I’m organizing a coaching group, or a community dialogue, or a respite space, or maybe it’s a revolution. It’s a way to respond to the growing number of faculty who contact us with the question, “Is this worth it?”
They are calling about toxic departmental interactions, overwhelming workloads, bureaucratic non-solutions, bias and inequities, and the opacity of the academic culture. They are disillusioned, isolated, and seriously considering opting out – even as they continue to feel the strong intrinsic pull of scholarly life. They are wondering what else might be out there – despite the daunting academic belief system that says the only ones who leave are those who are not good enough to stay.
I relate to this dilemma. I became an academic orphan in 2004. My professional life still focuses on higher ed and I strongly identify as an academic even with no academic institution to call home. I am one of a growing number of academics who, having experienced what can be untenable inside the academic experience, seek to become an antidote so that others, and academia itself, can survive and even thrive. Academics like Kerry Ann Rockquemore, Elizabeth Odders-White, and Dana Mitra invest in faculty success. Scholars like Michelle Boyd and Margy Thomas transform the space of academic writing. Patricia Romney, Kelly Mack, Carolyn Dever and George Justice and others are translating their experience as academic insiders into powerful investments in institutional success.
But translating one’s own experience into success for others is not the only answer. We need more solutions that help academics stay in the game. Additional tools for surviving the status quo are needed, but that is not enough. Individualized support through coaching, mentoring and therapy is an important resource, but insufficient. More realistic training and support for academic leaders is vital but will not address the growing angst we are seeing amongst faculty at all ranks. Opportunities to commiserate with colleagues at conferences may fortify, but they seldom produce solutions.
I believe that academics need new experiences of academic community. I think that faculty need the “Aha!” of understanding that comes through talking about shared experience, the empowerment that arises from re-establishing self-worth (notoriously at risk in academic settings), and the reckoning made possible when the question, “Is it worth it?” can be truly and fully engaged. I think that facilitated conversations among small groups of faculty can help. And I think that faculty who have the opportunity to learn, connect, and grow in such an environment can and will transform academia.
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if you are looking for community members I’m in!