Stop Waiting for Validation: Building an Academic Identity Outside the Hierarchy

Children in mantles, running as superheroes.

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The ultimate professional freedom is becoming entirely un-fireable in your mind. By launching external, public projects, you build a resilient profile that the university hierarchy can neither grant nor take away.

I was attending a conference earlier this summer, and someone mentioned this blog. Obviously, it was cool that anyone besides my mom (Hi Mom 👋) was paying attention. In this discussion, the person pointed out the potentially touchy nature of some of the topics I cover here from a senior-leader perspective. I laughed it off in the moment, saying, “Well, I haven’t been fired yet,” but I must admit I’ve been thinking about this interaction off and on since. On one hand, the classic oldest female child, people-pleaser in me thinks, “Shoot, am I going to get into trouble?” On the other hand, the rational professional who can point to the tangible contributions I’ve made to my department, school, and institution says, “Go ahead, get me into trouble; I’ll be fine.”

The version of me that wins that argument can change from day to day.

In my academic career, I’ve heard lots of faculty say, “I couldn’t possibly do [insert “wild” idea here] because my chair or my dean wouldn’t support it.”  I also recognize that I didn’t come to the second rational perspective listed above naturally. Rather, I came to it through necessity and hard-won experience (nothing gets that muscle jump-started like leading a faculty senate through an unexpected chancellor change and a pandemic starting as an assistant professor).

However, the longer I’ve been in higher education, the more certain I am that my non-traditional approach is the key to my success.

The Limits of Campus Prestige: 

But what do I mean when I say “traditional approach” to being an academic? While this is a gross generalization, think of it as someone who, as a junior faculty member, stays quiet, does the work that’s asked of them (joins all of the committees, supervises all of the students), votes in line with senior faculty at department meetings, and waits for recognition and sponsorship to step into leadership roles on campus. There is nothing wrong with this approach. It has gotten us most of the faculty we currently have. But this approach limits the kind of work we do, because everything must align with what’s already happening. It keeps our collective impacts small.

Creating power outside the traditional model puts you beyond that control. It gives you freedom and flexibility and amplifies your impact. It also gives you a network of external sponsors to show up for you on campus when needed.

I am not suggesting you should go rogue and be a pain to your leadership (unless that’s your thing). What I mean is to take more control of your research program and professional future.

Launching External Projects: 

Don’t worry, you don’t have to start by writing op-eds for the Times, though that would be cool if you did. Launching external projects can be as simple as reaching out to campus resources with community connections and learning what the community wants or needs. Next, head to a couple of those community meetings, introduce yourself, and just listen to what’s happening. Based on what you hear, think about how your work, skills, or talents might be applied to help. This doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated. Community members aren’t looking for miracles; they’re looking for your partnership and consistency.

Not into community work? Don’t worry, you can join too. Start by taking media training from your campus’ communications team, so the next time a reporter calls, you are ready to respond.  Reach out to local news stations and podcasts and tell them about your work and why their audiences should care. Write that op-ed you’ve been thinking about for your local or regional publication.

The True Sovereign Intellectual: 

I know for many of us this job is our identity. We are academics, researchers, professors, and faculty first and sometimes last. I get that. But we work in a bureaucracy, and as one of my colleagues likes to say, “Bureaucracies can’t love you back.”

Making yourself feel “unfireable” frees up your brainpower, energy, and time to do the important work. And isn’t that why we became academics to begin with?

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