Melissa Cumbia, Virginia Tech Rebecca Helms, Troy University
As steering committee members for NACADA’s Well-Being and Advisor Retention advising community, the authors facilitate conversations with advisors about crafting sustainable workplace practices to safeguard advisor wellbeing and promote persistence in the profession. Those conversations have led us to two conclusions: 1) advisors should engage in self-advocacy to achieve personalized workplace wellbeing and 2) little research or discussion is available on workplace self-advocacy in academic advising. We, the authors, posit that advising professionals must begin to discuss the importance and implementation of workplace self-advocacy in the advising field. Self-advocacy is a critical skill for academic advisors given the demands of the advising profession and advisors’ positions within university systems; advisor self-advocacy should have positive outcomes for advisors, students, institutions, and the advising field.
Defining Workplace Self-Advocacy
What is workplace self-advocacy? Moturu and Lent (2023) said, “advocacy, from a social cognitive perspective, can be used on behalf of the self or others either to achieve desired ends proactively or to change unsatisfying conditions reactively” (p. 42). Parker (2023) distinguished self-advocacy from advocacy as “individuals advocating for their own needs on a micro scale, as opposed to pursuing systemic change at the macro level” (para. 4) and concluded, “self-advocacy at work is about gaining access to opportunities and resources that serve you and the future you want” (para. 6). For this discussion, the authors define workplace self-advocacy as proactively or reactively identifying and conveying your own needs and accomplishments, as they relate to your desired professional goals and outcomes, so that supervisors and administrators have the opportunity to take informed action to support your workplace well-being, access, and success.
Why Should Advisors Self-Advocate?
As advising professionals who frequently discuss advisor wellness and attrition, the authors want to see advisors effectively self-advocate to improve advising professional experiences. We hold that self-advocacy leading to improved workplace experiences should positively impact advisor well-being, retention, and effectiveness. Furthermore, advisors practicing self-advocacy can serve as a role model to students and can positively impact institutional outcomes. As Parker (2023) observed, “helping your organization understand what you’re struggling with and what you need to succeed benefits everyone involved” (para. 8). Similarly, when advisors self-advocate it will not only benefit advisors, but also their students, colleagues, and institutions.
Self-advocacy requires people to reflect on their individual experiences, goals, and priorities (Montañez, 2021). Therefore, some outcomes of workplace self-advocacy may be personal, such as increased self-confidence and self-efficacy after a positive self-advocacy experience. If advisors engage in self-advocacy resulting in workplace arrangements that better meet their holistic needs, that should lead to improved work/life harmony and fewer tensions between personal and professional demands. If successfully leveraged in advising roles, self-advocacy should improve job satisfaction and support advisors’ desired career trajectory. Because self-advocacy is an effective tool for addressing workplace challenges, it may mitigate issues contributing to advisor burnout and compassion fatigue. Additionally, Wade (2001) cautioned professionals to consider the potential for long-term and compounding issues that may occur when self-advocacy is lacking, such as failing to advocate for a higher salary upon being hired, resulting in long term salary lag based on initial salary. Thus, advisors ought to engage in self-advocacy not only to address existing issues, but to avoid issues—like inadequate compensation—proactively. In all, self-advocacy supports advisors in establishing satisfying, sustainable careers in student affairs and promotes persistence in the advising field.
Advisors may be more inclined towards self-advocacy when they consider benefits to students. The nature of the advising profession is to help others. Wilhelm (2024), who examined burnout in student affairs professions, observed student affairs workers’ tendency to put themselves last. Wade (2001), who explored advocacy in terms of gender, discussed the extent to which people are comfortable with self-advocacy versus other-advocacy. Advisors, who are dedicated to other-advocacy, may be more comfortable with self-advocacy if they recognize its benefits to students, colleagues, and administrators. Self-advocacy supports advisor retention, and retaining advisors is beneficial to students who get continuity of experience when their advisor remains in the role for the duration of their higher education journey. Additionally, self-advocacy skills are a critical learning outcome for higher education which advisors can help model and teach. The National Center for Learning Disabilities (2011) asserted “effective self-advocacy skills and self-determination are necessary for all students graduating from postsecondary education” (p. 1). Relatedly, D’Alessio and Osterholt (2018) said, “the skill of self-advocacy is not only useful for supporting changes that students want to see in their institutions and beyond: It may be the most important foundational skill behind success in college” (para. 2). Advisors are well-positioned to teach students self-advocacy skills during advising sessions, such as when advisors guide students through academic petitions, helping students assess how to advocate for their desired outcome. In addition to helping students self-advocate, advisors can model self-advocacy in their role, setting positive examples of self-assertion for students. If advisors are confident in workplace self-advocacy, then they can more confidently encourage students’ self-advocacy.
Furthermore, advisors should remember that retaining advisors also benefits colleagues and administrators who would otherwise need to manage the issues associated with employee turnover like workload/caseload coverage, decreased team morale, and loss of institutional knowledge. Administrators can support healthy work-life integration by responding supportively to advisor self-advocacy. In a chapter about norms in student affairs work, Hirschy and Staten (2021) asserted that “influencing institutional culture takes time and effort” (p. 67). Discussion about workplace self-advocacy is a good starting place for positively shifting student affairs workplace culture. Advisor self-advocacy can have positive implications for advisors, advisors’ colleagues, students, and advisors’ institutions and should therefore be encouraged for the benefit of advisors and those connected to them.
When Should Advisors Engage in Workplace Self-Advocacy?
When researching workplace advocacy, Moturu and Lent (2023) broadly categorize professional advocacy behavior as being related to: requesting support, efforts to align a position with one’s goals, expressing opinions, and advancing one’s career. These groupings are a helpful starting point for thinking about workplace advocacy opportunities. Below are scenarios in which advisors may need to self-advocate within their professional spheres. This is not a comprehensive list of situations in which advisors may benefit from workplace self-advocacy, but it offers a few realistic examples. Advisors might advocate for:
Challenges Related to Advisor Self-Advocacy
It is important to acknowledge some of the challenges associated with workplace self-advocacy, particularly that aspects of one’s identity—such as race, gender, ability, religion, etc.—may make an advisor feel especially vulnerable to bias or retaliation. Power dynamics and privilege factor into whether people feel well-positioned to self-advocate (Parker, 2023). For example, research shows that self-advocacy may be less well-received from women, possibly resulting in “decreased likability” at work (Wade, 2001, p. 71). Personal and systemic roadblocks to workplace self-advocacy in advising roles need to be further discussed and addressed. Additionally, advisors should be made aware of the internal support resources available to them, such as human resources and university ombuds offices, or external support through professional associations and other organizations pertaining to their identity.
Call to Action
Advisors are capable advocates, known for leveraging advocacy skills on behalf of students. The authors urge advisors to similarly use their advocacy skills for their own workplace wellbeing and career development. Workplace self-advocacy involves conveying needs and accomplishments, as they relate to professional goals, so that administrators have the opportunity to take action in support of an advisor’s workplace well-being, access, and success. This is a call to action to others in advising to begin discussing, supporting, and practicing workplace self-advocacy. Advisors should engage in workplace self-advocacy to improve their professional experience and support meaningful career progress. Advisor self-advocacy should benefit advisors as well as the students and institutions they serve.
This case for workplace self-advocacy among advisors should be followed by resources that further describe and outline the stages of self-advocacy. Such guidance helping advisors implement workplace self-advocacy in their role is an important next step. Emory Continuing Education (n.d.) claims self-advocacy is “a learned skill that anyone can master with some practice” (para. 4). Thus, self-advocacy is a tool that everyone can leverage to improve their professional life. However, the advising field needs discussion and research on workplace self-advocacy in advising roles specifically towards addressing challenges common in the profession. Moturu and Lent (2023) argued that future research should explore the relationship between workplace self-advocacy and specific outcomes, such as “salary increases, promotions, accommodations, flexible work arrangements, access to training, and equitable treatment” (p. 49). Similarly, we feel that research drawing connections between workplace self-advocacy and measurable career outcomes would help advisors better assess the role and benefits of self-advocacy in their career development.
As authors, we acknowledge that there are challenges associated with workplace self-advocacy, and that people may feel vulnerable when engaging in self-advocacy. Normalizing self-advocacy behavior in advising roles should help to mitigate challenges. We are promoting conversation on advisor workplace self-advocacy so that other advisors will engage in research, discussion, and personal reflection on the topic resulting in a professional culture that encourages advisors to beneficially leverage self-assertion. We hope to see a trend where more academic advisors should engage in workplace self-advocacy to benefit themselves, their students, their institutions, and the advising field.
Author Statements
Melissa Cumbia is a primary role academic advisor in the Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment. Melissa serves as a steering committee member for NACADA’s Well-being and Advisor Retention advising community and is deeply concerned about issues that undermine advisor wellbeing and persistence. Melissa is enthusiastic about seeing advisors and advising administrators collaboratively address challenges in the field. Melissa has written about, and presented on, advisor workload and wellbeing challenges.
Rebecca Helms is a primary role advisor at Troy University - Dothan, AL campus in the Center for Student Success. Rebecca has served on the Well-being & Advisor Retention advising community since 2021 and will be the Chair starting October 2024 through to 2026. Rebecca is concerned about advisor burnout and would like to see more solutions at the institutional levels to prevent burnout and retain advisors. Rebecca has presented on advisor burnout and work-life balance.
References
D’Alessio, K., & Osterholt, D. (2018, August 7). Cultivating self-advocacy for all students on college campuses. New England Board of Higher Education. https://nebhe.org/journal/cultivating-self-advocacy-for-all-students-on-college-campuses/
Emory Continuing Education. (n.d.). Self-advocacy and resiliency: Essential traits for women in leadership roles. Emory University Continuing Education. https://ece.emory.edu/articles-news/self-advocacy-and-resiliency.php#:~:text=Two%20of%20the%20most%20important,can%20help%20you%20stand%20out
Hirschy, A. S., & Staten, S. D. (2021). Work-life integration in student affairs: A closer look at housing and residence life. In M. W. Sallee (Ed.), Creating sustainable careers in student affairs: What ideal worker norms get wrong and how to make it right (pp. 55–73). Stylus.
Montañez, R. (2021, June 3). Ask an expert: How do I advocate for myself at work? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/06/ask-an-expert-how-do-i-advocate-for-myself-at-work
Moturu, B. P., & Lent, R. W. (2023). Self-assertive efficacy and workplace advocacy behavior: A social cognitive analysis. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 70(1), 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000645
National Center for Learning Disabilities. (2011). Self-advocacy skills and self-determination: Keys to postsecondary success. American Council on Education. https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Self-Advocacy-Skills-and-Self-Determination-Higher-Education-Faculty.pdf
Parker, L. (2023, February 23). How to advocate for yourself at work. Atlassian. https://www.atlassian.com/blog/productivity/advocating-for-yourself-at-work
Wade, M. E. (2001). Women and salary negotiation: The costs of self-advocacy. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 25(1), 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-6402.00008
Wilhelm, I. (2024, January 5). What to do about burnout in student affairs. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/what-to-do-about-burnout-in-student-affairs?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_8706523_nl_Academe-Today_date_20240108&cid=at
