Helping define success for tenure-track careers

 

 

Related:   Read another article about this external mentor program here.

PULLMAN, Wash. – What started almost as an experiment in mentoring has blossomed into a surprising number of career-changing relationships – and significant steps toward tenure. WSU faculty in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are discovering how much they benefit from participating in the ADVANCE at WSU External Mentor Program.

 

They admit, though, that at first no one quite knew what to expect.

 

This part of a larger National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded effort got its start in April 2009 when Nathalie Wall, assistant professor in chemistry, requested a basic travel grant to bring an external mentor to Pullman and for Wall to return the visit.

 

She already had someone in mind: Professor Heino Nitsche of the University of California, Berkeley, who possesses an international reputation in Wall’s field of nuclear chemistry along with a European perspective that could help her navigate the American academic maze.

 

“I’d known him since I was a Ph.D. assistant back in France,” Wall explained, “and he knew where I was coming from, the kind of education I’d had and what is different between the European academic’s position versus the American one. So that was really useful. He was perfect.”

 

As it turned out, having a well-matched mentor would define the success of the fledgling ADVANCE program, not only for Wall but for all who would follow. And when she visited Nitsche’s campus, she was pleasantly surprised by the way so many doors opened to her.

 

“I was lucky to have a wonderful mentor,” she said. “Professor Nitsche has so very little time, but he still managed to spend a whole week with me.”

 

Meanwhile, she said, he intentionally directed their efforts away from just writing proposals together.

“He was actually keeping his distance from me, pushing me, not leading me,” she said. “He wasn’t pulling me with a leash, he was actually pushing me towards other people. That’s really important.”

 

 

Brian Kemp discovered similar dynamics in his external mentor relationship. An assistant professor in WSU’s Department of Anthropology and in the School of Biological Sciences, Kemp was introduced to the program by the school’s director, Larry Hufford, a department liaison for ADVANCE at WSU.

 

Together they outlined an approach to help Kemp grow as a mentor for the women graduate students in his laboratory, heighten his awareness to the barriers women face in STEM disciplines, and leverage his mentor’s work.

 

Their proposal fit the vision of the ADVANCE grant by identifying a highly successful female external mentor who was senior in her field – Elizabeth Hadly, a biology professor at Stanford University. Kemp and Hadly soon found they shared a common working philosophy and developed a productive working relationship.

 

“If I emailed Liz Hadly out of the blue, she probably wouldn’t have known who I was before this,” said Kemp. “She’s a very, very busy person, and it’s a rare situation where you can really get somebody to sit down and talk to you. But, by her agreeing to be a part of this program, I could rely on her. I knew she would answer emails very quickly.”

 

Hadly also was able to visit WSU Pullman for a few days, and recently Kemp traveled to Stanford for a two-day visit.

 

In the larger process he has discovered how the benefits of gaining outside viewpoints – especially in a more formalized, funded structure with higher expectations and accountability – set this program apart.

 

At a relatively early stage in his career, Kemp appreciates the opportunity to gain broader perspectives.

 

“The more external mentors I can identify, the better,” he said. “The job can be overwhelming – you’re so busy all the time, and it’s hard to take a deep breath once in a while. It’s really nice just to get away and think about some ideas with somebody new.”

 

In the process, both WSU professors have found that their external mentors introduced them to far more new contacts than they could ever initiate on their own. Wall helped her mentor organize a symposium, which opened several doors, and then he asked her to give an invited lecture, which opened many more.
 
“That obviously brought a lot of attention,” she said, “more than if I had just been a regular presenter. As a result I have been asked several times to give other presentations.”

 

Gaining so many new contacts through the External Mentor Program has likely changed the direction of her career, she said.

 

“The number of people I’ve met in the past two years, thanks to Professor Nitsche, is just ridiculously enormous. I’ve met many, many people with whom I can collaborate. He introduced me and made sure that I talked to people, just by having to organize things with them. Now they know me.”

 

So if the external mentors have helped shape at least two careers, what about the rest of their colleagues? Should it be applied to the wider WSU teaching community?

 

“Absolutely,” said Wall. “I think anybody would benefit from the External Mentor Program – though it’s perhaps something that many people don’t think about. But the bottom line is that nowadays we cannot do our job as academics in just one institution. We have to go out there and seek the knowledge and expertise of other people.”

 

“I think the program is great,” agreed Kemp. “It didn’t take that much money, and it had a huge impact on me.”

 

ADVANCE at WSU is part of a comprehensive nationwide effort by NSF to identify barriers to recruitment, retention and advancement of underrepresented minorities in STEM fields. It provides career development opportunities for faculty of all ranks to work with a noted expert in their discipline.

 

For more information about the External Mentor Program, including how to apply for a grant, visit www.advance.wsu.edu or contact Rebecca Craft at advance@wsu.edu or 509-335-5040.