Succeeding in Academia: Practical Strategies for Achieving Tenure and Promotion at Research Universities

Abstract

Achieving tenure and promotion is an integral process to becoming a member of the academy's community.Tenure provides job security, ensures academic freedom, and protects faculty from institutional threats. Asnewcomers in the academy, women and minorities face challenges not previously encountered by theirwhite male peers. Research indicates that in addition to scholarly, pedagogical, political, and personalissues, the tenure process for women and minorities also includes issues of gender and race. This paperprovides women and minority faculty on the tenure track at research universities with practical strategiesintended to facilitate their tenure and promotion process. The strategies focus on the three areas used intenure and promotion decisions: research, teaching, and service.