Becoming a Full Professor

• In Event: DFC Presents: Navigating the Path to Full Professor

Abstract

The transition from Associate Professor to Full Professor is often marked by unspoken expectations, institutional barriers, and differential access to mentorship—challenges that disproportionately impact female scholars, LGBTQ+ scholars, and scholars of Color in criminology. While many faculty successfully achieve tenure, the final promotion to Full Professor remains an elusive milestone, shaped by structural inequities, biased evaluation metrics, and service burdens that fall unevenly on marginalized faculty. This session will provide actionable strategies for overcoming these barriers and fostering pathways to promotion. Panelists will discuss the hidden curriculum of promotion, including how to build a strong research profile, leverage external networks, and document impact beyond traditional publication metrics. Special attention will be given to navigating institutional politics, managing service obligations, and advocating for equitable workload distribution. The session will also highlight the importance of mentorship, sponsorship, and peer support in advancing career trajectories. By centering the experiences of scholars who face systemic hurdles in academia, this session aims to equip participants with the tools to advocate for themselves while also working toward structural change within their institutions. Attendees will leave with concrete strategies for strengthening their promotion cases, fostering supportive academic communities, and challenging inequitable promotion practices in criminology.

Author

• Jason M. Williams, Montclair State University