Finding the right publication will help mitigate your worries about going public. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( [logo] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Please sign up to receive your own copy.]( Youâll support our journalism and ensure that you continue to receive our emails. [Read this newsletter on the web](. Finding the right general-interest publication for your writing will help mitigate your worries about going public. Whether you are a professor, an administrator, or a staff member, if youâre interested in public writing, the biggest obstacle you often face is your own fear of a negative reaction. You can always learn how to pitch to an editor or edit out jargon, but thereâs no use learning either skill if you are too nervous to write for a nonacademic audience at all. Without the protections of tenure, staff members, administrators, and contingent instructors may be especially uneasy about writing for mainstream publications. Meanwhile, pressure has increased on scholars, especially junior ones, to add public writing to their arsenal of skills. Nonacademic writing has become an extension of their professional personas, which triggers familiar anxieties. Some of the fears are reasonable; others are subtle forms of self-sabotage. All of them can lead to writerâs block. Two of the most common: - A generalized anxiety about people not liking what you wrote. Certainly some readers will not like your article. However, because academics are trained to tear work apart, you might assume that every reader approaches essays looking for flaws, inconsistencies, and failures of method. In fact, people read for all sorts of reasons â to be entertained, to learn something new, to make a commute go faster, to ignore their family over breakfast. Write for your best reader, not your worst one.
- A more substantive concern about becoming the target of hate mail. This fear is that if you publish an essay on a politically hot topic and it gains wide circulation, you will find your email inbox and social-media accounts flooded with angry readers. To move beyond such concerns, it can be helpful to see that there are many forms of public writing â not just provocative op-eds but long-form essays, book reviews, advice columns, even good old-fashioned blogging. Some of those forms pose much less risk than others. You can enjoy both satisfaction and a sense of integrity in your public writing if you learn which genres and outlets suit you. Continue reading: "[How to Cope With a Fear of Public Writing]( by Irina Dumitrescu, along with tips from 12 academics on "[How to Make Time for Research and Writing]( Share your thoughts and suggestions on the newsletter with Denise Magner, an editor at The Chronicle, at denise.magner@chronicle.com. If you'd like to opt out, you can log in to our website and [manage your newsletter preferences here](. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( Subscribe to The Chronicle The Chronicleâs award-winning journalism challenges conventional wisdom, holds academic leaders accountable, and empowers you to do your job better â and itâs your support that makes our work possible. [Subscribe Today]( Latest Career Advice, Opinion, and News POST-PANDEMIC WORKPLACE [Considering Work-From-Anywhere Policies for College Employees? Answer These 5 Questions First]( By Lindsay Ellis [image] Leaders should think carefully about equity, student expectations, technology needs, and existing handbooks and regulations. Paid for and Created by McGraw Hill [On Time, Every Time]( Learn how institutions are utilizing McGraw Hillâs Inclusive Access program to ensure that all students have equitable access to course materials on day one. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( ADVICE [Now I Have to Write a âCovid Impact Statementâ?]( By Rebecca Schuman [image] An academic-writing specialist answers your questions on pandemic-productivity quandaries. THE FACULTY [Shared Governance Was Eroding Before Covid-19. Now Itâs a Landslide, AAUP Report Says.]( By Megan Zahneis [image] A new report from the American Association of University Professors examines Covid-era decisions at eight institutions. FACULTY FUROR [Her â1619 Projectâ Is a Political Lightning Rod. It May Have Cost Her Tenure.]( By Jack Stripling and Andy Thomason [image] The decision by UNCâs Board of Trustees not to consider Nikole Hannah-Jones for tenure departed from precedent and outraged professors on campus. ADVICE [What Ph.D.s Can Learn About Talking With Reporters]( By Rick Weiss [image] A survey of academics shows they are wary of dealing with the news media but see it as a way to advance professionally. Today's Global Campus Strategies for Reviving International Enrollments and Study Abroad
Pandemic travel restrictions cut both ways, causing international enrollments to plummet and limiting study-abroad opportunities. This Chronicle report provides an in-depth look at how the global education experience has changed and offers strategies for assessing and adapting programs to ensure students' exposure to cultural and global diversity. [Order your copy today.]( What we're reading. Here's more on career issues and trends from around the web. See something we should include? [Let me know](mailto:denise.magner@chronicle.com?subject=Your Career feedback). - If you want to read the full AAUP report on Covid-19 and academic governance that Chronicle reporter Megan Zahneis writes about above, [here's a link]( to it.
- For the data lovers, the Education Department has published [its annual take]( on the "condition of education." Among the findings, [the number of full-time faculty members]( increased by 40 percent from 1999 to 2018, and the number of part-time faculty members, while rising by 72 percent from 1999 to 2011, dropped by 7 percent from 2011 to 2018.
- A [special issue]( of the journal Gender & Society profiles what's worked â and what hasn't â in efforts to advance women in STEM fields.
- In the Harvard Business Review, [the case for]( why you should invest in "unconventional talent." Job Announcement Department Chair, Civil, Coastal & Environmental Engineering at The University of South Alabama.[Visit jobs.chronicle.com]( for more details. More Career Resources NEWS [Race, Ethnicity, and Gender of Full-Time Faculty at More Than 3,700 Institutions]( [image] This sortable table shows the percentages of full-time faculty members who were members of specific racial and ethnic groups at degree-granting colleges and universities in November 2015. ADVICE [Admin 101]( [image] In this series, David D. Perlmutter writes about pursuing a career in academic administration and about surviving and thriving as a leader. LIVE CORONAVIRUS UPDATES [Hereâs a List of Colleges That Will Require Students or Employees to Be Vaccinated Against Covid-19]( By Andy Thomason and Brian OâLeary [image] More colleges are mandating vaccinations. Here are the ones we know about. ADVICE [Advice Finder]( [image] Want to advance your career? Improve your institution? Our academic experts have guidance for you, and weâve made it easy to find. Job Opportunities [Search the Chronicle's jobs database]( to view the latest jobs in higher education. What did you think of todayâs newsletter? [Strongly disliked]( // [It was OK]( // [Loved it](. [logo]( This newsletter was sent to {EMAIL}. [Manage]( your newsletter preferences, [stop receiving]( this email, or [view]( our privacy policy. © 2021 [The Chronicle of Higher Education](
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037