This conceptual paper contributes a new perspective on the role of women academics’ friendships in helping them navigate and counter the masculine culture of academia. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory and Relational Cultural Theory, we contend that women’s friendships allow women to thrive by meeting core psychological needs that are threatened in a marginalized work environment. Women’s intra-gender friendships act as counterspaces that challenge deficit notions women often hold about themselves, which are particularly prevalent for early career academics and women of color. We examine these workplace friendships through the belief that the academy is a gendered workplace which results in women often experiencing significant challenges to their career success. Furthermore, we consider how women’s friendships can mitigate the effects of workplace marginalization and enhance well-being that results in career success. We conclude by challenging HRD scholars to consider how academia can make space for and value women’s friendships in the workplace to benefit both individuals and institutions.

Despite the widespread use of smartphones, apps, and social media in college students' and instructors' lives, there has been a slow adoption of these digital tools into the classroom. This chapter posits that individuals' online interactions account for a great deal of informal learning and that by integrating these digital tools in our classrooms, instructors can complement and extend the formal learning of their classrooms. Specifically, this chapter offers three ways that technology can assist in the classroom: to promote inclusive participation, to enhance the classroom climate, and to explore and demonstrate course material in an engaging way. To these ends, the authors explore the efficacy of social media sites, Google applications, and GIFs and memes.