and collaboration; project and budget management; discussing your research with non-scientists; and writing in a non-academic style. And do at least one internship outside academia, preferably in the last year of your program. You’ll be a far more attractive candidate to non-academic employers if you have some of the specific skills they seek.
What advice would you give to someone completing a STEM Ph.D. in terms of career choices and options?
Understand, as mentioned above, that academic tenure-track positions are are not a realistic option. So plan the time in your PhD program accordingly:
Look for a lab with a PI who understands that the career landscape has shifted dramatically from 20 years ago and will support your need to seek external career training and experience (meaning less time in the lab).
Consult with the careers advisers at your institution. (And read Nature Careers. ?) Find out what your potential career options are outside academia for your discipline/specialty and match those with what you really like to do. Governments in most nations – federal / state / municipal (depending on the nation) – do have research positions, as do non-profits and industry. You may wind up pursuing a different (non-research) track altogether. But you need to learn what’s out there for you.
Get external training and experience through internships, even for three to six months.
Form a network within your discipline’s scientific society and other related organisations, such as a campus-based or regional PhD group. Or form a group yourself. These peer groups are invaluable for exchanges of info and for support.
Reach out to scientists in your discipline who work for non-academic organizations that pique your interest. Ask to meet for coffee or lunch if they’re local. Talk by phone or whatever digital platform is mutually available if they’re not.
Ask them about their job — what they do, how they got it, how they like it; about their employer and workplace – do they have autonomy, are they part of a team, if they have appropriate work-life balance, are they amply compensated and other benefits, is there room for advancement. (This is called an informational interview – you’re not asking them for a job.)
What do you wish STEM Ph.Ds understood better than they do?
With a little tweaking of appropriate skills, they’re a slam-dunk for for many positions and careers that have a STEM base. Don’t pine for an academic post when the world is your oyster.
Talk to me about postdocs: the good, the bad, the ugly.
Unless you have guaranteed information that you will land a tenure-track academic post, think twice about doing a postdoc if you’re in STEM. Industrial employers, for one, often don’t look kindly upon candidates who have done postdocs (unless the postdoc was at that same company) because it tends to signal to them (validly or not) that the candidate wasn’t serious about working in industry and had really wanted an academic position.
It’s not quite so heinous if you’re aiming for a government research position (for example, with one of the US federal agencies), or perhaps a non-profit, but those aren’t necessarily easy to land either because there simply aren’t huge numbers of them.
There is also, of course, the reality of being a postdoc. The compensation is dismal for science postdocs (I can’t speak to those in humanitarian disciplines). Science postdocs might get a lead authorship on a paper or three, but they are so often the “hired hands” of the lab, doing most of the work while the PI is writing grants and seeing to other obligations.
People routinely do two and even three postdocs in hopes of eventually landing that academic post, and by the time they’re done with the third postdoc, they’re in their 40s and (in the US) have accrued no retirement funds, no Social Security quarters, no employer-matched contributions. They may not have health insurance either because they usually are not a direct employee of the university. And they’re probably working up to or in excess of 80 hours a week.
Then, if they decide to switch gears and look for a non-academic position, they have no experience except in academia, so they are less qualified to compete against scientists who have bolstered their CV with plenty of stints outside the university.
What surprises you in the work you currently do?
Though it’s beginning to change, most principal investigators and university administrators still do not actively steer PhD students (and postdocs) away from aiming for an academic research career. The employment landscape has shifted dramatically from the time most PIs and administrators were PhD students and postdocs, but many still expect today’s doctoral students and postdocs to pursue an academic research post.
It could be argued that it isn’t their job to give career advice to their supervisees, but the fact remains that in many cases, the PI is a primary adviser by default. I’m hoping that stakeholders in academia worldwide can start to encourage junior researchers to explore other career options beyond this path, and institutionalize their ability to do so by building in time away from the lab for internships, traineeships and other such experiences.
Thursday night is a great time for #MakeupMonday, amirite?
I promised a post this week and dammit, I’m going to give it to you.
When Kel and I were in NYC for an American Jewish Studies gig, I happened to notice that only a block away from our Airbnb, Ricky’s NYC was having a going out of business sale. I was sorry to see it go — NYC drag institution that it was — but oh my….. 65% off of everything, no exceptions!
(involves a cream mask, a shower cap, a bonnet, and your blow-dryer blowing hot air into a giant balloon on your head for 30 min, LOL! I won’t tell you what Kel said when she walked in on this….)
And the amazing thing? I love everything! Check out my post-Glamglow skin:
My hair loved the PTR mask. [BTW, my hair is my current project. I’ve always had great, thick, shiny, healthy hair. To my absolute horror it has recently started to turn the corner into “elderly shapeless frizzy poof.” Even my flat iron won’t smooth it! So it’s been all hands on deck. I’ve changed all my products to anti-frizz and anti-aging products and gotten serious about the kind of deep moisturizing treatments I’ve never needed before. I also upgraded my flat iron. Lots to say; expect a post soon!]
After just one PTR treatment it’s noticeably smoother and shinier!
And I’ve fallen in love with the Mary Lou-manizer highlighter!
Also note my cute white terry bathrobe! I’m finally a person who wears a robe for my beauty routine! I always had this longing to be that person but this weird giant double-layer, ankle-length brown hotel robe I had with sleeves 3 inches too long for me never quite allowed for it. I was always overheated with goo all over the sleeves. When I saw this knee-length, 3/4 sleeve lightweight terry beauty at TJ Maxx ($24.99), I grabbed it, and I absolutely love it! It makes me feel like I’m living my best beauty life, LOL.
It’s the little things, ya know?
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We have a winner for last week’s FB drawing, a grad student in RhetComp! Also, I’m finally mailing out the box of rejected berry lipcolors from my Marc Jacobs Headliner lipcolor matching #science experiment last Spring, to the person who responded first to my offer to mail them off.
Comment this week on FB with thoughts about Ricky’s, aging hair, Glamglow, or anything else beauty-related, and if we get enough comments, I’ll do another raffle. I’ve collected another huge haul of samples over the summer!
I am delighted to offer another guest post in my series of contributed posts by black women and other women of color.
If you’d like to submit a post or an idea for a post for consideration, email me at gettenure@gmail.com. I pay $150 for accepted posts. The posts can be anonymous or not, as you prefer and can be about your experiences of racism/microaggressions in grad school or the career, your post-academic musings, hard-won advice for other students/faculty of color coming up, intersectional practices in teaching or research that you have found valuable, and also of course, makeup and clothes, or even tech gear you’ve found that helps in your work. More information can be found here.
Today’s post is by Dr. Rita M. Palacios. Dr. Palacios is a professor of Liberal Studies at Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. She was born in Guatemala and came to Canada with her family as a refugee. Her research examines contemporary Maya artistic expression (literature, performance, and conceptual art) and she recently co-authored a book on the subject. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, walking the dog, and boxing. @ProfRPalacios
(This post also happens to fit directly into another short series we are running: “Good” NTT Vs. “Bad” TT: A Conversation. Please check out those posts as well if you are interested.)
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My tale begins in 2008, as the economic crisis hit and I went out in the job market as a newly minted PhD. My advisor thought I should turn down some of the job interviews I had booked and wait for top schools to start calling me, but I couldn’t afford to not have any interviews because this was it for me (and, as the child of immigrant parents, for my family). I managed to land a TT in California and I began a job in the fall of 2009. Everyone, including me, thought that having a Canadian citizenship meant that a move to the US would be straight forward but what ended up happening was that my wife couldn’t join me and I spent three years back and forth, feeling awful and hoping for a change. That change never came, so I took a 1-year leave and then another in the hope that something would give.
Those two years were excruciating—I couldn’t concentrate, I couldn’t write, and I couldn’t quit the tenure-track job that everyone kept saying I was so immensely lucky to have. I was miserable. At a conference I began to say goodbye to the colleagues who had cheered me on. And they kept on cheering me on. Two amazing WOC pulled me aside to tell me I shouldn’t quit, that my work was needed. Another colleague proposed we write a book, which is no short-term commitment. And still, no jobs came up, and I had to decide on whether to return to California or quit. So I went to see a career advisor to figure out ways to move forward, but what I thought would be a series of sessions to devise a plan to quit my precious TT job became full-on counselling sessions.
In the first session I began crying right off the bat and kept on for 45 minutes—I never cry. My wonderful career advisor told me I was mourning an important part of my life. That part of my life was the career that I felt didn’t even get a chance to get off the ground. And yet, somehow, things lined up and I ended up working in Montreal on a 2-year contract. It still meant being apart from my wife, but it was doable. The job was far from perfect, but it kept me plugged in. Fast forward to the end of my Montreal stint, and I came close to landing that oh-so-rare TT gig, which is a story for another day, full of ramen, mournful tears, a dash of betrayal, and a fair bit of head-scratching. As luck would have it, I did land a non-TT job, almost immediately after I finished drying this second set of tears.
Now, I work at a community college in the city where my family migrated 26 years ago. And though I have a heavy teaching load (officially 5-5), I have a supportive chair and I don’t have to deal with internal politics (i.e., service). I don’t teach so-called content courses, and though I miss that, I’m okay with it. There is no financial support for research at the college so I have to be disciplined and fairly creative with how I allocate my time and resources.
The hardest part has been learning to accept the cards I laid out for myself alongside the micro-aggressions that people hurl my way. This has meant learning to appreciate myself and my work, which has not been easy. For me, self-doubt has been so paralyzing that, at times, writing a few lines is almost physically painful.
However, I am very fortunate to have colleagues who refused to say goodbye and who devised ways of keeping me engaged. They made me understand that my work is good and, more importantly, that it is worth continuing. If it weren’t for them, the self-doubt and micro-aggressions would’ve done me in.
Now I realize that being on the margins of academia is kind of great. Since I’m not chasing a promotion, I read, write, and attend conferences because I want to. I do the work that I like, how I like. It has been surprisingly liberating. But all of this has been possible because my wife has a full-time job, is very supportive, and we have no children. I am very aware of how privileged I am to be able to go to conferences on my own dime. Or to have time after an 8-hour teaching stint to work on an article or to review a manuscript.
Being on the margins by choice (and due to circumstance), I’ve faced some misunderstanding. I have been berated for leaving my TT job. I have been told that my research is “a nice hobby” and I have been asked flat-out “why bother doing it?” Folx who do applied research have suggested that I write case studies for them since I must be “a good writer or something.” I could go on and on.
The system to which I don’t belong isn’t built to entertain people like me once in a while either. I’ve had to painfully explain that I cannot review the promotion file of a wonderful scholar because I have no standing. I’ve had to tell a graduate student that though I would love to be on their dissertation committee, they should check with their supervisor, department chair, and possibly the dean because, once again, my scholarly identity may not compute (it did and it was a wonderful defense!). I know I’ll toughen up and the painful reminders of what I thought I would be but am not will eventually not mean that much.
In the past two years I have met some wonderful people who are working on their PhDs and are seriously considering not continuing on to the TT fast lane but want to keep a foot in the field. It can be done, I’ve told them, but it’s not easy and it goes against everything we have been taught.
I have always been well aware that the decision to leave my TT job was mine and mine alone. When I complain about not being “in” academia (specifically in terms of not having access to funding or to an immediate community of scholars), some are quick to remind me that it was my decision, as if I don’t know. I am well aware of what I gave up and I don’t regret it, but it hasn’t been easy.
I have no idea where things will take me. But for the first time in a long time, when someone derisively asked me, “So, are you happy in that job of yours?” I was quick to say “Yes. Yes, I really am,” and meant every word.
Update: photos are glitching my posts, so I had to remove them. Sorry! This has been updated to include #7, #8, and #9!
I am a dedicated experimenter in all things beauty. I am constantly trying new skin care, makeup, and haircare options (So I LUV the samples that come with every Sephora and Ulta order!), as well as new fashion directions and travel/luggage gadgets.
It’s an expensive habit, but I have gotten good at saving receipts and executing returns, so I manage expense to a degree.
But there are some items that I just rely on, over and over and over. I buy, use, use up, and replace.
Here are some of them:
1.My Old Navy Breathe-ON Waist Defined Jumpsuit.
Anyone who follows me on social media knows I’ve been posting about this
jumpsuit for weeks. I literally cannot take it off. It is in particular the
premier travel outfit of my entire life. It FEELS like traveling in pajamas,
but LOOKS like a super-stylish ensemble! It’s the only article of clothing I’ve
ever owned that I keep digging out of the laundry to wear again!
For those who very justifiably wonder what it’s like to wear a jumpsuit on a flight or a long travel day (ie, will you end up trapped in yards of fabric in a tiny airplane bathroom?): this particular jumpsuit is the only one in Old Navy’s athleisure line, and this Breathe-ON fabric is some kind of sorcery: completely flexible, can be easily pulled down over your shoulders for the bathroom, but springs right back, and never loses its shape. The elasticized drawstring waist gives just the right silhouette to make the outfit look stylish, but is totally unconstricting, like a pajama waist. I pop this beauty on with a denim jacket and jewelry and cute flats, and I can sit crosslegged on the airport floor during a 3 hour delay, sleep on a 5 hour flight, and look completely fresh and unwrinkled and cute upon arrival. Also looks amazing with heels. And iT hAs pOcKeTs.
I have invested in many excellent travelwear items, but nothing has come close to this jumpsuit. I just bought it in two additional colors. BTW: never pay full price at Old Navy! They are running a 40% off online sale today–grab it now at $27!
2. My Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush. I have just bought my third one, always in Moon Exposure. I searched for about two years for a blush that met all my requirements: subtle but visible, appropriate for a middle-aged face, long-wear, cool-toned, with glow but no shimmer or sparkle. This is it. And it comes in small travel size–what more could I possibly want?
3. My Eyeko Sport Mascara. Yes, i’ve tried others. For awhile I thought Thrive Causemetics would replace it. But no. Nothing comes close in terms of ABSOLUTE BUDGE-PROOF, SWEAT-PROOF, RUBBING-PROOF, ALLERGY-PROOF, TRAVEL-PROOF, NO-SMEAR, NO-FLAKE longevity.
4. My Becca Under-Eye Brightening Corrector. As I told my agent (the wonderful Alia Habib!) when I saw her in NYC – and we got totally distracted from discussing a possible second edition of the Professor Is In book to delve deeply into our makeup obsessions – “they will have to pry this from my cold, dead hands.” This product is pure magic. I buy it in medium-dark (I am squarely in the middle of all foundation color ranges), and I think more than any other single makeup product I use, this removes a decade off my face, and adds 8 luxurious hours of sleep.
5. My Beauty Bakerie Lip Whip lipcolor, in Syruptitious. Yes, I experiment constantly with other brands, products, and colors. Yes, I love a brilliant berry, a cool red, a dramatic plum, and a retro scarlet. But, day in and day out, when push comes to shove and I need a color that I know is going to go with whatever I have on and last all day without a single touchup, I go back to this stalwart. And… shoutout to the reader who wrote to say: “Thank you for the Beauty Bakery lipwhip recommendation- my lipstick lasted from the point I changed into my suit in the La Guardia bathroom through dinner with the search committee- about 10 hours of walking, heat, humidity, and sweat!” YAY!
6. My Smashbox DoubleExposure Eyeshadow Palette. [Note that this is the first one, NOT the one labeled 2.0] I love this rare cool-toned palette – so hard to find! I use either the mauve range on the right, or the plum range on the left, basically every single day. The black is perfect on the rare occasions I need a powder liner (rare because any kind of dark liner is too harsh for an older face), and the bright blue is vivid and fun for party looks (and I have other shadows for that). The shadows are velvety and long-lasting and easy to work with, but most importantly, they can be used wet or dry, so a) you’re getting twice the shades for the price, and b) they aren’t defeated by my chronically allergic, watery eyes! This palette is no longer made, so you have to get it used on Poshmark, etc.
7. My Vince Blair slip-on sneakers. I’ve worn through two pairs and am on my third – always in Woodsmoke color. They go with skirts, pants, and shorts. The perforation keeps them cool for summer wear. Yes, at full price they are pricey, but a) they are incredibly substantial, well-made, supportive, wear for years, and feel great on the foot (unlike cheaper knock-offs) and b) you can get last season colors half off on Amazon, 6 PM, Saks on Fifth, etc.
8. My Sabbatical Beauty skincare products. Specifically: Dorian Gray serum, Asian Powerhouse, Marine, Donkey Milk Cream, and various masks. On my fourth year of those, I think.
9. My NYX Dewy Setting Spray . $8 a pop and better than any prestige brand I’ve tried! Also comes in Matte.
10. My Tarte Timeless Smoothing Primer. I buy this, use it up, buy again, use it up… Make no mistake, I adore trying out all the primer samples that come my way in all my makeup shipments. They’re entertaining and edifying. And then I go right back to my Tarte. Note: I feel this might be a product best for older skin as, honestly, it’s a bit spackle-like. (Some other brand actually does make a primer called Spackle, lol). But OMG what it does to my skin–a smooth, flawless surface that adds this visible-yet-invisible perfecting finish under foundation. Honestly, I wear it alone sometimes on no-makeup days because it’s that good. Alert readers might remember that I once loved Dr. Brandt’s Pores No More Luminizing Primer, and I do still love it! But as I aged from 50 to now this month 55, I find that my pores have gotten a little more visible, and my skin needs more help texture-wise. Glow can be added with other products, but only primer can create a (nearly) flawless surface!
Please share on Facebook YOUR must-have makeup or fashion items. I’ll choose someone at random for another package of mostly prestige brand unused/barely used makeup/skincare samples from my stash! Remember: comments must be on Facebook, not the blog.
Not only does it take the heavy lifting of research and writing, but grabbing the golden ring of a published article in a top journal also requires the knowledge to navigate the unwritten rules and expectations of your field and its journal editors.
So, the question is, why do academics, unlike others in almost any field where success is based on application of talent, insist on going it alone? Why do they deny themselves the assistance that their professional peers in other fields take as standard.
Doctors, lawyers, architects, CPAs, they all take part in continuing education. In fact, most of them are actually required to seek continuing education to maintain their professional credentials.
Athletes, the very best athletes in the world, work every day with a coach. Serena Williams is arguably the greatest athlete of all time, and she got to the top with both exceptional talent AND daily coaching.
Yet, here stands the academic. Often the smartest kid in the room, but rarely taught how to apply that genius to producing the one thing that exemplifies her or his success. Would we expect Serena to win a record 23 Grand Slam singles titles by insisting that she “should” have been able to perfect her serve with only occasional comments from trusted friends? Or, say, with intermittent attention from a teacher who gets no particular recognition or capital from helping her succeed?
We don’t think so.
That’s why Developmental Editor Dr. Jane Jones (from Up In Consulting) and Productivity Coach Kel Weinhold (from The Professor is In) created The Art of the Article — to coach academics with step-by-step instruction in conceptualizing, organizing, and writing an article manuscript. Instruction that academic writers can return to time and again as they move forward toward their goals.
Here are the top five reasons you need (and deserve) coaching:
Reduce your chance of rejection
One sure way to lose a game is to fail to understand the basic skills needed, and the rules. Many new academics lack a basic grasp of the fundamental practices and rules of academic journals, and end up making unforced errors that lead to rejection. Art of the Article teaches you the system and shows you step-by-step how to execute what editors want.
Increase your motivation
When the going gets tough, the successful turn to a support team. Having access 24/7 to professional guidance can help you to keep moving forward, even when things are challenging. In addition to 50 lessons with specific guidance based on Jane and Kel’s extensive experience as academic editors and coaches, Art of the Article includes daily reminder emails and monthly motivational webinars. Access to the material does not expire, so you can keep coming back.
Reduce isolation and thus procrastination
The isolation of the academy can be debilitating. Just like working out regularly, a healthy writing practice is more likely to happen when you feel like someone is joining you on the journey. The Art of the Article includes access to a private social media group where you can ask questions and seek encouragement.
Gain insight into destructive habits and how to overcome them
We all develop habits that turn into barriers to achieving our goals. And without guidance, it can be almost impossible to see a way around them. Art of the Article includes daily coaching videos on common barriers to success and tools for overcoming them.
Stop wasting time:
Just like spending hours sitting at a piano won’t make you a better pianist without some kind of guidance, spending hours at a computer trying to write an article without instruction will waste your time and deplete your energy. The Art of the Article provides client-tested, efficient techniques to maximize your efforts and, in turn, improve your results.
No coach, advisor or mentor can do what you are not willing to do for yourself, but they can support and encourage you to reach your potential. The Art of the Article provides the knowledge, resources, guidance, training and skills – in short, the coaching – that will allow you to dominate Wimbledon (errr, we mean, get your next manuscript published!).
