- Laura Williams, PhD
- Jul 4, 2024
- 4 min read
I should clarify that by "man" I really mean "person", but I am a sucker for alliteration..... so, "man" it is.
I was in a meeting recently with some amazing academics, and the topic of conversation for the meeting itself was derailed in THE MOST GLORIOUS of ways to discuss the purpose of metrics, when to use them, and importantly, when we may not want to use them.
This really got me thinking (I'm sure you could smell the wood burning).
Two of my goals for the summer are to update my CV (always a good task to keep on top of) and to update, and possibly re-think, my Teaching Dossier. Good personal goals to set, but necessary professional goals for me as well - I am approximately halfway through my two-year contract at the time of writing this.
I asked an academic colleague if they were willing to share their CV with me, as I am always looking for ways to improve the organization of my CV, and to ensure that I am capturing everything on it that should be captured. This colleague kindly obliged and sent along a copy of their CV. After a quick perusal of their CV my first thought was "well, I'm never getting hired if this is the competition." To be clear, I do not view my colleague as competition - they are my colleague - and more importantly, they are excellent at what they do. I think the institution is very lucky to have them.
I then look back at my own CV and think "is this all I am?" You might do the same. But then I stop and think "no, I am actually so much more than this; this is merely a snapshot. Does it show what I have done in the past? Yes. Does it show what I am fully capable of? No. Not even close. It shows me in pieces, but it is not the whole."
"Comparison is the thief of joy"
Now, there are very reasonable reasons why this person's CV is stronger (different?) than mine. We completed our education at different institutions, and this means we were afforded different opportunities depending on the options available, and the governance of internal structures. I'll give an example. In the department in which I completed my PhD, it is pretty rare for a PhD student to get the chance to teach a course. Your opportunities to supervise an undergraduate research thesis also depends on interest to your supervisor's lab, and then the student's interest (or lack thereof) in your work.
When I look at my own CV, one thing I am VERY COGNIZANT of is that my teaching experience is almost entirely 100 level service courses; I have no experience teaching senior undergraduate or graduate level courses. This is not for lack of trying. I apply to sessional positions across Canada all the time. I have also reached out to connections to keep me apprised of any upcoming opportunities to continue to develop myself, so that I can demonstrate to a hiring committee that yes, I am in fact capable of doing the things I have not yet done - those all too glaring gaps in my own CV.
And this brings me back to that conversation I mentioned a moment ago. Metrics. As academics and scientists, we may not be "all about the Benjamine's" but we are definitely "all about the metrics" (someone should write a song). Give me the data - I can't just take your word for it.
How do you demonstrate competency for things that you've never done before? Can I competently teach a 4th year undergraduate course? Yes - absolutely. Based on my prior experiences and skillsets that I have developed, I know I can develop, design, and teach senior undergraduate and graduate courses despite not having done it - yet. Can I be an effective committee member on a graduate student's thesis? Yes - absolutely. Do I think that my first time serving on a thesis committee will present a steep learning curve? Yes - of course it will. One would hope that having gone through graduate school and having worked in academia would demonstrate to hiring committees the potential of the individual (in this case, myself) to take initiative, learn, grow, and develop competency over time. Where's the section for that on the CV?
I know that I have a positive impact on the students I teach, the colleagues I work with, and the institution I serve, just as they have all made a positive impact on me. I know this from conversations I have had, through statements that have made their way back to me through the grape vine (awesome CCR song by the way) and from other forms of communication I receive. However, none of these - the conversations, the emails, the thank you cards - are metrics that appear on my CV. Nor should they.
So, where does this leave us in terms of measuring our "worth" in metrics? Those all-too-important tangible metrics, that can be displayed, shared, and compared, to provide rationale for decisions made on behalf of us but without us (offers of employment, promotion, etc.). Honestly, I don't know. What I do know is that my worth is so much more than mere metrics.
