The Coach?s Guide for Women Professors

If you find yourself thinking or saying any of the following, this is a book you need to pick up.I know or suspect that I am underpaid, but I hate negotiating. I do everything else first and then write in the time left over.I’m not sure exactly what the promotion requirements are in my department.Since earning tenure, my service load has increased and my research is suffering. I don’t get enough time with my family.This is a practical guide for women in academe – whether adjuncts, professors or administrators – who often encounter barriers and hostility, especially women of color, and generally carry a heavier load of service, as well as household and care responsibilities, than their male colleagues. Rena Seltzer, a respected life coach and trainer who has worked with women professors and academic leaders for many years, offers succinct advice on how you can prioritize the multiplicity of demands on your life, negotiate better, create support networks, and move your career forward. Using telling but disguised vignettes of the experiences of women she has mentored, Rena Seltzer offers insights and strategies for managing the situations that all women face – such as challenges to their authority – while also paying attention to how they often play out differently for Latinas, Black and Asian women. She covers issues that arise from early career to senior administrator positions. This is a book you can read cover to cover or dip into as you encounter concerns about time management; your authority and influence; work/life balance; problems with teaching; leadership; negotiating better; finding time to write; developing your networks and social support; or navigating tenure and promotion and your career beyond.

Rena Seltzer is the founder of the coaching and training business, Leader Academic. Over the past decade, Leader Academic has specialized in coaching and workshops for professors and academic leaders. Rena is a popular presenter at major research institutions including Yale, Cornell, the University of Michigan, and the University of Virginia. Rena earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Michigan. With a bachelor’s degree in Social Science and Women’s Studies and a Master of Social Work degree, Rena has always been interested in both women’s issues and the interaction between people and their environment. In Rena’s first career as a psychotherapist she specialized in addictions, solution focused work, family therapy, and employee assistance. Rena completed her coach training through the Mentorcoach program and finds that her earlier psychotherapy training and experience add depth to her work as a coach. In recent years Rena has become a student of Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) and is a core member of the Community of Applied POS practitioners, a group of coaches and consultants striving to put POS research into practice. Rena has written pieces for the All But Dissertation Survival Guide, The College and University Work and Family Association Newsbriefs, MomMD.com, The Ann Arbor Observer, and Current. She also wrote a series of columns on family issues for Gay.com. Rena lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her physician partner and two sons. She holds a black-belt in Shorin-Ryu Karate and enjoys running, camping, and hiking. Author website: www.leaderacademic.com