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Readers had some characteristically thoughtful responses to this week’s posts about doing DEI work without the label and about career ceilings. Thanks to everyone who took the time to write.
A few highlights:
For the DEI piece, one reader mentioned that her institution has established peer tutors in STEM classes called STEM guides. The STEM guides are all in a single large room. Student visits to the STEM guides are mandatory, no matter how well the students are doing. That takes the stigma out of seeking help; if you have to be there anyway, you might as well make the time productive by asking questions. As she put it, “by norming that seeking support is what the best students do, all benefit including those who need it most but often don’t participate.”
That makes a lot of sense. Students follow social cues; if interaction with tutors is required of everybody, then it’s not admitting weakness to go to them.
Another reader noted that online programs at her institution that were originally designed with working adults in mind quickly grew popular among other students with transportation issues, childcare issues and complicated lives. In other words, it helped students who were traditionally underserved, but without calling attention to that. The DEI impact was positive—and at least partially unintentional. As such, it didn’t attract the political opposition that more explicit moves can.
Again, there are times when it’s necessary to be explicit. But sometimes there are ways to change the facts on the ground without setting off trip wires.
In response to the piece about career ceilings, several readers directed me to this piece in The Chronicle by Kevin McClure. It’s quite good, but the part that jumped out at me was the suggestion of intentional cross-training. That’s where it takes conscious effort to push back against austerity. Cross-training takes time and effort, and it can sometimes wreak havoc with pay grades. But it also equips people with the skills to move out of a narrowly defined (and effectively capped) silo. It can be frustrating to lose out on an opportunity because you haven’t had that opportunity before.
Another suggested a variation on the theme —“micro-internships”—along with coaching for supervisors to encourage them to encourage their people to aim high. A supervisor who’s afraid of being upstaged can get in the way when folks express ambition. The best supervisors see being upstaged as a sign that they’ve developed their people well. But some may need that explained to them.
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to write!
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The days are long, but the years are short.
Earlier this week, while driving to work, I passed the middle school that The Girl attended.
This week she’s home from college for the break.
I don’t know when that happened.
