Four recommended foci for new academic success definitions¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Drawing on feminist literature, the commentary recommends supplementing existing success recommendations with four foci: "(1) personal dispositions, (2) diverse mentorship models, (3) workload and wellbeing strategies, and (4) failure narratives". Personal dispositions such as confidence and self-efficacy should be prioritised in future professional development of female academics; mentorship models should be informed by diverse experiences and embedded in evidence-based institutional policies; extreme workload should be challenged rather than promoted; and institutional support is needed when failures occur, especially for marginalised groups.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Institutional mentorship policies that are evidence-based and informed by diverse experiences
• Greater prevention measures promoting work/life balance, mental health and wellbeing, and reduced publication pressures

Constraints¶

• Support for developing personal dispositions has been minimal in traditional academic training, per the commentary citing Sousa & Clark (2018)

Target Learners¶

• female academics
• early career researchers
• scholars from marginalised groups

Target Learning Goals¶

• sustainable academic career development
• equitable professional recognition
• navigating the academic hidden curriculum

Affordances¶

• Intersectionality Academic Success Lens

Claims¶

• Mentors from marginalised groups are asked to perform disproportionally more mentoring than scholars from privileged backgrounds [+W]
• Interviewed academic women defined success in terms of collegiality, institutions pursuing public good, and mentoring growth rather than productivity indicators [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Kucirkova, N. (2023). Commentary on Highly Successful Female Educational Psychologists: Equity and Intersectionality in Success Definitions. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09727-3