Full Description
This volume explores how women in the fields of rhetoric and composition have succeeded, despite the challenges inherent in the circumstances of their work. Focusing on those women generally viewed as "successful" in rhetoric and composition, this volume relates their stories of successes (and failures) to serve as models for other women in the profession who aspire to "make it," too: to succeed as women academics in a sea of gender and disciplinary bias and to have a life, as well.
Building on the gains made by several generations of rhetoric and composition scholars, this volume provides strategies for a newer generation of scholars entering the field and, in so doing, broadens the support base for women in the field by connecting them with a greater web of women in the profession. Offering frank discussion of professional and personal struggles as well as providing reference materials addressing these concerns, solid career advice, and inspirational narratives told by women who have "made it" in the field of rhetoric and composition, this work highlights such common concerns as:
dealing with sexism in the tenure and promotion process,
maintaining a balance between career and family,
struggling for scholarly and/or administrative respect,
mentoring junior women,
finding one's voice in scholarship, and
struggling to say "no" to unrewarded service work
The profiles of individual successful women describe each woman's methods for success, examine the price each has paid for that success, and pass along the advice each has to offer other women who are beginning a career in the field or attempting to jumpstart an existing career. With resources and general advice for women in the field of rhetoric and composition to guide them through their careers—as they become, survive, and thrive as professionals in the discipline - this book is must-have reading for every woman making her career in the rhetoric and composition fields.
Contents
Preface v Introduction 1 Section I: Becoming a Professional Chapter I: Succeeding as a Graduate Student 28 Chapter II: Succeeding on the Job Market 83 Essential Resources 115 Section II: Thriving as a Professional Chapter III: Succeeding as a Junior Professor 119 Chapter IV: Succeeding Despite it All: Administration, Politics, and Difficult People 171 Chapter V: Succeeding as a Senior Scholar, Teacher, and Mentor 198 Essential Resources 230 Section III: And Having a Life, Too Chapter VI: Searching for Well-Being: Strategies for Living 234 Chapter VII: Creating a Life Within/Beyond Work: Family and Academic Culture 258 Essential Resources 291 Section IV: Being a Professional: Profiles of Success Chapter VIII: Patricia Bizzell 295 Chapter IX: Sharon Crowley 323 Chapter X: Cheryl Glenn 348 Chapter XI: Susan C. Jarratt 373 Chapter XII: Shirley Wilson Logan 388 Chapter XIII: Andrea A. Lunsford 404 Chapter XIV: Jacqueline Jones Royster 422 Chapter XV: Cynthia L. Selfe 443 Chapter XVI: Lynn Worsham 460 Section V: Appendices Appendix I: Questionnaire for Survey of Women in Rhetoric and Composition 485 Appendix II: Quantitative Data Collected from Survey 488 Works Cited 490
