Customer Reviews

Ms. Mentor's Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia

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I am gearing up to start in a Ph.D. program in the Fall, so I picked up this book hoping for some of the "practical stuff nobody wants you to know about" regarding grad school, publishing, and conferences. The thing about this book, though, is that the title is misleading. It's "advice for women in academia", but most of the advice (with a few exceptions) has nothing to do with being a woman. It's useful advice (usually) for important problems, but mostly stuff I had heard from many other sources, not really "issues that women daren't discuss openly", as advertised. People mostly ask questions like "Should I publish before looking for a job?" and "People say cover letters should have a 'WOW' factor to attract attention. How do I do that?". Standard fare questions about academia.

For example... out of 16 questions in the chapters on job searching, grad school, and conferences, I found three that had anything to do with being a woman. The three questions were (paraphrased): 1) "What should I wear to work/class/conferences?" 2) "The director of grad studies puts the course catalogue on his lap during course scheduling meetings, which makes it so students have to stare at his crotch. I don't WANT to stare at his crotch. What can I do about it?" and 3) "I am genetically obese, I have tried every get-thin-strategy including surgery, diets, insane exercise, etc. but nothing works. I am used to unpleasant comments from people who don't understand about weight setpoints and genetic predispositions to obesity, but I am worried about my academic career. My graduate advisor recently told me that if I can't suck it up and lose weight that I might as well drop out of grad school because it will be wasted on me. Is she right?"

These three questions were the kind of topics I expected the book to be comprised of, as they are at least applicable to issues of being a woman in academia. Unfortunately, questions of this type (that is, directly relevant to the title of the book) were a rarity, I found. I was disappointed, however, to find that her responses, while for the most part useful and comforting, was speckled with off-color jokes. One choice excerpt in response to the third question I described: "Claim you're on a slow, medically approved diet. They don't have to know that your four food groups are whatever you like best -- such as chili corn dogs, sour cream and onion potato chips, Godiva Chocolates, and Budweiser." Ok look, sister. Not everyone is fat because they eat like a hog. That really made me mad. It turns out the book is sort of speckled with jokes like that throughout, though they are usually at the expense of out-groups (men, men, and more men) so I didn't notice it at first.

So in summary, I think this book had a few tidbits of important information but I would not suggest buying it. I checked it out from the library yesterday and will probably return it tomorrow. It was funny, but a lot of the time I was laughing because I couldn't figure out why this question was in a book about academia and women. Example: "When I get nervous, I get gassy. I don't have tenure yet. What if I fart at a bad moment?"

I don't know... you might like it, it was entertaining, but I don't feel like I learned anything new or useful.

As someone who has experienced some of the worst viciousness academe has to offer and gone on to flourish in spite of it, I say to all budding professors: read this book! KNOW this book! I bought it when I went back on the job market a couple of years ago. This is the practical stuff nobody wants you to know when you send them your $50 and original transcripts hoping to get into X program at Prestigious U. Grad School- because lesser souls would run screaming. THIS time around, I'm tenure-track at one and a half times the salary I earned before. Take what Emily Toth says to heart- I've been there, done that, can give the dime tour, and she's RIGHT.

As a beginning grad student who has been away from academia for several years, I found this book not only a kick to read but full of refreshingly straightforward information. I plan to follow Ms. Mentor's advice to the letter. But this isn't just a guidebook for academia. Any woman (or man!) who wants succeed -- and survive -- as a professional should read this book.

Reading this book makes me realize how incredibly lucky I am in my current position as a tenured faculty member of a very progressive small liberal arts college. In recalling the many "incidents" from my previous institutions, however, I'm impressed that so many of us get out of graduate school alive and go into teaching positions. Nearly every section of the book rang true for me, and I have recommended it to all the young women with whom I work. Only a lucky few of us work in an oasis of enlightenment...I can't wait for the sequel!

I thought this book was very good. I particularly liked the fact that the advice was practical and pragmatic. Her humorous style made the book easy and enjoyable to read. I was pleased by the way that she helps and encourages the reader to move beyond "Life is unfair!" and onto the more helpful, "So, what to do about it?".

I was an proto-academic in another life (back when the world was young and there wasn't an oversupply of would-be professors with graduate degrees in the humanities), and I wish I'd had this book when I was attempting to make my way as a very junior faculty member. Because, even though Emily Toth gives special attention to the problems of women in combating the many variant forms of sexism (from mere idiocy to outright harassment), much of what she has to say regarding survival is just as valuable to the guys. Following the third-person style of Miss Manners in a column she originally began writing for the MLA periodical Concerns, she starts with advice for graduate students preparing for the job interview, goes on to the first year as a newly-hired Ph.D., the "perils and pleasures" of actually teaching, the pursuit of tenure (practicality reigns here, as distasteful as that might be in the ivory tower), what to do once you've achieved it, and so on -- right up to the emeritus years. She begins each discussion with actual letters from readers but often goes far afield in prescribing advice. The mordant humor and twinkling cynicism make the medicine go down a treat.

Anyone contemplating purchasing this book (or reading some of the other reviews) should know precisely what it is about and for whom it was conceived. Ms. Mentor's column is a regular feature in the Chronicle of Higher Education, which is a state-of-the-field publication for academics, staff, and administrators of all varieties of colleges and universities. It contains news, events, essays, articles, and advice for those whose careers are or will be in academia.

While some of the advice columns certainly do contain sarcasm or humor, Ms. Mentor's articles are by no means geared exclusively towards amusement, nor are they exclusively woman-oriented (in fact, most of the time they are not). Rather, in the guise of advising on particular problems, they analyze snapshots of the intellectual, social, and emotional experiences of academic life. As a very new academic myself, I find many of Ms. Mentor's columns to be witty, insightful, and even occasionally comforting. The ideal readership for this book, however, probably consists of those who are, for whatever personal or professional reasons, interested in the minutiae of the internal workings of higher education.

Emily Toth's book is hilarious and witty, while at the same time offering practical, sensible advice for women in academia--whether they are in graduate school (like I), on the market (this phrase always strikes me as funny--and after reading this book, I find it even more amusing), or already working at a university. Definitely a book worth every cent. I've already purchased two more books for friends who've found it just as useful as I have. The third-person Miss Manners imitation works especially well for this subject, without being irritatingly derivative (as an ardent Judith Martin fan, I was prepared to feel a bit affronted). I wonder what Miss Manners would think? I highly recommend this book, and am already finding myself anxious for a sequel. Ms. Mentor--are you listening out there? Get busy on a sequel!

This will having you rolling on the floor, so best not read it in the stuffy stacks of the university library, lest you lose your borrowing privileges. Emily Toth, who's written a column for the MLA which is the academic equivalent of Anne Landers, knows whereof she speaks. She delivers the truth with dry humour.

Ms. Mentor is helpfully organized by chapters that chronicle the academic lifecycle from undergraduate to deadwood, er, I mean full professorship. The question/answer format emphasizes the pathos of women who are just trying to get on with their academic interest despite often boorish and hostile environments.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll learn why riding a bicycle and wearing a demure skirt still won't cut it with some tenure committees and a hundred and one other sad truths about women's climb up the academic ladder. I have pressed my copy of Ms. Mentor on all new faculty members I meet: inevitably they buy their own to serve as a guide through the treacherous fields of academic interviews, department parties and tenure evaluations.

I came across this book while looking for something else and picked it up because it looked interesting. It is not only interesting but very readable. It is full of excellent insight into topics from Graduate School and the job hunt to "Slouching toward Tenure," etc. As a graduate student in a technical area I was totally clueless about the politics of academia. I wish I had run across this book then. As I read through it, I had many "aha!" moments: "Aha! so _that_ is what was going on in such-and-such a situation!" Even men in academia could profit from much of the insight in this book, which is funny and well-written. Much of the advice about finding one's way through the tenure maze, for example, applies to anyone in that situation. The book contains some left-wing politics and some fairly extreme feminism. Those who enjoy that sort of thing will find it here. Those who don't will not find enough to obviate the other excellent features of this book. If you are in that political jungle called academia, and particularly if you're just starting out in it, you will find it worthwhile to read this book.