Case Study 3
I have been at Warwick since 2002 when I arrived on a Fellowship to start my own lab. I already had one small baby when I arrived and my second child arrived in 2003. At the start, back then, I found the department friendly and was comfortable with the people I worked with but I felt in the dark about how to develop. Over the years I did find helpful mentors but I felt guilty for bothering the people I wanted advice from and thought I was supposed to manage on my own. One of the great things about my department today is that mentoring and support are openly discussed so I feel comfortable seeking this out. This has really paid off and I can attribute some of my recent career successes to this.
For example, during academic year 2014 to 2015 I attended the Aurora Leadership Programme which aims to develop leadership skills in a women-only context. I was supported in this by my department and was one of 2 members of staff selected by Warwick to attend. This course was particularly timely for me as our department had just gone through a lengthy process of restructuring and the stress of this had affected me significantly. My Head of Department noticed this and supported me further by enabling me to have professional coaching. As a result of the leadership training and coaching my confidence improved but I still lacked belief in my ability to carry off ambitious research.
When I wrote my next grant this lack of self-belief was picked up by the departmental internal review panel. Working with a mentor provided by the department I rewrote the grant according to the feedback and the grant was funded! Thus, departmental support has contributed hugely to my recent productivity and career success. The coaching I had gave me the confidence to apply for promotion and I was promoted to Reader in June 2016.
The increase in confidence I experienced led to my applying for a highly competitive Research Fellowship in January 2016. In applying for this I benefited from the support of my Head of Department and senior colleagues who spent time carefully reading the application and advising me on what to include. This invaluable support paid off and the application was successful.
While I have been at Warwick, my department has had its challenges but I have always felt comfortable about balancing family and work life. Particularly in the last couple of years a more family-oriented atmosphere has developed. Social events help create this, such as the ‘department has got talent’ evening and the Christmas Lecture event.