It seemed so long ago that I had decided to apply for promotion, but it was only just over a year ago. And I used the summer to get the paperwork more or less in order. And I had started thinking about applying for Senior Fellowship of the HEA, which may or may not be a requirement. The promotion round was supposed to be in January, but the application deadline ended up all the way in the second half of March. And I made sure to apply. Then the waiting started.
My line manager had said it was a two-stage process. First there would be an internal panel that would decide whether or not our applications (I understood that there were five of us applying) were worthy of being sent to external jurors. That would be in May. He doubted whether we would hear what their judgement would have been. And he said that the external panels would have their meeting, in which they were expected to make a decision, on June 24. So soon afterwards we should know! But June 24 was quite far away.
When June 24 came, nothing happened. Neither did anything happen the week after. At some point I asked my line manager when we could expect results. He said he didn't know; he did know that the delay was due to people having been asked to provide references for the applicants, and some of these people being late. But he had no idea what the timeline was now. When I was muttering to Martin that the process was slow he said that the previous year, the outcome came about two months late. He knew, because he had been chairing a meeting during which the emails came in that informed people of the outcome. That was a bit disruptive! Hence that he remembered quite precisely.
One Thursday, close to lunchtime, I went to get me a coffee. When I got back to the office I saw two new emails. I first saw the one at the top, that had come in last: it was an email from my line manager, congratulating a colleague with their successful promotion application. And then I noticed an email below that; it was from HR, and the subject line revealed it was the outcome of my application.
This was not a good sign. Surely, if I had been successful, there would be a congratulatory email to me as well! I took a deep breath, and then opened the email from HR. And it said my application had been successful! That really turned my mood. And then I had another look at the congratulatory email; this was addressed at me, but with somebody else's name at the top. So my line manager had just made a bit of a copy and paste error! But this did suggest that the colleague in question had indeed been successful. And my manager apologised, and confessed that that was indeed the case. I was really glad for the colleague but also for myself!
I saw Martin, who had been important in convincing me to apply in the first place, over lunch. And several other friends, including Susan. So I announced the news. They were happy for me! I also mailed other people who had been particularly supportive. They were too!
The email from HR said that I would now get a salary increase, and it would even be backdated until January, when the application round should have been. I wasn't sure if I was going to get a raise. I am, after all, not yet an HEA Senior Fellow, and they might have not given me the raise until I would have achieved that. But apparently not! It sounds like I am now on the lowest rung of the SL ladder, and will just not be able to move up until I have that Senior Fellowship. That sounds fair! So I need to move on with that. Stay tuned.
This also means I took an important step. In science, many women make it to lecturer. Few make it beyond. Our school is a case in point; over the period 2012-2022, women made up on average 49% of our researchers, 59% of our lecturers, but only 17% of our senior lecturers and only 7% of readers and professors. That shows you where it normally goes wrong! And I have seen that up close; so many women at the lecturer stage have left while I was working here. And the only man who left before reaching the professor stage was basically dragged along by his leaving lecturer wife.
I am now one of the people who is part of the change! That feels good. And I expect to find out soon who the other people were who were successful. I hope this promotion round overall had a positive effect on the gender balance in the School!
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