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How I work and thrive in academia – From affirmation, not for affirmation

By Beronda Montgomery

The human need for affirmation is real.

We see it from the very early stages of human development when one of the most common phrases parents hear from young ones seems to be “look at me.” The request is as much a plea for well-placed affirmation for a “job well done” as an expressed need for a spectator.

Even in the very last stages of my time on the planet, I imagine one of the most comforting things that I could hear from loved ones is the affirmation that I matter, that I executed my role in their life well.

Thus, the very need for affirmation resides with us life-long. Where and how we seek this affirmation is what leads us astray or towards our path of fulfillment and impact.

Affirmation in the academy

In work environments, especially the academic one in which I conduct my work as a science professor, the pursuit of affirmation can be powerfully conflated with evaluation. Academic environments simply are not designed as genuinely “affirming” spaces.

As I mentor and support academics, one of the most common things I hear is that individuals leave regular evaluation feeling undervalued. When probing the source of that feeling, it frequently centers on the individual not having felt affirmed as a person or scholar.

This can be particularly true for individuals from groups underrepresented in academia. As an African American woman working in a predominantly white institution, affirmation often has been proffered in the context of a need for me (and like others) to assimilate to demonstrate success.

Evaluative feedback received in the absence of feeling valued, then, frequently becomes what feels like a “roadmap” to pursue affirmation. In some sense, we enter a path of working our way into being affirmed. The need for affirmation that is a basic human need, then, has a tendency to become displaced in academic spaces.

There is pressure in the academy to rely first and foremost on external sources of affirmation – whether they be metrics or formal evaluations. These measures are often those recognized as “currencies of success” that represent the “what” of our accomplishments.

For me, it is equally important that I prioritize the “how” related to any effort or outcomes. This perspective means that the currencies themselves are not, nor can they be, my sources of affirmation. By extension, I don’t rely on the “gatekeepers” or assessors of the “currency” for affirmation. I distinctly separate my source(s) of evaluation from my source(s) of affirmation.

My understanding of my mission and vision and my intended unique contributions to the academy hold first priority. I learned this in an uncommon way. Let me share my personal path to learning about genuine affirmation through my academic journey.

How I developed my strong internal sense of affirmation

I have always had a relatively strong internal sense of affirmation. Although my parents have long attested to this, I encountered hard evidence when packing to move away from my childhood home.

During this process, I found several childhood possessions that testified to this long-standing trait. Among the rediscovered treasures was a jewelry box from my elementary school years into which I had carved personal affirmations that I would see daily as I prepared for school. I also found countless journals in which I extolled my strength and personal agency.

My parents actively encouraged my careful cultivation of self-valuation and a formidable internal source of affirmation. They also help me learn to balance that delicately with who I offered privilege to serve as an external source of affirmation, including them.

Importance of cultivating genuine networks of affirmation

I had the fortune to enter my academic career holding the great gift of a deep understanding that the first and most important person who sees, supports, and honors my perspectives is me. I also learned over time that those who serve as trusted external affirmers must earn and maintain this privilege. I hold dearly to the view that it’s my right to extend the privilege to affirm me. This doesn’t mean I am not extremely grateful for rightful affirmation. However, I simply don’t arrive at a decision to extend the privilege to affirm or dismiss me or my views lightly.

Not everyone holds privilege to affirm me. In fact, some who desperately would like to hold that privilege, simply cannot. They cannot because they do not see the same vision of success for me that I hold dear, or their values depart so distinctly from mine that it would be difficult for them to see “value” in the choices that I make, and thus they would have difficulty affirming me.

One of my first memories of how this played out in academia was when I encountered a lack of understanding on the part of academic supervisors about my commitment to supporting and mentoring others in service to promoting equity. My contributions to social justice and equity-focused interventions didn’t align with common views of success and meaningful pursuits by the prevailing leaders in the science arenas in which I am embedded. Had I not been strongly driven by internal sources of affirmation and a larger commitment to community, I would have yielded to the promise of external validation for undivided focus on science.

My perspective and commitments require that I cultivate genuine networks of affirmation. These networks are composed of personal friends, select professional peers or colleagues with demonstrated understanding of my career vision, other women of color with shared challenges and aspirations, as well as role models from diverse demographic backgrounds who have approached their lives and careers in ways that resonate with me.

I strive diligently to keep a very real human need for affirmation in its rightful place and emanating from the “right” and TRUSTED sources. This means that MY circles of support and affirmation are almost exclusively SEPARATE from sources of professional evaluation.

Power of affirmation rightly placed

I arrive in professional spaces FULLY AFFIRMED! This allows me to engage in my work “from affirmation” or in pursuit of joy or fulfillment, rather than “for affirmation” which can often lead to operating from fear of being judged inadequate or unworthy.

I have learned over time that the work I do “from affirmation” is strongly centered in self-definition and self-valuation. This is work that is not just about producing currency for “approval” of the institution and associated rewards, but work which feels like the products of the very reasons I exist on the planet. I prioritize work that I can uniquely do.

When I enter my work affirmed, I can critically engage with my thoughts and others in authentic service to my intellect and self-defined contributions. This is distinct from “performing” intellectual engagement and responding to espoused criticism in pursuit of positive evaluation and affirmation.

Working from affirmation is a perspective that allows me to engage – and challenge when necessary – myself and those with whom I interact deeply and with intention.

The importance of scholars understanding affirmation and its rightful place is a critical discussion we need to have. As a part of our regular mentoring and leadership practices, we need to engage questions that position individuals to understand their relationship with affirmation. Pertinent questions* include the following:

  • Where or from who do you draw affirmation?
  • How did the individuals who offer you affirmation gain position to do so?
  • Who is responsible for your professional evaluation?
  • Is there overlap between those individuals who affirm you and those who evaluate you? If so, how do you manage the potential conflict in these roles?
  • Does the affirmation offered to you center your vision or is it an invitation to walk a “path” valued by the affirmer?

Initiating discussions about who holds power to affirm may open doors for individuals to manage their circles of support and information with intention and with improved outcomes for moving toward success of their own definition and valuation.

 

*To answer the questions the author asked above, a PDF resource sheet is available here.

**The author has also been interviewed on our past blog post,  Developing your own academic “index”: An interview with Dr. Beronda Montgomery.

Featured Image by Riyad A. Shahjahan

About Beronda L. Montgomery

Dr. Beronda L. Montgomery is Professor of Biology and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean at Grinnell College. Her research focuses on understanding how individuals (mostly plants and photosynthetic bacteria in the research laboratory) perceive, respond to, and are impacted by the environments in which they exist. Beronda also pursues this research theme in the context of effective mentoring and leading in academic environments. She often shares mentoring, faculty development, academic leadership, and institutional transformation issues on Twitter (@BerondaM) and in posts at berondamontgomery.com. Beronda is currently freedom dreaming through being hard at work on her second book.