Academic Writing Amplified

It's our one year anniversary at the Academic Womxn Amplified podcast! This calls for a giveaway. This month the Academic Womxn Amplified podcast is having it's one year anniversary! Our fans rave about our podcast, which is chock-full of juicy writing advice for academic womxn. We currently have 80,000 lifetime downloads… but that's not good enough! To reach more academic womxn who need our message we want to get to 100,000 downloads by September 30th. Sounds like the perfect opportunity for a giveaway! Enter Cathy's Podcast to 100K Giveaway, and you could win $500 in prizes. Our winner will receive: A one-year membership in Momentum ~$297 (Including but not limited to: daily co-writing opportunities, a private and active on-line community, invites to all of our client-only events) My five favorite books for academic writers ~$100 A mystery gift box full of goodies for putting on your own writing retreat at home ~$100 I want to continue to spread my message about changing academic culture and giving academic womxn the tools they need to find success on their terms; you can help. To enter the giveaway, click here, then get more chances to win by sharing on social and subscribing to the podcast. The giveaway starts on Monday, Sept 7 and entries close Friday, September 11 at midnight. Thank you for taking this journey with me, and for being the awesome academic womxn that you are! Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page

Are you believing any of these 5 myths about the tenure prep process? You could be setting yourself up for unneeded stress and worry, so let's bust those myths. Now that you've landed that tenure track job, it's essential to cut through the clutter of what you think you have to do, kick guilt and overwhelm to the curb, and create a process that works without the burnout. Consider this my permission to stop believing these 5 myths, and stop acting as if they're true. Myth #1: You have to be quiet. Don't believe the myth that you can't speak your mind during your tenure process and need to keep your ideas to yourself to avoid retribution or not being thought of as a team player. At a healthy institution, your committee wants to know more about you: your views, your ideas, your style. So speak up! "There's this myth that you have to lay low or fly under the radar until you have tenure…" Myth # 2: You have to work a 60+ hour work week. This myth isn't relegated to the tenure-track process; many academics believe this one about their careers. It's not true! To bust this myth, you need to learn project management, put systems in place, get clear on your academic mission, and put writing at the center. In my programs, we teach you all these skills to enable you to fit your work into a 40 hour workweek. "You can get more done than you think." Myth #3: You should say yes to all publication opportunities. This myth stems from the fear based scarcity mentality that is all too common in academia. Many institutions are vague at best about how many publications you need to secure tenure, so it's tempting to jump at every possible opportunity. But not all publications are created equal! Clogging up your pipeline slows down all your projects, including the ones that really matter. Ignore this myth, and choose wisely. Myth #4: Everyone has it figured out except for you. Everybody loses when you play the comparison game. Our experiences are all different, and we can't know what someone else's experiences and circumstances are really like. Trust me when I say, no one starts out the pre-tenure process with everything figured out. "The work of pre-tenure is the process of figuring it out." Myth #5: It has to suck. We're programmed to believe that the pre-tenure process has to be a grueling slog, and that we should just put our heads down, accept the overwork mentality, and struggle through. That mindset leads to burnout and collapse, so don't accept it! In my Navigate and Amplify programs we teach the skills and systems to make pre-tenure manageable, and surround you with like-minded women who aren't willing to let the process grind them down. Don't miss out on Amplify! Don't let these 5 myths get you down; there's a different way to approach the pre-tenure process, and we'd love to show you how inside our Amplify program! Find out how to navigate it on your terms, click here to learn more. Included with the Amplify program: Our whole Navigate: the Writing Roadmap program Mastermind calls with a cohort of 8-10 womxn who complete the year-long program together One-on-one coaching on whatever you need Peer review, using a system created by one of our wonderful coaches Live trainings and a library of resources Writing retreats (virtual, for now) A community of like-minded womxn to support and encourage you! As of this writing, we have 12 spaces available in 3 cohorts, but we want them filled by 9/30/20, so don't wait! Click here to apply for Amplify: Faculty Writing Accelerator. Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode44.

My guest on this episode is Adrianna Santos, passionate advocate for equity for women, immigrants, and marginalized communities. She shares about many mentors and inspirational figures in her life who led her to Latinx and Chicanx studies, processing trauma through performance and embodiment exercises, having babies during dissertation, and coming full circle to teach in her hometown. Yet another example of womxn walking "non-traditional" paths, she is training to become a doula, and is following her desires to learn more about her ancestral history. Key points discussed: Adrianna's childhood as a shy, bookworm only child in a large extended family [4:30] Discovering trauma processing through performance and spoken word [8:30] Inspirational figures and the importance of mentors in coming to Chicanx and Latinx studies [14:00] Attending an institution with the first PhD program in her area of study and getting to help shape that department [18:00] Dissertation writing while doing healing work and having her first baby [23:00] Getting back to creativity in writing when it is often about producing a 'product' in academia [26:00] Navigating the job market with a toddler and infant twins [30:00] Study surrounding inequities around birth and becoming a certified doula [40:00] Grief, loss and transition in our society [42:00] "Spiritual activism" and what that means to Adrianna [45:00] Key Quotes: "I had an amazing team of…'femtors', feminist mentors." -Adrianna Santos "You're proving that you have all this knowledge, then it doesn't necessarily translate once you leave the academy." -Adrianna Santos "It was a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be, but it was a lot more fulfilling than I thought it would be too." -Adrianna Santos "I feel really lucky, really grateful, to be at a place where I can kind of shape the institution." -Adrianna Santos "There isn't a space in society for us to talk about loss…" -Adrianna Santos "I'm really feeling inspired toward transformation and healing." -Adrianna Santos Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode43.

When my guest on this episode was young, she was a curious and confident learner. She started higher education in her native Peru, but had to start over in high school when she and her family moved to the United States. Dr. Rocío Caballero Gill shares her story of learning English, following her love of the sciences, and most importantly, keeping her family at the center. We talk about her setbacks and successes, and what she's doing now with GeoLatinas, a member-driven organization whose mission is to embrace, empower, and inspire Latinas to pursue and thrive in careers in Earth and Planetary Sciences. ​ Key points discussed: Rocío's childhood in Peru as a curious leader and learner [3:30] Beginning higher education in Peru; choosing from limited options [6:00] Moving to the U.S. after one semester, having to go back to high school and learn English [9:30] Going to community college to stay close to family [14:00] Following each step and connection along her path; getting connected with the USGS [17:00] Feeling like a first generation college student because of language and culture barriers [18:00] Making decisions based on core values, and what she wants most from life and career [24:00] Being diagnosed with a chronic disorder and navigating what that meant for her career [28:00] Doing her dissertation and post-doc work in another state, and while pregnant [34:00] Finding GeoLatinas, and growing it as an organization to give other Latinas female mentors in their fields that she was never able to really find [41:00] Key Quotes: "I'm going to be a learner for life." -Rocío Caballero Gill "Why do we have to wait? Why don't we just do it at the same time?" -Rocío Caballero Gill "I had to be intentional." -Rocío Caballero Gill "What things do I really want? What things can I let go?" -Rocío Caballero Gill "The support system I had was really important." -Rocío Caballero Gill "Where do I want my energy to go?" -Rocío Caballero Gill "I know what I want in the future, and the question is, how do I make it happen without the fear of not knowing all there is to know…" -Rocío Caballero Gill Connect with Dr. Rocío Caballero Gill: Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Website Connect with GeoLatinas: Website Twitter Instagram Facebook LinkedIn Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode42.

Dr. Sandra Soto Santiago has come full circle in her career, finding passion and purpose in helping others with similar backgrounds to access higher education. She talks about being a first generation college student and the first in her family to earn graduate degrees. She also shares her personal story, being raised by a single mother who worked hard and emphasized education for a better life for her family; moving from Puerto Rico to the US then back to Puerto Rico; the challenges she faced and people who helped her along the way. We discuss how vital mentors are to youth who come from impoverished and underprivileged backgrounds, and the ways Sandra is now actively engaged in this valuable work. Key points discussed: Growing up as the child of a single mom who struggled to provide for her family and emphasized the need for her kids to get an education [5:00] Moving to the US and the shift from being top of the class to struggling with English and getting poor grades [8:00] The importance of mentors encouraging her to take AP classes, SATs, and apply for college [10:00] Moving back to Puerto Rico, scraping together money for entrance exams, and going to college a year late [14:00] Realizing she was different; not a lot of other first generation college students who had come from her kind of experiences [21:00] Seeing herself and her story in her research participants [28:00] Mentoring and its importance to first generation college students [32:00] Getting a tenure track teaching job at her alma mater [42:00] Increasing poverty in Puerto Rico and disparities in college access [46:00] The CUA (University Center for Access) program [50:00] Key Quotes: "Being a college professor would give me power, in a good way, to do other things in the classroom." -Sandra Soto Santiago "When I was...doing the interviews with the return migrants, I kept listening to my story." -Sandra Soto Santiago "You have to know what you're worth." -Sandra Soto Santiago "You should be able to make choices that work for you." -Sandra Soto Santiago "There are parts of my career that I've decided not to focus on as much." -Sandra Soto Santiago "The reality is that when you really have to choose between eating and paying for books or paying for tuition, it's not accessible, it's not fair." -Sandra Soto Santiago "I think if there's one thing you should do, it's surround yourself with the right people." -Sandra Soto Santiago Connect with Sandra Soto Santiago: Facebook The CUA (University Center for Access) Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode41.

Dr. Jane Jones has had the "golden ticket" job, and she will be the first to tell you: it's not for everyone. She may have landed a tenure track job her first year on the market, but after 3 years she knew it was not for her. Racial inequity, lack of creative freedom and the constraints of academia led her away from the professor life she had always wanted, and toward her own entrepreneurial venture. As an editor and academic writing coach she is still in the world of academia, but is navigating it solely on her own terms. She exemplifies the truth that academic womxn don't have to follow a "traditional" path, and is helping to break down barriers around what academics 'should' and 'shouldn't' do. Key points discussed: Jane's "nerdy" childhood full of books and learning interests led to college and grad school to debate and talk about ideas [4:00] Getting a tenure track job immediately, and discovering it was not for her [10:00] Culture shock of leaving big city culture to teach at a small college that did not adequately address failings in racial equity [13:00] Taking a fellowship with a non-profit organization as a way to ease out of her situation and avoid some of the shock at leaving the academic community [19:30 Deciding to leave academia altogether and starting her own business [21:00] Growing an editing business through hustle and networking [22:30] How academia on the inside differs from what it looks like on the outside [27:00] The lack of creative freedom that can come with the academic life [35:00] The differences in perception between changing careers inside and outside of academia [37:30] Differences between editing and coaching for academic writers [44:00] Realistic timelines for writing an academic book [53:00] Key Quotes: "I didn't have a lot of mentorship around [things] like what's the best program… who do you want to work with." -Jane Jones "...as a sociologist who studies race, I'm even more concerned about this." -Jane Jones "That was one of the points where I was like, 'This is not it. This is not what I signed up for…'" -Jane Jones "If I could go somewhere, where would it be?" -Jane Jones "I knew that if I wanted to be an academic I had to go on the job market immediately, because 'that's what you do'". -Jane Jones This idea that… if I do 'x' then 'y' will never happen is so ingrained in academic culture." -Cathy Mazak "I don't want to keep giving my power to other people… If I'm gonna mess things up, I'm going to mess them up." -Jane Jones "You think you have a lot of freedom, and you don't." -Jane Jones "There is a narrative that if you leave academia you must be a failure or a punk in some way." -Jane Jones "No one teaches you how to do any of this." -Jane Jones Connect with Jane Jones: Website Elevate Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode40.

Cara Gormally joins me on this interview episode of the Academic Womxn Amplified podcast to share her journey from someone who hated math and science, to an academic with a passion for science and science education. She talks about the importance of finding joy in our academic pursuits, her interests in how identity impacts learning and her drive for changing the way we do science education. Cara shares about teaching at the country's only deaf and hard of hearing college, and how she came through the tenure process while learning the language she teaches in. We also discuss how a change in the basic science knowledge in our society could impact how we approach things like pandemics, and making science concepts more accessible and widely useful by viewing them through a social justice lens. Key point discussed: Cara's childhood as a bookworm, middle class kid; learning flexibility from moving around a lot [5:30] Discovering a love for science after being required to take philosophy of science courses at her small college [7:00] Finding a perfect match, getting into a great lab, and a positive grad school experience [12:00] Funding as a TA leading her to another area of research: biology education [14:15] Passions for teaching others how to teach and a drive to do research [16:15] Coming to teach at a deaf and hard of hearing college; learning ASL along the way [18:00] Navigating the pre-tenure process in a second language [22:00] The "now what?" period of reflection after receiving tenure [24:00] Scaling back and focusing in when her son was born and beyond [25:00] Collaborations and the importance of who you work with [28:30] The exhaustion of applying for things, and whether it's worth it [29:30] Transitioning to "Covid learning" [33:00] What she is doing in our current moment to make science and science education more impactful [37:30] Creating a brand new curriculum: science through the lens of social justice [40:00] Finding the parts of academia that work for an individual; choosing service work that is meaningful and useful, finding the sweet spots in an academic career [41:00] Key Quotes: "It should be about joy." -Cara Gormally "When you're not tenure track, you get trampled." -Cara Gormally "I got really intentional about my research projects." -Cara Gormally "Applying to things is not always that fruitful." -Cara Gormally "All of a sudden, we had half the time to do our jobs." -Cara Gormally "We could be collectively trying to re-imagine and make something much better." -Cara Gormally "How can we also showcase diverse scientists?" -Cara Gormally "I can't teach what I'm teaching anymore...we have to do something different." -Cara Gormally "Academia should be joyful." -Cathy Mazak Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode39.

Sarah Dobson's journey has exemplified the idea that it is not our "container" (the university or institution we work for) that matters in impacting the world, but rather our interests, passions, and drive. In this interview episode of The Academic Womxn Amplified, Sarah shares about her academic path, and how serious illness during her graduate studies pushed her away from pursuing a PhD, and into a variety of arenas where she has been able to have a huge impact in her field of public health. She talks about co-founding and running a non-profit, doing research as a 'non-academic', academic adjacent career paths, and entrepreneurship. We also talk about our current moment and the definitive links between systemic racism and poor health outcomes. Key point discussed: Sarah's beginnings, searching for the right program and finding her community [4:30] Taking a detour to law school [7:30] Relief and lessons learned from quitting law school [8:30] Differentiating between excelling for the sake of it and excelling at something personally important [10:30] Taking graduate classes in her second language [14:45] Getting extremely sick and taking extended time off during graduate study [15:00] Over-achieving, insecurity, and the need to prove herself [18:30] Her need for stability and a steady job outweighing a desire for her PhD [20:00] Working at a center for educating health professionals and doing research outside of academia [21:00] Ground-breaking contributions and impact in health education throughout Canada and the world [22:00] Co-founding and directing a non-profit [25:30] Building her own company in an 'academic adjacent' field [29:30] Consulting on grant-writing and how she helps early career scholars make their grant ideas meaningful to others [32:00] Systemic racism, racist patriarchy in academia, and how to make an impact individually and systemically [34:00] Sarah's advice for self-reflection and finding your own way to make an impact [41:30] Key Quotes: "In the end it was such a relief...to recognize that this was not the path for me." -Sarah Dobson "Not going straight through is a valid path for academia." -Cathy Mazak "I just needed to take a breath." -Sarah Dobson "Writing is an act of empathy." -Sarah Dobson "There are lots of different opportunities to do what you love and to make a difference." -Sarah Dobson Links & Resources: Sarah Dobson's website Free grant-writing workbook to help you work out and pace your next grant application Sarah on Twitter Sarah on Facebook Cite Black Women Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode38.

Dr. Becky Dawson is a public health epidemiologist who has strategically navigated her journey through academia with determination and purpose. Prompting from an early mentor led her to discover her passion at the intersection of environment and health. Becky shares her path through graduate study, PhD defense (on her due date!), leaving a tenure track job at an R-1 institution to return to her alma mater, winning tenure, and co-founding a brand new health agency on her campus. We talk about how education can encompass many different avenues, and how relationships and community building can enhance academia just as much as publishing and traditional teaching. Becky shares her sudden propulsion into the spotlight as an expert on infectious disease in the time of Covid-19, and how this has amplified her work and message. She also gives us her top thinking points and recommendations for our own health during the pandemic. Key points discussed: Picking a college based on athletics, confidence as a college athlete [5:45] Finding her senior project topic and future field of graduate study through the valuable advice of a mentor [10:30] Returning for her PhD with newfound clarity after working in a post-grad position in D.C. [11:45] Finding a model job and pursuing the person who occupied that job for information and advice [13:30] Starting a Phd at 30 (her nickname was "gramma") and pregnancy during the dissertation process [16:45] Receiving a gift of time from an advisor and paying forward kindness and grace [18:00] Landing and leaving a tenure track job at a top research institution [23:00] Having a "yes/no" friend to help talk through important decisions [25:30] Restarting the tenure track clock and proving herself at her current institution [30:00] The emergence of Covid-19 and how it thrust her into the spotlight as an epidemiologist [36:30] Fame as an academic [40:00] Using time blocking and boundaries to structure her time and accomplish her goals [41:30] Teaching epidemiology during a pandemic [45:30] Co-directing a brand new agency and stepping away from teaching for a time [48:30] Dr. Becky's top items we all need to think about going forward in the time of Covid-19 [1:00:30] Key Quotes: "One person can make all the difference." -Becky Dawson "I'm looking forward to the day that I actually have the opportunity to pay it forward…" -Becky Dawson "Everyone needs to go get yourself a yes/no friend." -Cathy Mazak "I'm in it because I want communities to be healthy, and I want to train the next generation of students that also want to make communities healthy." -Becky Dawson "I was very careful with my time." -Becky Dawson "Who am I at my core?" -Becky Dawson "Who is your team?" -Becky Dawson Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode37.

For this interview episode of The Academic Womxn Amplified, I'm talking with a member of my own team, whose journey has brought her to the highest levels of achievement in academia… and out the other side. Gina has always been a passionate learner, at home in classrooms and schools. Her path included travel abroad, where she discovered a passion for languages and cultures. She shares about taking a job outside of academia, testing her theory of wanting to become a professor and gaining invaluable skills that helped her when she returned to the academic world. She also shares about having babies during her dissertation process, finding a tenure-track position, and what it was like to finally get tenure. We talk about writing and publishing, the nitty-gritty details of faculty jobs, and getting clarity about what you really want and operating in your 'zone of genius'. Key points discussed: Growing up in an atmosphere of learning [3:00] Participating in Upward Bound and the opportunities this opened [6:30] Finding herself in college, with other people who love to learn [8:30] The life-changing experience of travel abroad [9:45] Taking a job after graduation and the experience gained [15:45] Having a baby the day after she turned in her dissertation draft [20:30] Starting a tenure-track job and feeling completely lost [23:30] Picking a dissertation topic through the lens of her passions [27:15] Using project management skills gained in the corporate world to help her in her dissertation process [28:00] Approaching writing and publishing and dealing with rejection [30:00] Learning lessons and building on confidence in publishing [31:45] Parenting while teaching, bringing kids to class, and being an example for others who are trying to have babies and navigate academia [37:00] The feeling of anti-climax upon getting tenure, and what that meant for her [44:00] Reflecting on what we really want; realizing that academia does not have to be the end goal, and that leaving a tenured position is ok. [51:30] Having the confidence to embrace failing and making mistakes and to keep learning in that way. [55:00] Key Quotes: "This combines all of the things that I have discovered I love: reading and writing and traveling, and talking to people." -Gina Robinson "I kind of felt like I wanted to make some of my own mistakes…" -Gina Robinson "Don't feel bad about asking those things, because everybody was there at a certain point." -Gina Robinson "Why is every person making these big mistakes, all alone, in their offices…" -Cathy Mazak "Yes, you can have a baby and you will still get a PhD." -Gina Robinson Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode36.