The Empowered Professor : Breaking the Unspoken Codes of Inequity in Academia

How can new faculty find success in academia and what can universities do to support them? In this book, the author demonstrates how a coaching-focused stance toward faculty development can improve equitable conditions within the university and contribute to faculty retention and well-being.

How can new faculty find success in academia and what can universities do to support them? In this book, the author demonstrates how a coaching-focused stance toward faculty development can improve equitable conditions within the university and contribute to faculty retention and well-being. For faculty and graduate students, this book emphasizes the skills needed to be a successful academic with a focus on lifespan learning. For universities, this book articulates how institutions can implement an equity-driven plan for faculty development. In the first section, Mitra investigates the structures that can contribute to inequities, spotlighting the unspoken assumptions and lack of clarity of institutional processes. In the second section, she interweaves the building blocks needed for faculty success (agency, belonging, and competence) with the traditional academic expectations of research, teaching, and service. With engaging vignettes and extended examples of faculty experiences, The Empowered Professor centers on the space in which individuals can find success within academic settings while maintaining the integrity of themselves.

Book Features:

• Action steps universities can take to improve faculty recruitment and retention.
• Workbook-style exercises to help academics connect personal goals and experiences with book content.
• An equity-driven model of faculty development that connects individual goals with an understanding of academic structures.
• Research-based evidence on how inequitable structures are perpetuated by university policies, with insights for increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion.