UC Underrepresented Scholars Fellowship, 2022-23

Participants

This UC Underrepresented Scholars Fellowship is a multi-year fellowship program designed to build a network of underrepresented scholars for professional mentorship and development across the UC system. This program, which welcomed its first cohort in 2021-22, supports diverse junior scholars in a broad range of activities as they progress through the ranks. The aim is to build spaces of support, to share best practices and challenges, and to respond to unspoken expectations in the academy. Underrepresented academics across all registers and first-generation scholars often face unique obstacles to their professional advancement and often unrecognized potential to transformatively impact the university. 

With formative input from participants, this cross-campus mentorship fellowship addresses “invisible” or tacit aspects of faculty life not included in traditional training, which are nonetheless crucial for academic success. Examples include self-advocacy in retention and salary renegotiations, merit and promotion files, disproportionate teaching loads, securing funding and time for advancement, sabbatical and leave policies, committee service, applying for funding, preparing tenure files, book manuscript development, engaged scholarship, diversity work, advising graduate students, and extra-institutional interests and commitments. The pilot year of this fellowship addressed topics such as the implicit curricula investments, literacies of funding, standing and positioning within one’s field, and transitioning into administrative positions.