Pissed off about promotion application to reader

[dodi1978]

Senior lecturer in Social Science subject. Head of School who has his office next to me just popped in to tell me in person that my application for promotion to reader has failed. Apparently they committee is looking for something "big" from me. No real answer yet of what that big thing is, but will wait for feedback.
For context: received 'beyond expectations' in all criteria in last annual appraisal. Fulfilled (and overfulfilled) all promotion criteria. The one weakness was perhaps funding though I'd say the threshold was met. Oh, and yes, sole author of an impact case study in the middle of a pandemic (which then didn't leave me time with applying for further funding).
I am just so so angry. If the feedback comes back and they can't tell me what that "big" thing is they are expecting from me, I'll have to put up a bit of a stink. I hope they at least tell me clearly that it was the funding, then at least I have got something to work towards.

P.S For context: Also had a failed promotion application to senior lecturer in 2015 (successful two years later). Got feedback with my name spelt wrong and the one category I was lacking at apparently related to something that, at the time, had never been on my targets (impact). Maybe that's why I am so pissed off.

Would it work to secure an offer elsewhere and use that as a bit of a negotiating chip? I have seen some colleagues do that although I personally have been very lucky when it has come to promotions. From my experience of others being knocked back for reasons that I still don’t fully understand sometimes these things are a question of arbitrary quotas they have imposed - for example no more than this many readers or professors from this department or this faculty or something like that perhaps? Which doesn’t help of course. Are you sure that your head of department is fully batting for you and in your corner and making their strongest case for you at the promotions committee meetings? Do you have a mentor or a designated person who sits at the important faculty or university promotions committee meetings who can give you feedback on your application with specific areas that need to improve? If you are a woman is there also a way to approach your faculty HR representative or people who are involved with your universities Athena Swan or women’s network to get heard in the right areas and seek specific support?

Unfortunately, looking for offers elsewhere is not really feasible at the moment due to location (kids settled in school, lots of work going on on our house), and I also - generally - like where I am. I am fairly sure my HoS fought for me quite well, but I suspect quotas do play a role there (actually, probably financial constraints).
No, I don't have a mentor or anything, but will just have to wait for specific feedback. Might try the Athena Swan or Womens' network route.
I guess the best route to being promoted is perhaps to be less collegial in the future. Serves me right.

I didn’t mean of us with you intending to actually move but rather offers only meant to negotiate with. Women are raised to be make and not wanting to waste peoples times so I know the first thought that might come into your head is why where is the time of a search committee in another university like that but believe me when I say that I have just sat on two recruitment panels one for Professor and another one for Ridder where both of us ended up going to an applicant from Germany and one from New Zealand neither of whom had any intention to move their families to the UK and were clearly looking for bargaining material . I understand how draining it is to apply though so I’m not wanting to make this suggestion likely. two of my current colleagues got their professorships after doing something slightly similar to this including one actually leaving for a year. Which is why I feel particularly lucky that I didn’t have to do that.

I think though that having a particular hook in terms of a mentor or a senior person involved with these committees that is going to fight your corner really helps. I would perhaps approach the Athina Swan or women’s network or faculty HR to seek out your universities mentoring program and use it as an opportunity to develop but also in a more strategic way to find a champion higher up in the University or faculty who will be out for you when the time comes in waves that are visible and strategic in terms of promotion .

I know we usually try to look for things that we could fix in our own efforts but I just think that a lot of these decisions are hardly a question of our substantial efforts but more for strategic and hidden reasons to do with things behind the scenes so trying to work the system in some ways might pay off by securing the support of someone higher up or by getting your face known in the women’s network etc….

Of us* = offers
Raised to be make = meek

Sorry for typos! Possibly more typos in the re

I had a similar experience with promotion to senior lecturer. I got turned down twice, while getting 3 consecutive 'exceeds expectations' ratings in annual appraisals. At the same time as my 3rd SL application I applied for a more senior position elsewhere and got shortlisted. That 3rd SL application was successful, followed by reader 2 years later and professor 2 years after that. I did have some 'CV successes' during that time, however nothing big enough to cause such a significant change in career trajectory. Getting shortlisted for a position elsewhere didn't just raise the possibility of me leaving, it seemed to make a huge difference to how people outside my field rated my research.

I was denied promotion this year despite ticking every box because I didn’t have ‘a really BIG paper’. So no solutions but sympathy from me

@bigkidsdidit

I was denied promotion this year despite ticking every box because I didn’t have ‘a really BIG paper’. So no solutions but sympathy from me

bigkid are you in my place? The expression my HoS used when he gave me informal feedback was "The committee are looking for something big from you". No specifics about what 'BIG' means.... I suspect research grant. Still waiting for formal feedback. Commiserations!

At least you got feedback. I applied for readership and heard nothing for 3 years. University (nominally a prestigious russel group) then tried to tell me I hadn't applied. Admin eventually said they'd found my application, and I had a meeting with some pro vice chancellor style idiot who told me it would be better to apply again once my 2 current PhD students had graduated. Apparently I didnt have enough experience as a supervisor. I had actually succesfully supervised 12 PhDs at that stage. I honestly think he had the wrong person's application in front of him. He made several other very strange comments and then very obviously started trying to hide the document he was looking at from me.

Anyway...I was told to pay again next year.

Three days later the head of school rang me. She apologised for the long delay and told me that my application had successful. She was very obviously complety unaware of the conversation I had had with the VC three days earlier.

What I think happened was that my application was totally lost, but two different people eventually found a copy, but neither could tell the other as that would mean admitting that it had actually been lost. It may even be was that the real reason I had been promoted was that my application was completely lost, and that this was the only way to avoid the embarrassment of having to admit this was to promote me!

To be honest that was the point at which I realised that higher education in the UK is simply a joke. This sort of stuff goes on all the time. I did get promoted to Prof after that, but took early retirement 4 years later. I'd just had enough. Blatant bullying and favouritism, truly dreadful decision making by senior managerial types on 6 figure salaries, and vice chancellors with no discernible abilities or skills being paid quarter of a million. It was only once I had actually got out of higher education that I really started to realise how dysfunctional the whole sector is.