Breaking through the “A” track

“The woman who served as department chair when I was hired, and later as dean while I was chair myself, gave me advice that has shaped my administrative career. “As a woman interested in academic leadership,” she told me, “think twice before accepting any job that begins with the letter A.” She was referring to positions such as assistant chair, associate dean, or associate vice-provost — what she called the “A” track. Her theory? It’s incredibly difficult for women to move off this track. People associate women more easily than men with the everyday maintenance work of keeping universities running, making it harder for others to see us as capable of handling the bigger picture. Men can serve as associate deans and advance to become deans, she observed, but women often find themselves stuck. You might enjoy these roles. I know people who think associate dean is the best job in the whole university. But be aware of the potential downside. My former provost offered equally insightful advice that I’ve struggled to follow: never do a second term, no matter how much you’re enjoying the first. His reasoning was threefold: expectations rise, patience decreases and, most importantly, the role becomes boring. The excitement in academic leadership for many of us comes from learning new things, and that novelty diminishes considerably in a second term. There’s also a strategic concern: you become associated with that specific role. Especially for women, people have a harder time seeing you as anything else. Consider the mathematics of academic careers, too. It’s nearly impossible to move from tenured professor to department chair to dean to provost (and maybe president) if each position requires at least five years, particularly when you factor in sabbaticals and the reality that most of us begin our academic careers in our late twenties or early thirties. For women, there’s often the added career slowdown of parental leaves and childcare responsibilities. I haven’t managed to follow this advice — my first term as dean was consumed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and frankly, I love my current role. But the logic remains sound, I think, for those with broader ambitions. Five Strategic Recommendations Based on my experience and observations, here’s my advice for those of you — especially women — with administrative aspirations: 1. Be prepared to leave your first university early. Don’t plan an entire administrative career at one institution., Moving universities to take on new roles gives you a broader perspective and, especially for women, signals serious ambition. 2. Apply for numerous positions. Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity — the person holding the position you covet might be planning a second term! Most successful deans and provosts have applied for many such positions. There’s nothing like going through a job interview to help you get comfortable seeing yourself in these roles. And you’ll improve with each interview and application. Learn to handle rejection as part of the process. 3. Navigate the department chair bottleneck strategically. For women, especially those of us in male-dominated disciplines, we are often blocked from becoming department chair and therefore cannot ascend further to senior leadership. The position of department chair requires the most collegial buy-in, and this can be an insurmountable hurdle. If the chair role isn’t in the cards for you, pursue graduate chair or director positions. Seek leadership experience elsewhere, perhaps as president of your academic society or faculty union. 4. Recognize the age paradox for women. We’re never the right age! Women in their forties are sometimes dismissed as too young for leadership roles, while those in their sixties are considered too old. This leaves a narrow window. I’ve noticed that some successful women academic leaders never mention their age anywhere — though my own social media presence makes that strategy impossible for me. I wrote a book about feminism, fitness, and turning fifty, so it’s easy to calculate my age. 5. Always take your leaves. Leave doesn’t transfer when you change institutions, and if you want to maintain research connections and continue to publish, these breaks are essential. Most universities also have a cap on the amount of leave you can accumulate. People will try to talk you out of taking leave — don’t listen. These are hard-earned benefits that support your long-term career sustainability. Academic administration remains a challenging terrain for women, with obstacles at every level. The landscape is slowly changing, but in the meantime, we need to be smart, strategic and supportive of one another as we work to transform academic leadership from within. The post Breaking through the “A” track appeared first on University Affairs .

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