WOMEN IN PLANT BIOLOGY

After a Late Start, a Blossoming Career
by Linda E. Watson
Professor and Chair, Department of Botany, Miami University, watsonle@muohio.edu

This is the story of a somewhat atypical career path into academia: I moved up the ranks in my 40s to professor and department chair in eight short years. So how did I get here, despite getting off to a late start, taking a circuitous route, and not really being particularly ambitious or competitive?

We are all familiar with the phenomenon of losing women in the pipeline between graduate school and the profession, a period during which women typically have children or follow their husband’s career path. Having sat out for a few years makes it very difficult to get back in. Moreover, obtaining tenure and raising small children simultaneously are not the most compatible activities in life, although many women are very successful. I, on the other hand, had children early in life, while still in college, and I stayed home with them. This was not a strategic life and career plan, but it turned out to be a formula for success.

Once the kids were in school, I returned to college and immediately changed my major from education to biology, because I wanted to be plant biologist and not a K–12 teacher, as my advisers strongly suggested. (It took a little maturity on my part to buck the lingering sexist attitude in the 1970s in the South to channel women into traditionally female occupations.) Of course, as a returning college student professing an interest in research, I was confronted with legitimate questions about how I was going to go to graduate school, have the time to conduct research, do a postdoc, and enter academia—never mind achieve tenure. But I didn’t let those questions stop me, because I was just taking one step at a time—and they never came up as I was entering graduate school.

I obtained my BS in biology and entered a graduate program in an adjacent state with the intention of obtaining an MS in botany and then (one step at a time . . . ) reassessing my goals. But I was encouraged by my major professor to pursue a PhD because I was a mature student (in other words, I didn’t have a lot of time to waste) and because I had a reasonable amount of undergraduate research and curation experience and my research program was going fairly well. Apparently this professor saw traits in me that he thought would underpin a successful career. (In hindsight, I believe my success has been due in large part to my ability to compartmentalize my research into subunits and complete each task in turn.) So I thought, “What the heck! What’s a couple more years? Once I have my PhD, I’ll reassess my options again.”

I realize that this doesn’t sound like a particularly good or well-thought-out strategy, but as I said, I wasn’t particularly ambitious. However, I did turn out to be pretty good at research and had the support and encouragement at the right moments. I was always encouraged to pursue interesting (but feasible) questions in my field with the latest technologies—that is, to be driven by the questions but not intimidated by the ever-evolving toolbox. I was also encouraged to explore tools that were unfamiliar to my adviser and to seek out the skills I needed in other labs. I respected my adviser greatly for not being threatened by encouraging my growth beyond his expertise, and I respected those who took me under their wing when they were quite busy with their own students.

In the fourth year of my PhD program, I asked a committee member in a different department for a letter of recommendation for a graduate fellowship application. To my surprise, he asked me to apply for a PhD-level job at the same institution but in a research unit for which he was director. Apparently, a presentation I gave to a weekly, informal lunch discussion group had impressed him, which just goes to show that those routine things we do in grad school actually do get noticed! Because my children were then in middle and high school and I really didn’t want to move them, I thought this was ideal for me.

I landed the job, defended my dissertation the following year, and spent eight years in a position that I loved. My director fully supported the professional development of all the unit’s staff, to an extent that it sometimes appeared to be to the detriment of the unit in that we were free to pursue our independent research interests. In hindsight (and in one of my first observations regarding effective administration), I realize how important it was to the future success of the unit to promote the intellectual development and job satisfaction of the staff. I also learned a lot from the director about the art of negotiation and creating opportunities.

After several years, and with the kids in college, I came to the realization that if I didn’t consider moving to a different institution in another capacity, my career would probably be at a dead end. So although I was happy, I wanted to explore the possibility of bigger opportunities.

I started applying for traditional faculty positions in academia and was successful because I had managed to keep my research active and funded and was therefore (and thanks to the support and generosity of my director) still a competitive candidate. I was also fortunate to have been a visiting researcher at another university, where I worked in a very active and high-profile lab in which I was both welcomed and encouraged by my host to pursue a research career. So although I was never a postdoc, this additional research experience was invaluable, and the host’s encouragement convinced me that I could be successful.

So, I became a brand-new assistant professor in my 40s. I was promoted up the ranks because I had a head start on my research. I took two years’ credit toward tenure because I actually feared I had already peaked, and I wanted those years to count.

As my career was perking along, my department chair encouraged me to apply for his job, as he had just been promoted into higher administration. I was not even considering this step, and I was hesitant because I wasn’t sure I could handle being chair—not the duties involved but the interactions with the administration and faculty. I also wasn’t sure I really wanted to do this job. The outgoing chair convinced me that I not only had the right disposition (I am very much a people person) and that I should view interviewing for the job as a relatively painless learning experience, but that I had the responsibility to apply because, as he put it, “It is time for women to step up to the plate and act like leaders around here.” That did it for me.

It was a pleasant surprise how well the interview went and how invigorating it was. My philosophy remained the same—give it a try, and then reassess my options. There was nothing to lose. I could always go back to being a regular faculty member, and my dean said something like, “Administration isn’t prison; we know you will always be a successful faculty member, so don’t worry about whether this is the right decision or not.” That was and remains a very empowering statement. I can always go back to my first passion. And it has been a fun nearly five years being chair! So much fun that I’d do it again.

In summary, I think my maturity allowed me to move through the ranks quickly, to the point that I never felt my career was lagging relative to other faculty my age. I was fortunate not to have a faculty spouse; finding two positions and relocating wasn’t an issue or problematic for my husband. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this path; however, it has clearly worked for me.

My advice would be to not be intimidated by getting off to a late start or taking a detour along the way. The keys to success are to keep your eye on the target and to remain focused, to keep your options open by remaining active, to be a good listener when mentors and colleagues speak (you will learn more than you can imagine), and to be a task master, of course—because at the end of the day, it’s those tasks that count.

Linda Watson will be moving to Oklahoma State University as head and professor of botany this summer.

View past columns of Women in Plant Biology at http://www.aspb.org/newsletter/wipb.cfm.