Woman Of Science

The Academic Game

These posts about publicity and self-promotion remind me of this idea that academic science is a “game” with specific rules and there are ways to “win” the game. Whether you like the idea of an academic career path being a “game” or not, you have to admit that there are certain unspoken rules and means to getting ahead. Despite how you feel about these rules, they are there. Your best hope is to discover the rules, and to try the best you can to follow them. I hope this blog will help some women to navigate these unspoken rules. It seems that women and minorities are often the last ones told of the rules and often only discover them when they misstep. Further, I would venture that the rules are actually different for men and women, based on a convolution of the system with the social moires of men and women. What do you think? Are there unspoken rules?

Publicity Spot #3: Novel Self-Promotion

In addition to your personal website and getting nominated and winning awards, what else can you do to get good publicity for your work and yourself? Here are a couple of good, novel ideas for getting publicity that are fun, too!

1. Cover art. Many journals allow you to submit your own artwork for the cover. If so, you should go for it. If it gets accepted, you should put that on your news page, on your publication page, and in your talks. If it doesn’t get picked, use the pretty picture in your talks anyway and on your own website. Bonus, it is fun to put together some nice images from your work for a cover.

2. Tell others. Tell your department and dean about your good news. Many departments and colleges have news items on their own webpages. Sometimes they ask you to write up the short blurb and give them an image. Good thing you made that pretty image for a cover art, right? Many universities have a new office that will write press releases about publications. You should find out who is in the press office and contact them when you have a new publication out. They  like to write press releases about publications is high profile journals like Science, Nature, and PNAS, but they will also write press releases about other new-worthy items, too. Once they write a press release, if could get picked up by local or even national media. You could get an interview on NPR!

3. Mentor well. Your students who go on to do great things after being in your lab are your legacy. Being a good mentor to them is good for them, and it is good for you. While they are still working for you, send them to conferences, have them meet with speakers, and have them attend workshops and short courses. Their good abilities will reflect well on you. Let them graduate when they are ready. (More on mentoring topics in future posts.) When they leave and continue to do well, that will reflect well on you. I know this sounds selfish, and mentoring is certainly not typically thought of in self-centered terms, but you have to admit that creating amazing new scientists is good for your career, too.

4. Spoofs. This one is not for everyone because you have to have the right attitude and the right group of students, but a really fun way to grab a little attention is to make a spoof or parody of a music video or movie with your lab. You can put it on your webpage with your cool science movies. They could go viral, but probably won’t.

I am sure I have missed a huge number of other opportunities for self-promotion. If others have more good ideas, please share as comments, or write a guest post. Hope to hear from you!

Publicity Spot #2: Awards

It’s a fact: awards matter. The department, college, university, and your senior colleagues from on and off campus notice when you win an award. It makes you more marketable to other institutions, and you are more likely to be asked to give talks.

It’s a fact: women are put up for and subsequently win fewer awards than men. It is true that there are fewer women, but they are also not thought of as frequently as men. So, you have to do some leg work to get nominated.

Women should try to win awards. In order to win, you need to get nominated. How do you go about getting nominated? I got some good advice from another WomanOfScience over a year ago. She said, if you want to be nominated for an award, just ask. I know it sounds crazy, but that is what you need to do. It takes out the inadvertent forgetfulness in the nomination process.

Who do you ask? Many departments have a awards committee. It is their job to nominate department members for awards. The problem a lot of women have is that (1) The committee often doesn’t think about woman-only awards, and (2) The committee is often not aware of awards within your specific subfield. That is why you need to tell them about the awards for which you should be nominated. You need to give them plenty of time, like 6 weeks. They will brush you off, but you need to remind them when there is 4 weeks until the due date. At the 4 week period, send to them your packet, with all the information they need and the list of the writers you recommend for them to ask. It feels weird to basically tell them what to do, but you are making it easier for them to nominate you.

If your department doesn’t have an awards committee to nominate you, ask your department chair. All the committee/chair needs to do is organize the nomination, put together the packet (which you will give them/him/her), and make it easy for the letter writers to write wonderful things about you.

Publicity Spot #1: Your Website

One of the easiest places to create and maintain your profile for self-promotion is on your webpage. I think this one is obvious, but most people don’t realize how much extra information they can put online that will go a long way to bolstering your career. I think most people have a research description, their publications list, and perhaps a CV linked online, but do you have a personal profile page? Do you have a news page that highlights the accomplishments of your group members and yourself? These pages are not just good for publicity, they are good for group morale, and let your students know that you are proud of their accomplishments.

A good way to get started is to look at the websites of your peers, colleagues, and others within your specific field. What types of pages do they have? What is the style? Is it eye-catching and attractive? These ideas may seem shallow, but if you are selling yourself and your work, it doesn’t hurt to look nice and professional. Make sure your links to and from your website work and are up-to-date. Always update as soon as you publish any papers. If you should update your CV, you should update your website. Don’t wait! News items include: publishing a paper, student poster prizes, awards for you or other lab members. Having a short news feed on the very front page is also a good idea. It can have short highlights of the most recent news items and a link to the main News page that has all the news.

I know that this takes time, but this is worth it. Plus, like anything else, you will get faster with practice. Having a nice website can be a spring board invitations to give talks and serve on panels – essential components to any academic science career.

Publicity Whore: Self-Promotion

I am a proficient publicity whore. That is a comedic and eye-catching way to say that I am good at self-promotion. Yes, sometimes it feels weird. Like recently, when my face was on the university’s front webpage (revolving). But, self-promotion is important for your career. Women typically don’t do this enough. It may be even more important, since the first assumption is that women are less competent than their male counterparts. Further, if you don’t do it, who will do it for you? Maybe you are lucky with a proactive department, but I think the norm is for everyone to be busy. So, I will have a couple of posts about different ways to self-promote. I understand that not all ways work for all people, but maybe a few will be interesting for you to try.