Episode 9. The Academic Job Market

Episode 12. Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement

Sociology professor Beverly Yuen Thompson overviews the book, “Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement,” written by Ashley Shew (2023). In this short book of essays, Dr. Shew brings together her experiences as an academic researcher in the areas of technology, ethics, and embodiment to apply to the topic of disability from a critical perspective. As a disabled person herself, she reflects upon her own experiences, as well as the voices of disabled scholars and activists to discuss such topics as how disability can contribute to critical understandings of our materials and social worlds, media representations, the materiality of costs associated with disability technologies, neurodivergence, and perspectives on the future of our social context for all bodies. This book provides an insightful perspective for sociologists, medical workers, and those becoming educated on embodiment in social institutions. Video link [https://youtu.be/DlfGOMcoXsk] Get full access to Dr. Beverly Yuen Thompson at snakegrrlsociology.substack.com/subscribe [https://snakegrrlsociology.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Episode 11. Stuck: Why Asian Americans Don’t Reach the Top of the Corporate Ladder

I overview Margaret Chin’s book Stuck: Why Asian Americans Don’t Reach the Top of the Corporate Ladder, published by NYU Press in 2020. This book applies the concept of the bamboo ceiling to an ethnographic study of elite educated Asian Americans and their experiences climbing the corporate ladder and the various levels at which they find difficulty in being promoted to the next stage. Incorporating concepts such as the model minority myth, perpetual foreigner, racial stereotype, stereotype threat, we see that this group of elite workers find these images imposed on them to have real world consequences for their career trajectory. Video link [https://youtu.be/tkByCUZLv4g] Get full access to Dr. Beverly Yuen Thompson at snakegrrlsociology.substack.com/subscribe [https://snakegrrlsociology.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Episode 10. The Meaning of Multiraciality

Dr. Beverly Yuen Thompson provides an overview of the book entitled, “The Meaning of Multiraciality: A Racially Queer Exploration of Multiracial College Students’ Identity Production,” written by Aurora Chang (2022). This book is a qualitative and ethnographic exploration of college students who identify as biracial or multiracial and how they conceive of their identity and the social context in which it is produced. It is based on twenty-five in-depth interviews and three focus groups at one particular college. Aurora Chang explores her own identity in one chapter, and those of her participants in several content chapters before concluding with her theory of “racial queerness.” Dr. Thompson is a professor of sociology who teaches a course on the sociology of Race & Ethnicity and has published academic writing on similar themes. Video link [https://youtu.be/1EnfXbYPEHw] Get full access to Dr. Beverly Yuen Thompson at snakegrrlsociology.substack.com/subscribe [https://snakegrrlsociology.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Episode 9. The Academic Job Market

In the first part, Dr. Beverly Yuen Thompson talks about the process of applying for a full-time academic teaching job at an institution of higher education. This video contextualizes the process within a tight academic job market into which ~55,000 newly minted PhDs are unleashed into each year. Because of this stiff competition and few jobs, especially in one’s area of research specialization, it is important to be precise and attentive to your application material package. Dr. Thompson speaks on the composition and perspective of hiring committee members; the pieces of the application, common mistakes, and common-sense details to work on in order to create the best materials for employment consideration. These pieces include: the CV, cover letter, possible teaching statement, research statement, evidence of teaching excellence, sample publication, and list of references or full reference letters. This is the first video in a series of three where the other parts of the process, such as the zoom interview and campus visit, are covered next. (See Video [https://youtu.be/o_G1oNv8u8g]) In the second part, Dr. Beverly Yuen Thompson discusses the process of the Zoom interview with the hiring committee and how the candidate should prepare for this encounter. The committee may be comprised of around seven faculty, primarily in the department hiring, along with outside members. Dr. Thompson discusses self-presentation, potential questions, time management, information to look up before the interview, and how to leave a lasting impression. Dr. Thompson also provides the perspective of a committee member who is doing this as additional college service, the number of potential applicants to overview, and the long days of interviewing candidates back-to-back. By the end of the Zoom interview, you want to come across as personable, confident, excited about this particular job, and have the committee excited to meet you in person for the campus visit, which is covered in the third video. (See Video [https://youtu.be/yYfb0kHjwEk]) In the third part, the academic job interview is discussed at the campus visit state. This video overviews the pieces of the campus interview, speaking to an audience of potential job candidates, who will learn about this grueling multi-day interview process for full-time academic teaching jobs. Dr. Beverly Yuen Thompson is a sociology professor who has sat on a number of hiring committees and provides the perspective of the committee members. Details about how to plan for this long campus visit with practice tip, from clothing to interpersonal skills. The steps of the process are also explained. This video points to the ever-increasingly competitive academic job market. (See Video [https://youtu.be/tBEUJBU0oSI]) Get full access to Dr. Beverly Yuen Thompson at snakegrrlsociology.substack.com/subscribe [https://snakegrrlsociology.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Episode 8. Indebted: How Families Make College Work at any Cost

Sociology Professor Beverly Yuen Thompson overviews the book, Indebted: How Families Make College Work at any Cost, by Caitlin Zaloom in 2019. This is an ethnographic study based on interviews with 160 participants, including college students and their parents, about how they understand, communicate about, and engage with student loan debt to finance college, even while the employment arena is increasingly uncertain and precarious. The participants attend both NYU, where Zaloom is herself a professor, as well as students attending a public university in Michigan of the United States. This video overviews the main points of each chapter, the facts and figures, and the sociological framework of understanding the exponentially growing institutions engaged with the process of financing student debt. Video link [https://youtu.be/8InGLwuFZ5Y] Get full access to Dr. Beverly Yuen Thompson at snakegrrlsociology.substack.com/subscribe [https://snakegrrlsociology.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]