Advance, Cornell ILR School's publication for alumni and friends.
Issue link: https://advance.epubxp.com/i/524292
What sent you down this career path? I hit my senior year as a sociology major and thought, what am I going to do now? I considered typical "female" occu- pations — teacher, librarian, social worker. But, I thought, I don't want to contribute to the gender wage gap, and aca- demia looked like it would be interesting. I had an image of chatting with students. I really had no idea what's involved in being a "professor." What's it like being a professor? The chance to learn all the time, the autonomy of fguring out what I think is important, then studying it. I learn so much from my students. I love being an academic. Why did you join ILR's faculty? I became convinced that organizations ran the world, and really wanted to study how they worked. ILR was the perfect place for this — between business schools and traditional liberal arts — and it has a more interesting mix of disciplines than business schools. The study of organizations is valued here because of our historical commitment to make the workplace better for everyone. Your advice to ILR students? Try not to follow the herd. It's hard to resist the impulse. I encourage my students to be skeptical and not just jump on the bandwagon. And, you never know what little pieces of information will have a huge infuence on your career. What is the conference you are planning about? "Increasing Inclusion/Reducing Discrimination: What Works?" will be held June 4-5 in New York City and brings together HR professionals, lawyers and academics. It's about what organizations can do to solve organizational problems associated with inequality. There's surprisingly little research on this, in spite of all the money organizations spend to deal with it. Five months into your role as director of graduate studies, what challenges are emerging? How to get synergies and effciencies among all of ILR's areas of graduate study. We have a fantastic program because of the school's commitment to both labor and management. But, it's a challenge to make clear what a great place this is because ILR is such a unique institution. What would your colleagues never guess about you? My husband and I went to a party at Hugh Hefner's man- sion. We were invited by someone who knew my husband through his work as an illustrator. Pamela Tolbert Director of ILR Graduate Studies, Lois S. Gray Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and the Social Sciences, Professor of Organizational Behavior 9