Helping Early-Career Faculty Progress in a Pandemic
How Two Entrepreneurial Approaches Filled a Research Void During COVID-19
Conference cancellations,eventpostponements, and quick shifts to remote formatsdue to theoutbreakof COVID-19this year created a chasm for academic researchers in the United Statesand across the world. In the blink of an eye, in-person opportunities for faculty—especially untenured faculty—to exchange ideas, workshop research papers and engage in thoughtful dialogue werereduced,as colleges and universities shut down campuses and labsfor the undetermined future.
Delayingresearcheven a few months stagnates projects ripe for presentationand feedback,andcanhave a significant impact onan early career researcher’sability to build theirportfolio of workand their reputation,according toTony Cookson,associateprofessor offinance and co-director of theCenter for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Makingat theLeeds School of Businessat the 鶹Ѱ.
The nature of business educationitself, however, is well positionedto identifying opportunities during a downturn. The challenges to academic research caused by this year’s global pandemicignited entrepreneurial thinking andcomaraderieamong someseniorfaculty at top business schoolswho shared concern for the career success of their early-career colleagues.
Theirinterestinhelping their junior counterparts fueled two entrepreneurial solutions, one from the 鶹Ѱ’s Leeds School of Business andanother atBoston College’s. Bothoffered early-career faculty opportunities to continue tomove forward with their researchand academic careers,despite the obstacles presented by COVID-19.
A series born from necessity
Early on,Cookson recognized the implicationsthata season of conference cancellations could have for early career faculty in the business school finance community and decided to address it head-on. He established a series of virtual conferencesfor finance researchers collectively titled “Finance in the Cloud.”
The conferences featuredpresentationsfrom finance faculty at top business schools around the country as well asthe Federal Reserve Bank of New Yorkand of Philadelphia.
Cooksonunderstood the hesitancy event organizers had to converting a conference with a top reputation online and the risks that could pose to the integrity of the work, virtual communicationandtechnology, among other issues, but he figured someone needed to try to make it work. His conferences are proof of concept, as many virtual conferences and events of a similar nature have since followed with success.
Cookson’s quick thinking gavethese early careerfaculty the opportunity to continue tosharetheir research when everything had literally been cleared from their calendars. In addition,hostingconferences solely for junior faculty allowed the focus to be on obtaining feedback on papers, sourcing ideas, and limiting the disruption tojunior facultyprofessional development and careers.
“Young researchers need to produce research to benefit their progress toward their tenure track,” says Cookson. “This wave of cancellations is particularly disruptive for those who have not yet fully established their reputations.”
The online format allowed participants to benefit from their discussionsin a waythat Cookson notes they wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. He innovated a real-time discussion forum, where listeners would comment and provide constructive feedback in a chat function while the faculty member presented.
If a co-author was present,that personwould handle the clarifying questions while the presenter continued without being interrupted. This allowed the Q&A portion to dive into some nuanced discussion that may not have progressed to the same degree in an equal amount of time.
“What they got out of 45 minutes, they would normally get from, a 90-minute seminar in person,” says Cookson.
A remote researchlifeline
Like Cookson,, associate professorofaccounting atBoston College,realized early onthe difficulties the pandemic would create foruntenuredfaculty.
“The opportunity to present research and receive feedback is so important to the advancement of our research and careers—for everyone, not just junior faculty,” says Carter. “And now there was an added layer of isolation as we toiled in our home offices.”
With the help of seniorcolleagues,Carter startedthe Corporate Governance and Executive Compensation Research Seriesin early April.Sheinvitedearly careerfaculty,whothey thoughtwould benefit from being part ofthecommunity, along with topsenior scholarsin the field. Many of the senior facultyare alsojournal editors,whoCarter and her colleagues believed wouldprovide constructive, helpful commentsandideasfor the early career researchers.
The group meets every Friday for an hour on Zoom, with an averageof20 people to keep it small and interactive. Each meeting offers one faculty member the opportunity to present their research and get feedback from a group of peers.
Participantsrepresent top business schoolsfromacross the country and around the world, with faculty fromIESE Business SchoolinBarcelona, Spain, and theUniversity of Melbournein Australia.
Including senior faculty was a key element, according toYonca Ertimur, senior associate dean for faculty and research andRustandyesteemedprofessor at the Leeds School of Business. Ertimur advisedCarter at the outset of this project.
“Junior faculty appreciate the ability to present work to their contemporaries and to senior colleagues,” says Ertimur. “Also being able to give feedback to senior faculty is important too;it increases junior faculty visibility.”
, assistant professor and BKDFaculty Scholar for theat the University of Missouri,also found the series to be beneficial for building relationships with others in the field, in addition to the helpful feedback she received on her research.
“I think the series provides a partial substitute for some of the intangible benefits normally provided through conference attendance,where I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know other researchers,” says Pawliczek.
,assistant professor of accounting for the University of Illinois at Chicago’s, called the series one of the professional highlights of the year.
“The feedback we received was invaluable, says Patrick. “Attending the research series is not only a great opportunity for feedback on our own work but also an opportunity to see what other folks in the area are working on.”
The mother of invention
Although campus activity has resumed to varying degrees across higher education in the United States,research collaboration and disseminationmay look and feeldifferent for all facultywell beyond this academic year.
“I think[Finance in the Cloud]was useful and useful enough that people would be happy to engage in a in a virtual conference experienceagain, even in a world where they could, as analternative, travel to a conference and present in-person and meet people and talk with them face-to-face over coffee,” says Cookson.
The feedback Carter has received thus far from participants also has her considering continuing the series even as work, and the world, resumesoperationspost-COVID-19.
“It’s not just the junior faculty who have found this helpful,” says Carter. We’ve had six senior folks present (myself included) and the constructive feedback has been useful for pushing projects forward.”
While the coronavirus may have upended the usual mode of operations for academic research,Cookson and Carter’s virtual programs show howremote formatscan work, even temporarily, to help early career faculty progress. Perhaps these types of events provide a window of what’s to come: a“new normal” for career development in academia.