The #UCUstrikes are about pensions, yes, but they’re also about pay inequality. So I’m taking a deep breath & sharing this. In 2017, I was turned down for promotion by the University’s Executive, despite being unanimously supported by my School & my Faculty. This is what happened
The feedback said I was “a strong person” but “there had not been opportunity to evidence achievement”. I was informally told it was because I hadn’t had a grant since 2012. I had a £200K grant that ran 2012-2015 (av. funding in my field is c.£9K per year).
I went on maternity leave in 2015. I returned and submitted 4 grant apps; published in the highest ranking journal in my entire field; had 3 new externally-funded PhD students. I was working 3 days a week.
My feedback also said that I’d shown insufficient leadership.
My feedback also said that I’d shown insufficient leadership.
At the time, I was the only non-prof on a number of committees. I mentor colleagues. People ask for my opinion (& time) a lot. I manage research teams; I’m a panel member for an external funder, & on the editorial board for one of the leading journals in my field; I give keynotes
Maybe I should have called myself “Director of the Unseen”.
I was informally told the external reviews supporting the promotion were “flawless” (I saw them later: they were) & that if I applied for a job elsewhere, I'd be promoted (because I was a prof by any job description).
I was informally told the external reviews supporting the promotion were “flawless” (I saw them later: they were) & that if I applied for a job elsewhere, I'd be promoted (because I was a prof by any job description).
I finally got promoted in 2018, not as the result of a fair appeal (there wasn’t a process for appeal it turned out), but because @sheffieldUCU stood with me, and didn’t give in when I was done in. The institution said it was doing me a favour by reviewing my case mid-cycle.
I had to fight for a promotion I had earned. I’m angry that the leadership made me question myself without questioning their processes. But my institution is one of the better ones. The sector needs to change. I’m standing with amazing colleagues on the pickets.
We are the university and we can bring about change. #UCUStrikesBack @ucu
Correction: I was so anxious tweeting about this, I got the dates wrong. The whole sorry process started in 2018 and I was promoted in 2019.
