Advocate Online

Thriving in Academe
Issues To Consider

Creating Opportunities

If "effortless perfection" is invisible effort, help your students by making your own efforts fully visible.

Consider the nature of your student body. Students from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds may need extra inspiration. To mentor them well, you may have to approach them. This is especially true of female students who are socialized to be less assertive than their male counterparts. Actively solicit their opinions in class. Invite them to office hours to continue a conversation. "Here the onus is on me to take a more proactive approach to mentoring," notes Matthew Solomon of the College of Staten Island, CUNY, "often through conversations in office hours that move beyond the specific expectations of an assignment to a discussion of the student's interests and larger goals. Sometimes I identify a specific opportunity for the student to pursue, like an internship, and then follow up to see if he or she has gone ahead with it."

Older, non-traditional students attending night school while holding down full-time jobs also have special needs. They may be closer to you in age, and therefore appreciate nods to their life experience or to the extra pressures they may be juggling while acquiring an education. Conveying to older female students that, in terms of life experience, you perceive them as equals often helps to put them at ease. A simple "I know people have jobs and kids" while explaining just how much and how long to study for an exam also works wonders, as it lets students know your expectations of them are realistic, even while your standards are high.

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