Monthly Archives: November 2015

The Subtle Academic Bully

In our conversation on microaggressions in relation to race and gender, some of these subtle comments reminded me of subtle forms of bullying that occur in academia (and likely most workplaces). These instances of incivility generally fly under the radar, but can be just as damaging as overt bullying. In some instances, they may even […] Continue reading

Posted in academic bullying, additional blog post #9, microaggressions, PFP15F

The Future of Higher Education Should Focus on K-12

One issue we have not yet discussed in Preparing the Future Professoriate is K-12 education. You may be thinking, “of course we haven’t talked about K-12 much, Tanya. This is a course on higher education!” However, this is an area that deserves our attention. Our discussions have focused a lot around access to higher education […] Continue reading

Posted in K-12, PFP15F, readiness gap, remedial courses, required blog post #5

Social Media and Higher Education

A bit of background: I belong to the “Pro Faculty Use of Social Media” camp. I have established a presence on various social media platforms over the years, and seen my use of these channels change as my career has taken shape. Six years ago, things looked a lot different. I was in the “anti-social […] Continue reading

Posted in higher education, PFP15F, required blog post #4, social media

Implicit Bias – Race and Obesity

I took two Implicit Attitudes Tests (IATs) on the Project Implicit website  listed in the PFP resources for the Diversity and Inclusion section. The first was the Race (Black-White) IAT, the second was the Weight (Thin-Fat) IAT. For an explanation of how these Implicit Attitude Tests work, details are provided here. Briefly, “the IAT measures […] Continue reading

Posted in implicit attitudes, implicit bias, PFP15F, race bias, weight bias

Battling Sexism with Humor?

In class on Monday evening, the discussion of discrimination and harassment focused primarily on race. One colleague did briefly bring up sexism, speaking about how she is often complimented on her appearance and dress, while males in her lab are complimented on their performance. While I have no answer for overcoming racism, sexism, ageism, etc. […] Continue reading

Posted in PFP15F

“It’s Oxidation, Actually”

The New York Times article “Alan Alda’s Challenge to Make Science Easier to Understand” begins with a story. Young Alan asks his teacher, “What is a flame?” and is dissatisfied with her answer, “It’s oxidation”. This was a response that he did not comprehend. The article goes on to provide an overview of Mr. Alda’s […] Continue reading

Posted in communicating science, PFP15F