Effective promotion applications
Collates links to all sixteen blogposts in the academic promotion series
In 2018 I wrote a 4-part blogpost series on internal vs external promotion in academia. In 2021, I added a 6-part blogpost series with tips and guidelines for internal promotions. Finally, in 2023, I added another 6-part blogpost series that explains more about the narrative CV approach to promotion.
They turned out to be among the most popular posts on my blog. However, readers have indicated that it is a bit tricky to get an overview and to navigate between the blogposts.
On this page I therefore included links to all sixteen blogposts, as well as all of their sub-sections. You can also download the slides of a presentation for the CYGNA women's network here: It is so unfair! Internal vs. external promotion or get a Kindle, paperback or hardcover copy of my book: Writing effective promotion applications.
Finally, academics often struggle to "calibrate" what is expected of them at different career stages. I have found this British Academy of Management Framework to be very helpful in this respect and I highly recommend it.
Links to all ten blogposts
Part 1: Internal vs. external promotion
Part 2: Seven reasons why external promotion is easier
- Different incentive structures
- Two vs a dozen criteria
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Careful comparison against past, current and future applications
- Internal relationships
- A hierarchy of levels
- A self-perpetuating rite of passage
- In sum
Part 3: Seven advantages of internal promotion
- Rewards a balanced academic record
- Improves persuasion skills
- Strengths and weaknesses
- More productivity, less stress
- Avoids being dumped upon
- Avoids resentment
- Maintains good relationships
Part 4: Tips for promotion applications
- The past is another country…
- Don’t let university politics ruin your sanity
- Apply early rather than late
- Use your experience in journal submissions
Academic promotion tips
Over the years, I have worked with many colleagues on their internal promotion applications to Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, and full Professor. In doing so, I came up with tips and guidelines that may be helpful for you too.
Academic promotion tips (1) - Understand the process
- A few caveats before we start
- Understand why universities promote academics
- Professorial promotions
- Start early and create a "good stuff" file
- Diversity of career paths
- Quick preview: what makes a successful application?
Academic promotion tips (2) - Treat your application as a journal submission
- Tip 1: Gather information
- Tip 2: Learn by example
- Tip 3: Consider your audience
- Tip 4: Tailor your submission
- Tip 5: Realise that packaging does matter
- Tip 6: Ask for advice
- Tip 7: Think R&R, not reject
- Tip 8: Accept you can't control everything
- Tip 9: Recognise outliers
- Tip 10: Neutralise academics' critical nature
Academic promotion tips (3) - Evidence your impact in Research & Engagement
- Evidence helps to discount the "what ifs"
- Evidencing impact in Research & Engagement: the basics
- Funding: how much is a lot?
- What are top journals anyway?
- Benchmarks for citation performance
- Beyond funding, top publications, and citation impact
- Academic impact
- Using emails and journal reviews
- Awards signal ground-breaking contributions
- You can even re-use references
- Societal impact
- Your research standing
- Any "extras" with that?
Academic promotion tips (4) - Evidence your impact in Teaching & Learning
- Evidence helps to discount the "what ifs"
- Evidencing impact in Teaching & Learning: the basics
- Scope of your teaching
- Your teaching evaluations
- Turn a negative into a positive
- Teaching philosophy
- Course development & research-based teaching
- Creating an inclusive classroom
- Designing assessment and feedback
- Teaching & Learning: much more than classroom activities
- Leadership in teaching
Academic promotion tips (5) - Evidence your impact in Leadership & Service
- Evidence helps to discount the "what ifs"
- Evidencing impact in Leadership & Service: On job titles and beyond...
- Point to specific initiatives & qualitative change
- Show positive changes in "hard metrics"
- Testimonials from students and colleagues
- Service to the academic community
- Make invisible work visible
- Collegiality
- Committee membership: how (not) to evidence this?
- Career narrative
Academic promotion tips (6) - Craft your career narrative
- Craft your career narrative pro-actively
- Create your career narrative retrospectively
- Be inspired by colleagues' view of your work
- The winning combination
- Pro tip: link your narrative to your university's mission
- Finally: See it as time for reflection
Narrative promotion applications
In 2022 Middlesex University revamped its promotion guidelines, moving to a narrative CV approach which centres around five key contributions: generation of knowledge, societal impact, success of learners, life of the university, and development of individuals. My presentation was quite generic and might therefore be useful for academics at other universities preparing for promotion too.
Promotion applications (1): Why is promotion so important for academics?
Promotion applications (2): Start early
- Create a "good stuff" folder
- How a "good stuff" file helps you
- Read the guidelines until you can't bear the sight of them
- Start crafting a few years before applying
- Don't leave it till the last minute
- See it as a time for reflection
- Re-use your promotion statements anywhere
Promotion applications (3): Focus on the why & how, not the what
- Don't throw a pile of puzzle pieces to the panel
- What is your academic identity?
- How have you achieved your goals?
Promotion applications (4): Focus on impact
- How have you helped stakeholders?
- "So what" in research, teaching and leadership
- Show positive impact with concrete evidence
- Promotion is a future oriented decision
- Will you be a research-active professor?
- Will you support your institution as a professor?
Promotion applications (5): Write for the reader
- Your promotion panel are not mind readers!
- Find out who your reader is!
- Evidencing your contribution across disciplines
- From puzzle pieces to the full picture
- Nobody likes a moaner
- Get a friendly reader
Promotion applications (6): What if you are rejected?
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Copyright © 2024 Anne-Wil Harzing. All rights reserved. Page last modified on Sun 14 Jan 2024 16:48
Anne-Wil Harzing is Emerita Professor of International Management at Middlesex University, London. She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business, a select group of distinguished AIB members who are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the scholarly development of the field of international business. In addition to her academic duties, she also maintains the Journal Quality List and is the driving force behind the popular Publish or Perish software program.
