[Previously posted on the Langely Harper blog]

One of the books on our summer reading list was Carla Harris’ Strategize to Win. After months of reading workplace help and self-help books from Ariana Huffington, Sheryl Sandberg, and a myriad of other white female corporate leaders’ take on work-life fit, it was refreshing to read (or at least place on our reading list) a book by an African-American woman who climbed through the corporate America obstacle course to become a vice chairman/managing director at Morgan Stanley.

One of the things that Harris has discussed in her previous work and trumpeted in her speeches is the need for women to have three types of key people in her career corner: an advisor, a mentor, and a sponsor.

These three terms are bandied about in most business, academic, and social setting.  In the academic literature, mentoring is a broad concept that includes sponsorship. As Tindall noted in a previous blog , “sponsorship is a deeper, intense, and targeted cycle of grooming and promotion. The mentor (the senior level person) is valuable to someone’s career progress because he or she provides upward mobility, visibility, and support to their proteges as well as fights to get someone promoted.”

Harris clarified her stance on mentors and sponsors in a New York magazine article, titled It Takes More Than a Mentor to Win at Work:

“A mentor’s job is to give you advice that is tailored specifically to you and to your career aspirations. They do  not need to be within your organization, nor do they need to look like you. But they must understand your context. Some of my best mentors have been peers. Frankly, you can survive a very long time in your career without a mentor. But you will not ascend in any organization without a sponsor. A sponsor is the person who, behind closed doors, will argue passionately on your behalf as to why you should get the great promotion, why you should get the outstanding bonus, why you should get that next-stretch opportunity.”

Academic research has validated up this idea of sponsorship. In a 2011 Harvard Business Review podcast and in a 2011 HBR article, Hermina Ibarra found that many of the corporate mentoring programs did not produce their intended effects. Rather than seeing a substantial increase in women being promoted in the higher echelons of the corporate hierarchy, women stagnated and suffered from being “mentored to death.”

This subtle yet distinct difference matters both to women who are aiming to climb the ladder and to those in management who are crafting the programs and building the mentoring relationships with those women. For those women aiming to rise in their careers, here are some questions for you: who in your network can you pinpoint as a mentor, sponsor, or advisor (a person who can be a resource about day-to-day tactical issues or concerns in your current position).

What roles are missing in your current network, and who could fill them? What mentoring and sponsorship relationships have you seen among your peers? Identify the traits and characteristics in those and search for mentors and sponsors who can provide those things for you. For those in corporate America who are helping to support women, here are some questions for you: What have been your experiences with mentoring? Do you want to replicate those relationships with others? What is happening with your women, especially women of color, after their entry into the organization? Are they leaving? Identify the reasons why they are leaving and what supports they need to continue in the organization.

Assistant/Associate Professor, Technical Communication/Media Studies

Responsibilities:
The Technical Communication Department (TCO) announces openings for tenure-track positions at the Associate or Assistant Professor level. Applicant’s areas of emphasis should include digital/social media and expertise in current industry standard tools. Candidates are expected to excel in teaching and contribute to outstanding degree programs. Mercer University is one of only a few schools offering technical communication degrees from a school of engineering.

The department offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in technical communication, and provides service courses for the School of Engineering. Mercer University enjoys an excellent reputation, being consistently recognized in national surveys. Technical Communication faculty are active in STC, IEEE PCS, and other professional organizations.

All faculty are expected to maintain currency in the field and conduct scholarly activity. Because the primary mission of Mercer is teaching, scholarship is broadly defined.

TCO faculty typically teach three courses each semester. These include courses in the BS in Technical Communication and the MS in Technical Communication Management, as well as a two-course sequence in technical communication required for all students in the School of Engineering. Graduate teaching is done entirely online using WebEx and Blackboard.

The curricula are under constant review to keep up with current trends and research, and to improve the quality of learning. Laboratories-including usability and digital media labs-are well equipped with current technologies.

TCO faculty are expected to advise students and keep regular office hours. All faculty attend departmental meetings, participate in SACS and ABET assessment reviews, and serve on committees in the School of Engineering and the University.

Start Date: Spring Semester 2016

Qualifications:

A doctoral degree in technical communication and/or media studies from an accredited college/university is required. In addition, candidates must have industry experience as a technical communicator, demonstrate competence to teach undergraduates, demonstrate experience or capability of teaching graduate students via distance learning, and demonstrate ability to work in a team environment.

For more information about Mercer University, the School of Engineering, the TCO Department, or the degree programs, please visit http://www.mercer.edu,http://engineering.mercer.edu/, http://engineering.mercer.edu/academics/undergraduate/technical-communication/ , or http://engineering.mercer.edu/academics/graduate/technical-communication-management.cfm .

Applicants should apply at https://www.mercerjobs.com and attach the following materials:  cover letter, complete resume, and list of references with current phone numbers. Those invited to interview will submit official copies of all transcripts and samples of work. Review begins as soon as applications are received and continues until the positions are filled.

Direct inquiries to the search chair:
Dr. Helen M. Grady
Mercer University School of Engineering
1400 Coleman Avenue
Macon, GA 31207

Voice: 478.301.2211
E-mail: grady_h@mercer.edu<mailto:grady_h@mercer.edu>

CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS

Adventures in Shondaland: Identity Politics and the Power of Representation

Editors:          Rachel Alicia Griffin, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Michaela D.E. Meyer, Ph.D., Christopher Newport University

Communication approaches to the study of television tend to be constrained by arbitrary divisions between text, audience, and production, and thus, we often limit our engagement with the interrelationship between textual representation (rhetorical approaches), audience interpretation (cultural studies approaches), and production strategies (industry perspectives). Building upon recent works that blur the distinctions between text, audience, and production (e.g., Holmes, 2004; Meyer, 2007; Watts & Orbe, 2002; H. Wood, 2005) to further theorize the communicative function of television, communication scholarship needs to integrate its approach to contemporary television studies.

This edited collection aims to bridge these divides by focusing on the television legacy of Shonda Rhimes. Rhimes is the creator and/or producer of Grey’s Anatomy (2005-), Private Practice (2007-2013), Scandal (2012-), How to Get Away with Murder (2014-), and, most recently, The Catch (2015-2016 season pilot debut). Her narratives capture large audiences in coveted primetime slots and continue to be highly economically successful. As the most powerful Black woman in the history of network television, Rhimes’ primetime network influence via ABC shapes the landscape of how we understand television representation, interpretation, and production in the 21st century. Simultaneously, as an influential public figure, her success, candor, humility, and intentionality significantly shapes discussions of identity/ies and diversity in current network television. Further indicative of Rhimes’ presence/audibility/visibility/influence in public discourse, @shondarimes boasts 961K followers, and her tweets often address identity politics and the power of representation. This influence is not limited to Rhimes herself, as the fans, actors, and writers working with/following Rhimes also contribute heavily to our public understanding of what is at stake in current television narrative and practices.

Our goal in this collection is to offer a complex reading of “Shondaland” by interrogating: representation, audience responses to Rhimes’ narratives/public discourse, and larger industry issues such as casting and the emergence of new media technologies.
We are currently seeking proposals to augment our collection that address the following topics:

Complex textual readings of any of Rhimes’ narratives (listed above).

Audience-centered approaches to Rhimes’ work such as focus groups, interviews, autoethnography, or analysis of fan discussion/response to particular narratives/storylines/characters.

Cultural critique of industry norms and practices that influence Rhimes’ work such as representation, casting, writing, and/or industry scandal (e.g., Washington/Knight scandal on Grey’s, the use of Rhimes as an “all encompassing” spokesperson for diversity on television, etc.).
We are especially interested in proposals that embrace audience-centered approaches, critique industry practices and political economy, and analyze identity politics that include a focus on ability, age, transgender and gender queer identity, nationality, religion, and racial and ethnic identities beyond the Black/White binary.

Proposals should operate theoretically and methodologically from critical approaches to the study of television. Via a 500-750 word abstract, each proposal should make clear: (1) the chapter’s purpose framed in relation to the call, (2) how the chapter is theoretically/conceptually and methodologically anchored, (3) the chapter’s primary text(s)/trajectory for analysis/argument, (4) the scholarly conversations the chapter is contributing to, and (5) the provocative questions raised and/or addressed by the chapter. Proposals should also include a bibliography of at least 15 working sources for the chapter proposed, as well as a brief biography for each author (150 words or less). Proposals are limited to a 1500 word maximum (not counting the bibliography and bios).

Overall, for our planning purposes, each abstract should include an explicit indication of the chapter’s focus on text and/or audience and/or production. Although we embrace the distinctions between text, audience, and production, we also see these as fluid and simply need to know which elements will be emphasized in the chapter.

Proposals are due by Friday September 18th 2015 and accepted proposals will be notified byFriday October 16th 2015. The anticipated deadline for full chapter drafts is February 1st 2016(This deadline may be extended depending on the publisher).

Inquiries about the call or this project can be directed to either of the editors: Rachel Alicia Griffin (rachelag@siu.edu<mailto:rachelag@siu.edu>) or Michaela D.E. Meyer (mmeyer@cnu.edu<mailto:mmeyer@cnu.edu> ). Please include “Shondaland” in the subject line of all correspondence with the editors.