Professor University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Session Description: This workshop session is intended to provide participants the space to explore ideas and plans for career development. In particular it addresses the need to build a case for progression – promotion and/or tenure (in the academic sector), or promotion/advancement (in other sectors). Led by an academic leader with nearly twenty years experience as a life/career coach, facilitator, dean, and provost, participants will consider their career goals and the possible pathways toward them. Participants will have opportunity to conduct a self-evaluation, identify areas for further growth, and develop an action plan toward a goal of their choice. We will walk through examples of how to discuss or describe career outcomes and share ideas about what constitutes evidence of accomplishment. We will look at career development through a range of lenses, considering ways of knowing, being, doing, and engaging beyond current dominant western heteronormative approaches. Last, we will consider the development of skills that are increasingly needed for career success in any sector, such as conflict management, mediation, or listening that cannot be readily learned from a book, but must be learned by experience and benefit from active practice. We will outline several areas of skill development (‘core competencies’) that will serve future professionals as well as faculty in the natural sciences. Within each area we will discuss a developmental progression and approaches for gaining experience and skill. Workshop participants will learn some of the tools of advanced communication and collaboration, explore their personal interaction styles, complete a professional strengths inventory, and develop a career plan. This is an active-learning workshop, so come prepared to participate! All are welcome.
