The age-old challenge of navigating the academy to gain tenure still persists. While today more doors are open for a diverse talent pool, successfully breaking down barriers requires understanding how to maneuver around pitfalls throughout all stages of one’s career.
While tenure continues to be the major priority for junior professors, long-term career success requires a plan, a support system, passion and dedication. Dr. Renée Pratt has all of these as an assistant professor of management information systems in the department of business administration at Washington and Lee University, focusing on healthcare information technology.
Pratt is diligently preparing herself to apply for tenure by 2016. Even though she has published in research journals and conference publications, presented at conferences, met teaching expectations, and was recently honored with a Fulbright grant to conduct research in Germany for five months — she still worries whether she has done enough.
“There is an anxiety in this process because of the unknown factor,” Pratt says. “For most schools, requirements are not set in stone. It’s constantly changing, so there is always anxiety about whether I should get one more publication or mentor one more student. It depends on the institution whether that anxiety can increase more or less, as well as the mentoring that you receive.”
Pratt has benefitted from the Ph.D. Project, a clearinghouse for information that potential students of business doctoral programs will need. The Ph.D. Project helps African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and American Indians attain their business Ph.D.s, become business professors and mentor the next generation. It also provides a network and support system from which they can draw.
Even though Pratt has been a part of the Ph.D. Project as an undergraduate and credits the program with giving her a competitive edge in understanding the process, she acknowledges that the journey has taken a toll on her personal life.
“One of the things that people don’t always realize is how much writing is involved and the amount of time away from family,” Pratt says. “Going through the Ph.D. process brings a whole new light on whom you are as a person and what you are willing to deal with. It changes you as a person.”
