Rise with Clarity Podcast

In this 30th episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I’d like to talk about assessing your bandwidth in these trying times. This can be a helpful tool for those of you who still need to show up and manage the remainder of the academic semester. 

This episode builds on some of the things discussed in Episode 7: Reassess Your Priorities at the End of the Semester. You can find the full transcript for this episode as well as links to...

Given the ubiquity of recommendation letters in graduate school admissions processes, fellowship applications, job searches, and promotion cases—particularly in North America, it’s pretty wild that there isn’t more attention paid to this genre of writing. 

Why is it that faculty receive such little training on how to craft letters of recommendation? Especially when these letters can have a critical impact in an evaluation process? 

I...

It’s now been a little over one year since I’ve left my tenured faculty position and launched Rise with Clarity, my coaching and consulting business for women of color faculty. In this 28th episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I wanted to offer some of my reflections on having left academia, one year out. Find the full transcript for this episode at RisewithClarity.com/28, along with other useful resources for women of color f...

As you probably already know, grant writing usually involves a significant investment of time and labor. And after a long period of waiting to hear from the funding agency, this process may or may not yield a positive result for you.

But one thing is for sure. If you don’t apply for the grant, you will certainly NOT receive it.

In this 27th episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I’m going to be talking about applying for grants an...

For many of you, you’ve likely made it through your first week or two of classes and you’re slowly starting to get back into the rhythm of teaching, research, and writing. But if this is your very first time on the tenure track, all of these new experiences can feel quite overwhelming and sometimes disconcerting. And because you have 6 years to achieve tenure at your institution, the stakes feel high to you.

In this encor...

This episode reflects on the narrow set of expectations that are often cast upon academics in higher ed. In North American institutions of higher ed, there are prescribed milestones set up for us, like landing a tenure track position and achieving tenure. In this 25th episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I talk about the importance of being able to name and honor your personal milestones as well as your academic ones.

Find the ...

Is this fall going to be your first semester teaching as a professor on the tenure track? If so, congratulations on your new position and this big transition to the professoriate.

Conceptualizing and developing a course syllabus may be a first-time experience for you. And it may seem daunting. You might feel compelled to devote the entire summer to crafting your syllabi.

In this 24th episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I’m goin...

For today’s episode, I want to open up a discussion on some of the unique challenges that foreign-born faculty, in particular women faculty, face in universities and colleges in the United States. 

I come from a place of seeing and knowing former classmates, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who have gone through different hurdles than what I have experienced as an Asian American who was raised in the United States by immigrant...

Are you in a toxic higher ed work environment?

Should you stay or should you leave? 

There’s no easy answer to these questions…especially if you have invested a lot of time and energy in landing a tenure track position in today’s higher ed job market. 

Deciding whether to stay or leave entails a lot of reflection, some soul searching, the weighing of pros and cons, and if you do end up leaving--planning out your next moves. And unfort...

It’s one thing to identify and acknowledge that you are in a toxic higher ed workplace, and another thing to figure out what you’re going to do about it. 

What are your next steps?

In this 21st episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I’m going to be offering  6 questions that you can ask yourself if you want to stay at your current institution.

Find the full transcript for this episode as well as additional resou...

How do you respond to your various deadlines and projects in higher education? In my case, I wasn’t very skilled at managing my deadlines at the beginning of my academic career. Over the years, I’ve had to learn how to cultivate time management skills, prioritize, and create systems to support my various projects. 

Most importantly, I’ve become more aware of how I personally approach and handle deadlines that involve resea...

If someone were to ask you today about your core values, would you be able to articulate them out loud? Have you ever spent the time to think about your values, especially as they relate to your professional work?

When I asked these questions to a former client of mine in our very first session, she was stumped. She was at a crossroads in her life, where she had essentially come to the decision to leave her job. But she was full of ...

Are you currently in a toxic work environment in higher education? What are the telltale signs?

Sometimes, you may not want to pay attention to certain red flags, even if you know deep down inside, things seem “off” in your department or institution.

In this encore broadcast (and one of Rise with Clarity Podcast's most downloaded episodes last year), I will be addressing the topic of toxic work environments in academia. I’ll be ...

Do you find yourself looking forward to the summer but you’re also concerned about having the bandwidth to get your research and writing done in the next 3-4 months? In this 17th Rise with Clarity Podcast episode, I’m going to share some observations on the necessity of rest and also offer some questions that will help you to reframe the relationship to your research. I hope that this reframing of your research can be something tha...

Dr. Katherine Lee offers some brief reflections since she launched Rise with Clarity (her business and podcast) seven months ago. This is also an encore broadcast of the first and most downloaded episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast. The episode introduces host Dr. Katherine Lee; she explains what she learned on the tenure track as a woman of color professor. She also discusses why she decided to let go of a tenured faculty pos...

Do you have your own stories to share of when you were mistaken for a graduate student or an undergraduate on campus? Or were you simply told that “you just don’t look like a professor.” 

In this 15th episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I’m going to try and unpack what it means when you are told that you don’t look the part of a professor as well as the professional implications for you. This topic follows some of the themes d...

Prior to starting your first job, how many of you were trained to lead an effective graduate seminar? Was your first experience with facilitating a graduate seminar during your first year on the tenure track? And do you remember how that went?

In this episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I’ll be talking about some of the challenges with leading graduate seminars for your first time. And I want to offer you some strategies on ho...

In this episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I'll be discussing the topic of amplifying the academic achievements of women of color faculty. I'll reflect on how it can sometimes be very challenging for women of color faculty to promote their own achievements. Lastly, I’d like to leave you with some ideas on how to better have your wins amplified.

Find the full transcript for this episode at RisewithClarity.c...

Do you have a teaching evaluation that is seared into your memory? Perhaps it was one that was mean-spirited and unsparing in its criticism. Or, it may have been directed towards you personally, and had absolutely nothing to do with your teaching.

If you’ve been a professor for any amount of time, you have undoubtedly come across a teaching evaluation from a student that stung a little bit. It could seem like course evals are a bit ...