In the widely read Lean In: Women, work and the will to lead, Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg (2013) discussed the challenges women face as they strive to “sit at the table” — play leadership roles in complex organizations.  In Chapter 2, she noted that “even now, I am a long way from mastering the art of feeling confident” (p. 37).  She concluded the chapter with the following observations:

No one accomplishes anything all alone.

But I also know that in order to continue to grow and challenge myself, I have to believe in my own abilities.  I still face situations that I fear are beyond my capabilities.  I still have days when I feel like a fraud.  And I still sometimes find myself spoken over and discounted while men sitting next to me are not.  But now I know how to take a deep breath and keep my hand up.  I have learned to sit at the table. (p. 38)

Sandberg’s book offered a host of documented examples of the barriers women still face today as they attempt to climb up the corporate ladder (or jungle gym, her more useful metaphor!).  I think the popularity of the book highlights a perceived recognition that many of us long for words of advice and encouragement, along with fresh new images of women as leaders.

Another recent New York Times article spotlighted Elizabeth H. Blackburn who, with Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak, won the 2009 Nobel Prize for ground-breaking work on telomeres (see Charting Her Own Course).  Her recent work promises to shed important light not only on the relationship between stress, DNA and mortality, but to offer potentially very powerful biomedical applications that could transform the practice of medicine.  She clearly has earned a “seat at the table” as a scientist.  With respect to the theme of “confidence,” the following quote from Blackburn warrants attention.  Describing her more recent interdisciplinary research activities beyond the laboratory, she stated

I would have been a little afraid to do things, because my male colleagues wouldn’t have taken me seriously as a molecular biologist…[But now] Being senior enough in the field, having enough solidity, I don’t feel afraid of being marginalized” (2013, D6)

One wonders how many very capable women have not been able to pursue new directions in their work, given the long road many face to achieve seniority and therefore security (and perhaps “self-confidence”) in their fields.

In a related vein:  At my own institution, a new group — the Women’s Faculty Caucus — has formed to discuss issues of particular concern to faculty women.  This lively group has organized several business meetings and social gatherings.  Similar groups meet at other institutions.  This might be a good day to see what resources are available in your own organization.  Just as bias, isolation and marginalization erode self-confidence, collaboration with like-minded others has the potential to strengthen it. – EdProf

References

New York Times, September 24, 2012

Bias Persists for Women of Science, a Study Finds

Science professors at American universities widely regard female undergraduates as less competent than students with the same accomplishments and skills, a new study by researchers at Yale concluded.

New York Times, April 9, 2013

Charting Her Own Course

A Nobel-winning molecular biologist explores the connections of emotional stress, health and DNA.

Sandberg, Sheryl (2013). Lean In: Women, work and the will to lead.  New York: Alfred Knopf (written with Nel Scovell).

Further reading

Maitlin, M. W. (2012). The psychology of women.  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.  [See pages 164 - 168 for a straightforward discussion of gender differences in self-confidence.  Recommended readings cited on page 171.]

The Heart Grows Smarter – NYTimes.com

Further Reading

Vaillant, George (2012) Triumphs of Experience: The Men of the Harvard Grant Study.  Belknap Press of Harvard.

Formal-Operational vs. Post-Formal Thinking: Brains Grow Up « Classroom as Microcosm.

I have written about emerging adulthood (and academic versus authentic writing) in another post.  If you are looking for additional reading on this topic, scroll down to references at the end of my first “Diary of an Ed Prof” essay.   — Ed Prof

Journalists on the Edge of Truth – NYTimes.com.

From a professional studies point of view, this story provides rich terrain for analysis.   It is a reminder that professional communities, while said to be self-policing, are not always or perhaps ever what novices imagine them to be. The disparity between students’ idealism and reality constitutes  a violation of the psychological contract implicit in the relationship between student and mentor as it is enacted within the structure of the research university.  When institutions violate the psychological contract, those who work within them experience adverse psychological effects.  This is not by any means limited to universities and science laboratories, but a more general phenomenon experienced by teachers, physicians, nurses, social workers, professors, and others who find themselves grappling with shifting institutional priorities, ominous new power structures, and heartbreaking barriers to best practice.  What this suggests to me is that those who train professionals need to try to understand students’ images of professional life and conceptions about the field as a whole.  They also need to be reflexive — able to model honest self-appraisal, self-criticism, awareness of the field’s potentially problematic effects, weaknesses and shortcomings, as well as its achievements and technical demands.  There is a vital role for the humanities and the social sciences in this enterprise.

To return to the case at hand, the “system” (and the individual scientists working within it) produced a great societal benefit, yet also permitted, and may have promoted, inequity and injustice.  And it is noteworthy that all this contention emerged concurrent with what one journalist described as “the birth of big Pharma.”  Today, scientific discoveries are made by large, complex groups of people, yet when we teach about science, we still employ a curriculum that spotlights the work of “heroic” individual scientists who are the stars of the scientific show — immortal symbols of the quest for understanding.  The media promote public conceptions of the solitary, successful, charismatic scientist (and teacher, and physician…) that no longer align well with professional life as most of us ordinary beings experience it.

Recognition remains the gold standard in the political economy of academic life — publications, citations,  grants, prizes, awards, tweets, followers!  Schatz never gave up his quest for recognition.  And as the “op ed” letter below suggests, Wacksman was a well regarded teacher and scientist who attended to the needs of the next generation (Erikson, 1950).  With respect to human lifespan development, I think this story demonstrates how scholarly priorities can change through the life course. In particular, the interests of senior scholars may move away from concerted efforts to acquire yet more intellectual knowledge toward articulation and reinterpretation of one’s life and its meaning.

Sources and Further Reading

Conway, N. & Briner, R. (2006). Understanding Psychological Contracts at Work: A Critical Evaluation of Theory and Research. Oxford University.

Erikson, E. (1950). Eight Stages of Man (Chapter 7), Childhood and Society, New York: W.W. Norton.

Forbes, P.  (2012).Experiment Eleven: Deceit and Betrayal in the Discovery of the Cure for Tuberculosis by Peter Pringle – review . The Guardian, June 29.

Pringle, P. (2012). Notebooks Shed Light on and Antibiotic’s Contested Discovery. New York Times, June 11.

Rousseau, Denise M. (1996). Psychological Contracts in Organizations: Understanding Written and Unwritten Agreements. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Schatz, A. (1993). The true story of the discovery of Streptomycin.  Actinomycetes, Vol. IV, Part 2: 27-39

Related articles

• Letters: Defense of a Scientist (1 Letter) (nytimes.com)

Protesting Against Education Budget Cuts (Photo credit: infomatique)

My previous post noted that tuition pays only a small portion of the cost of higher education in public colleges and universities.  According to this year’s Condition of Education report, in 2009 – 2010, tuition accounted for about 16 – 18 percent of the total revenue of  public postsecondary institutions (and 90% of private, for-profit post-secondary institutions).  The Condition of Education is a report mandated by the United States federal government and published each year by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).  The report is available for download at no charge and contains a wealth of information about educational institutions at all levels, including elementary and secondary, postsecondary, public, private non-profit and private, for-profit institutions.  This is a rich, detailed, well-organized and trustworthy analysis of massive amounts of data that can be very useful for academic research and writing projects.

Here are a few direct quotes that reflect current conditions and changing trends in higher education (from the 2012 Condition of Education Overview).  A useful and informative resource:

In 2009–10, more than half of the 1.7 million bachelor’s degrees awarded were in five fields: business, management, marketing, and personal and culinary services (22 percent); social sciences and history (10 percent); health professions and related programs (8 percent); education (6 percent); and psychology (6 percent) (indicator 38).

Approximately 56 percent of male and 61 percent of female first-time, full-time students who sought a bachelor’s degree at a 4-year institution in fall 2004 completed their degree at that institution within 6 years (indicator 45).

In 2011, some 32 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher. From 1980 to 2011, the gap in the attainment of a bachelor’s degree or higher between Whites and Hispanics widened from 17 to 26 percentage points, and the gap between Whites and Blacks widened from 13 to 19 percentage points (indicator 48).

In 2010, young adults ages 25–34 with a bachelor’s degree earned 114 percent more than young adults without a high school diploma or its equivalent, 50 percent more than young adult high school completers, and 22 percent more than young adults with an associate’s degree (indicator 49).

Sources

The Condition of Education — Index  – http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/  [The 2012 report and related information can be downloaded from this site.  An ebook of the report is also available.]

The Condition of Education — Overview, Section 3 – Postsecondary Education and Outcomes — http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/overview.asp

The Condition of Education — Postsecondary Revenues – http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_prs.asp

Related articles

• Study Finds Immigrants Make Up About 23% of Undergraduates in U.S. Schools (hispanicallyspeakingnews.com)
• Report: Need Grows for Postsecondary Health Care Training (insidehighered.com)
• New Federal Data about Tuition, Enrollment, Degrees (insidehighered.com)
• A business-friendly argument for more government support for higher ed (essay) (insidehighered.com)

That’s a good question, though it is based on somewhat faulty premises.  Most students do care about the grades that they get, and they also care about what they have learned in a course — or so it seems to me.  When otherwise capable students disappear, there is usually some explanation.  For some reason, though, given the strains of early adulthood and the fact that many first-generation students do not know how the system works, students just “log off” instead of asking their professors for help.  They assume that nothing can be done and there are no options, and no one cares anyway, so (as one of my students put it) “I thought I might as well just take the F and deal with it later.”

As a professor, one of my responsibilities is to evaluate student performance. Disappearing students, by academic convention, get an “F” (failing) grade for the course.  Alternatively, though, they could receive a “W, WP, WF” (withdrawal) or in some cases, or an “I” (incomplete, with the option of completing work within an agreed-upon time period).  From my vantage point as a college teacher, getting an “F” might have long range consequences that should only be borne if the grade is really warranted and there are no other alternatives.  So, in answer to the question above, here is another question: Why let talented students “give up” and “take their punishment” without at least trying to persuade them otherwise?  Will students be “wrecked for life” because someone inside the Machine cared about their long-term best interests?  And from a public resource perspective, courses retaken must be paid for again, and society always pays part of the bill.  As high as they are, tuition fees cover only part of the cost of higher education.  This means that re-taking courses always requires expenditure of public resources we cannot afford to waste.   –EdProf

It seems to me that the credit for university courses that go really well must be shared, as this is always a product of group effort.  A “good” course is one that students choose to create by investing energy, preparing well, taking risks, sharing thoughts and life experiences with one another, going beyond the surface level of understanding.  Professors can try to create conditions that foster these desirable pedagogical ends, but it is always the students who make it happen!

Related articles

• Why Final Exams Might Be All Wrong? (rashidfaridi.wordpress.com)

Here is how Division I describes itself:

The purpose of this Division is to further educational research, development, and evaluation in the professions by supporting scholarly presentations and publications; providing opportunities for professional growth and recognition; enhancing communication, outreach, and networking among members; and improving the capacity of the educational research profession to inform practice and policy as it relates to education in the professions.

Division I has brought together experts to produce a series of books focusing on education in the professions: Innovation and Change in Professional Education.

There are several other AERA Divisions and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) of potential interest to people interested in professional studies.   Right now, the best route to this information is through the main AERA home page (then to “about AERA” — “member constituents” — “Divisions“).  For example, Divisions J and K focus on Postsecondary Education and Teaching and Teacher Education, respectively.

For all those heading to Vancouver — have a safe journey!  For those who won’t be attending this year — a good chance to catch up on reading about the professions and professional life.  — EdProf

Academic writing in the professions is put through so many layers of critique and often endures so much editorial meddling that it loses whatever creative energy it might once have possessed.  There is an odd gauntlet through which a writing project must pass if it is, indeed, to “count” for much in the academy.  At least in my fields (education, anthropology and psychology), the goal is not simply to share ideas and research findings, but to do so with the benediction of peer-reviewers who presumably provide an “objective” and informed evaluation of quality of the work. [I have written about this in the "Political Economy of Academic Writing (PDF)" in the Journal of Thought.] Those who write  journal articles on their own must compete with those who work in teams and with others who receive varying amounts of help from amateur (student) or professional editors and ghost writers.  By the time it makes its way through the gauntlet of critique, academic writing  may no longer reflect either the intellect or the communication skills of the author(s).  As a result, it can be difficult to gauge the authenticity of the persona manifested in academic writing projects. Blogs might be another story, or so it seems to me.

Mary lived in New Orleans a few months ago and was working on a nursing degree in a community college.  Her “Fifteen Things” entry garnered a lot of attention when it was spotlighted on the Word Press “Freshly Pressed” page — a great site for anyone looking for RAMM opportunities!  In prior posts, she had bemoaned her inability to study for an important “A and P” (anatomy and physiology) exam. Instead of studying, she  blogged.  Blogging is seductive because it provides a readily available venue for self-expression and exploring alternative possible futures.

I thought Mary’s subsequent post on “The Pros and Cons of Being 27 and Living with your Parents”  provided an imaginative, humorous and insightful glimpse into what developmental scientists call emerging or early adulthood - the period in the lifespan from about 18 years of age to the late twenties  (Arnett, 2000).  Mary has better reason than many to still be relying on parental support, but the truth is that “growing up is harder to do” today than in the past (Furstenberg, et al, 2008; Marantz Henig, 2010).  The situation is a product of the social and economic context rather than individual deficiency (of either young adult children or their parents).  On January 4, Mary wrote a thoughtful commentary about sibling relationships (“Brothers and Sisters“). And early in February, she announced her decision to (re)turn her attention to writing, setting aside her aspiration to become a nurse, at least for now (“Community College Drop Out“).  Given how her readers have responded to her work as a blog author, she wonders whether she might have become a kind of “internet nurse” — helping to relieve human suffering or at least, making some of her readers feel less alone.

As a teacher, I am reminded of how hard we sometimes work to help students overcome barriers in order to stay in school and finish their degree programs.  It sounds as though Mary’s community college professors did what they could to help, but there is only so much one can do.  Things don’t always work out as planned. In any case, I am struck by the way that Mary seems to embody her prose.  Here is how she describes the role writing plays in her life:

I think more than any physical place, my notebooks have been my home. Writing often reveals to me what is true and real before my own mind can recognize it in the world. I know that writing is a way for me to find truth and tell the truth. It might be why I get anxiety just before I sit down to write, but after I finish, I feel better. Lighter. And if I’ve written correctly, I always walk away with more clarity, more light in the room than before. So I won’t concern myself too much with what house I call mine for now. Maybe home is more an internal thing than anything else. For the time being, home is on paper, and deep within. (2/28/12)

 Blogging affords opportunities for writing as an “authentic” form of self-expression to real and imaginary audiences.  Through writing, we create, recreate and comfort ourselves. This is a new and noteworthy phenomenon and I suspect it is worthy of more scholarly attention than it has received.    Ed Prof

References and Further Reading

Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55 (5):469-480.   doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469

Furstenberg, jr., F., et. Al. (2004). Growing up is harder to do. Contexts, 3, 33-41.

Marantz Henig, Robin (August 18, 2010). “What Is It About 20-Somethings?”. The New York Times.

Munsey, C. (2006). Emerging adults: The in-between age. APA Monitor, 37 (6):68.  http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun06/emerging.aspx

Web Pages

Emerging Adulthood (Wikipedia Entry).

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett’s Home Page:  http://www.jeffreyarnett.com/index.htm