Dress in Academia

[WhereNext]



On junior colleagues, my concern would be with their establishing authority both within the classroom but also within their own departments. In the contexts I am familiar with, dressing in coat and tie stands out, but on teaching days, I think many faculty colleagues would appreciate the effort as a sign of seriousness. That is a good thing. But if my senior colleagues were to constantly comment on my dress, even if in seemingly positive terms, as a junior colleague, it might give me pause. Certainly, they should be making more frequent (positive) comments on what I actually do. There's no easy advice except to establish authority and seriousness in one's research and in contribution to departmental life. For jr. colleagues, comments on one's dress should invite a moment of reflection: how do my colleagues perceive me? 

On teaching evaluations: I hate that teaching evaluations are used in P&T, where evaluations are the standard internet, rate on a scale, add a few comments. I would have no problem with a department using the data to provide one of many streams of feedback on a faculty's teaching, but that's about it. After that, it should be discarded. We all know how those scales can be manipulated. More useful are detailed letters from students (as my university requests, during tenure evaluation) and better, detailed assessments from a teaching evaluator (we have a unit on campus) where someone sits in on the class or runs a discussion group with students, moderating and asking directed questions. Those can provide helpful information on the quality of teaching. 

On friendly demeanor etc.: speaking in respect of teaching undergraduates, maybe as I get older, my tolerance for the ready casualness of my interactions with them is evaporating. I do want my students to remember that a classroom is where they come to learn, to be challenged, and to be assessed. They have specific goals, which are set out in the syllabus. My job is to get them to achieve those goals. When they walked into the classroom, students are best advised to treat it like an actual job [e.g. doing Facebook or SF on your laptop is not something you should be doing on the job...ahem]. More substantive, collegial interactions are to be earned. At that point, later stage students who have taken many classes with you, written an honors thesis, etc. might have earned a certain standing, something more akin to being a graduate student. Then the rules change somewhat: they are closer to being colleagues.

This is not to say that we should put on a stern face, demeanor, rendering ourselves inaccessible. We should act in ways to promote learning and, I think, their maturing into adult, professional life (please don't ask where the final is being given just like you shouldn't ask your boss again when the monthly team meeting is). Being accessible, intellectually, is part of this. There are official outlets for their dealing with personal matters. In general, I think undergraduates are best served when they remember that I, like many others in their future, stand as an authority relative to them. 

Graduate students, of course, bring in different rules, but enough of my musings.

Interesting, and I should point out that I've never taught undergraduate students, only Master's and Doctoral (and Executive Education/Open courses), so some of the dynamics are slightly different I would imagine. My challenge eaarly on was being a 29 year old assistant professor on a Master's program where every other professor (bar one) in the department was 60+ years old and the vast majority of students were at least 40 years old.That was the only time a student has ever used the actual feedback form to comment on my clothes (I wore a suit and tie the first day, then sportcoat and jeans thereafter to try to come down to the polo/shorts level of my colleagues but in a way I could deal with....never did feel comfortable that casual though): "Who does he think he is wearing a suit to teach?!" Super helpful feedback for improving my teaching, as you can imagine.

 

[WhereNext]



To be clear, I wasn't talking about dress coming up in P&T meetings where in almost all cases, I suspect, it would be inappropriate. Rather it was about the many subtle things that can, for good or ill, influence how you are perceived by your colleagues. Saying no too much as a junior faculty to service would be ill-advised; being know for being a bit of a dandy at the expense of being perceived as serious in Research, etc. my advice is to pick up on such signs.

I think one of the impacts of dress is that, in a profession that is largely carried out in isolation from colleagues, it is one of the few things that is "seen" by others. I've never had a colleague sit in on my class (despite invitations) and most of my research is carried out independently or perhaps with one of my colleagues. So, what do they really know about you? If you've published in "name" journals, rumors from students, and when they see you at whatever committee meetings you have. It's easy to see how your style of dress would perhaps play a bigger role in that situation as there is much less other data to go on in regards to "knowing" other people.

 

[heldentenor]

Someone a few posts back captured my view of how dress and professional demeanor should relate to each other. I want to be coherent to my students, so that they receive as much reinforcement as possible that I'm thoughtful and serious about my role, the subjects I teach, the methods I employ to teach them, my own inquiry into those subjects and others, the way I speak and engage society, and lastly, my self-presentation. I want to tell the same story, I guess, in each of these ways. It would probably be hard to measure usefully (though if you know how, say so--I'm rotating on to our committee on teaching evaluation this fall), but I suspect strongly that students underrate professors who lack this kind of coherence even if they are narrowly strong in both their subjects and pedagogical techniques, and slightly overrate those who possess this kind of coherence. Professionally I think it's something to think about so that we not penalize the less confident among us, but personally I'll admit to kind of liking this, since part of what draws me to my work is that it resonates at similar frequencies with the rest of who I am.

Bear in mind, this is probably best understood as a personal ethic/aesthetic rather than a normative standard. Some people put on clothing that will help them attain formality, and others dress down for effect.

 

[SeaJen]

I believe the perceived consequences of speaking up or out, or any other possible slight are far greater than the reality. I can't say it doesn't happen, but in those meetings it really is all about the dossier. At least in tenure cases, where the decision decides someone's future employment. I think in promotion cases such things are more pronounced because the candidate can always reapply later.

As to the issue of teaching in p&t, while I suspect teaching-focused schools view things differently, in research-oriented institutions no-one ever got tenure for their service or teaching. It's all about research, all the time. Until that changes, nothing much will change with teaching evaluation. Consequently, I see the biggest negative consequences of student evals are the grade inflation it induces because of the disproportionate fear instructors have in them and the easy path to raising them that light grading offers. One can rate highly in teaching while also maintaining high standards, but it takes more skill and effort.

To be clear, I wasn't talking about dress coming up in P&T meetings where in almost all cases, I suspect, it would be inappropriate. Rather it was about the many subtle things that can, for good or ill, influence how you are perceived by your colleagues. Saying no too much as a junior faculty to service would be ill-advised; being know for being a bit of a dandy at the expense of being perceived as serious in Research, etc. my advice is to pick up on such signs.

Teaching evaluation is difficult. Having thought a lot about my teaching over the years, I feel I could write a useful summary but I don't have the time to do this. We have a teaching excellence unit on campus that will give instructors helpful feedback, but they, rightly, want to not be part of P&T. But if departments really value teaching as a criterion for promotion/tenure, as they should, universities cannot hand the job of assessment off to the students.

 

[Academic2]

The actual mechanics of retention, promotion, and tenure vary considerably from place to place.

In my school the departmental faculty P & T Committee (which consists of all tenured faculty members) meets to evaluate and discuss candidates, but its actual decision is based on secret ballot. The results of that ballot along with a written evaluation from the committee then go to the candidate and chair of the department. What actually gets said aloud at the meeting and thus in the written evaluation may or may not be consistent with how the vote pans out.

In any event, like much committee work, when a vote is taken it often matters more what has been said in private conversations than what is said in open committee so far as people’s opinions are concerned. And of course just because something isn’t said aloud doesn’t mean it’s not being observed. But that's just life, of course.

Cheers,

Ac

 

[SeaJen]

Ours are open votes caste in committee. We rate the candidate on a 4 point scale for teaching, research, and service. The letter we write must include supporting evidence from the dossier, and rationale from the guidelines, for each decision. Those with opposing positions must write minority opinions in the same fashion.

I prefer this to secret ballot.

 

[heldentenor]

Ours are open votes caste in committee. We rate the candidate on a 4 point scale for teaching, research, and service. The letter we write must include supporting evidence from the dossier, and rationale from the guidelines, for each decision. Those with opposing positions must write minority opinions in the same fashion.

I prefer this to secret ballot.

As an assistant professor, I find this method much more comfortable and transparent than secret ballot.

 

[Academic2]

I, too, would prefer to do away with secret balloting. I mentioned it only to acknowledge the diversity of current procedure in actual practice.

Cheers,

Ac

 

[dopey]

Neglecting dress as a means of conveying authority is ignored at the professor's peril. Noted University of Illinois historian Richard Jensen was, for example, greatly underserved by his unwillingness to pose in a three-piece suit for his faculty photo.

This look is far too common these days, and the consequences are predictable. Even High School students won't defer to a professor wearing a lanyard and a polo shirt.

 

[TweedyProf]

At research universities, I agree that teaching is certainly less valued than research for promotion/tenure, and you can get away with a lot if you have a strong, internationally recognized research program (see Nobel prize winners who consistently violate various norms). But it should be noted that teaching evaluations can be brought up by those who want to create trouble for someone's promotion and tenure. It won't typically scuttle the case if the research is strong, but sometimes, there are difficult cases if only because of shenanigans in a department. It is quite striking the lengths some faculty will go to to make trouble. Academics are certainly not insulated from stupidity and immorality.

The simple advice for young faculty is: make sure everything is in order, teaching, research, service within and outside the university.

On Prof. Jensen...well, he isn't the only one presenting himself like that.

 

[Claghorn]

I've walked over a few professors in my day (I used to be an aggressive little ****--undergrad Claghorn was a very different person). They were generally research oriented and didn't have the greatest people skills. None of them were well dressed; most would be considered very poorly dressed by normal standards and a bit below normal for academia. I was probably lucky to never have that bite me **********, but if a professor allows a student to control the power dynamics of the relationship, that's on them.

I can think of two professors that were similarly weak willed, but they also wore either a suit or a sport coat regularly. That influenced the impression I formed of them strongly enough that it wasn't until the semester was over that I realized I could have forcefully suggested extensions and postponed tests in their classes.

 

[dopey]

...

 

[TweedyProf]

Every day, I dress so as to be a counterexample.

 

[CBrown85]

@TweedyProf is a pretty great example of a well-dressed professional educator. I teach at the Secondary level and only dress MC a couple days a week, but as my wardrobe grows so will the amount of time I spend wearing it... I've received plenty of feedback from students about how I dress. Some appreciate the respect I'm paying the institution and themselves by dressing well (not their words) and some are intimidated and find it very difficult to relate. I'm not even remotely academia, but I think "the teacher" generally can and should dress well regardless of the age of their students.

On the University level, I don't think I've had a single SF-quality-dressed prof (or one who's even tried).

 

[WhereNext]

@TweedyProf is a pretty great example of a well-dressed professional educator. I teach at the Secondary level and only dress MC a couple days a week, but as my wardrobe grows so will the amount of time I spend wearing it... I've received plenty of feedback from students about how I dress. Some appreciate the respect I'm paying the institution and themselves by dressing well (not their words) and some are intimidated and find it very difficult to relate. I'm not even remotely academia, but I think "the teacher" generally can and should dress well regardless of the age of their students.

On the University level, I don't think I've had a single SF-quality-dressed prof (or one who's even tried).

I mentioned this earlier, but I started "over dressing" when I was a primary/elementary school teacher to show respect to the profession, the students, and the power of education (yes, I think things like that).
Have you noticed, anecdotally, any changes in behavior from students or peers when you are more formally dressed? Or perhaps that you feel and/or act differently?