Females First: Meet Ciara

This week, we meet Ciara who teaches film studies and filmmaking workshops in rural Ireland.

Introduction

Who are you and what do you do?

I teach workshops in film studies and filmmaking to adults and (beginning September 2020) children. I have previously been in academia - that is, employed by universities in Ireland - but found I wasn’t suited to the culture there. I decided to shift into adult education, which - because of where I live in rural Ireland - necessitated creating a job for myself leading workshops in conjunction with a local hub for creativity and innovation. 

What is the best part of your job?

Comparing this style of teaching to my past in academia, I feel much less social pressure related to work on a daily basis. As a film academic in general, you are expected to be constantly producing research as a means to promote yourself/department in competition with other individuals/universities. As an early career academic, and particularly as a woman in the arts (in that there are typically/historically more women in the arts than in STEM and you feel like there’s more gender-specific competition - which is awful but also a real feeling), you’re also expected to take on extra administrative duties beyond what you’re technically paid for - or it is ‘understood’ that you will cover extra - in order to assert yourself as a competitor and/or as ‘reliable’ in the department. I found I could do all that...but I didn’t want to. Now, essentially working for myself, I feel like I don’t have to play any of those sorts of games, and I can create and meet specific goals that are relevant to my personal ambitions - nobody else’s. 

How did you get to where you are today?

All that said, I am grateful to have begun my teaching career in academia, not least because having a PhD means you (rightly or wrongly) automatically have some clout applying for funding etc. It marks you as being able to apply yourself for prolonged periods of time to a specific goal, and as being rigorous and thorough in your approach to work.

So, the short answer to ‘how did you get to where you are today’ would be ‘through academia’! And after leaving academia, I moved to a more rural part of the country where I got in touch with the local creativity/innovation centre, and with the help of some fantastic people there began to put a structure in place for teaching film workshops.

What did you find to be the most challenging part?

It’s certainly daunting going into a line of work that isn’t actually ‘a line’... That is, there’s no existing structure or framework, so you don’t have much to judge your progress on other than by whether you can afford to keep going. I’ve been very used to (at the same time resentful of) the competitive atmosphere of academia, so not having that as a motivator has been challenging in the sense that I have to keep asking myself if I’m doing the best that I can possibly do - for the community, for potential students and for myself, not for a boss/panel/university etc.

Communication

What have you found to be the best way to work with colleagues and clients?

Now that I’m teaching independently, I’m much less worried about stepping on colleagues’ toes (I suppose because nobody else is doing exactly what I’m doing, so there’s no fear that I might be getting in the way of anyone else’s success). I think this translates into a more direct communication style, where if I need to ask a favour or clarify something, I just email/phone a person directly without worrying about phrasing or timing. It’s all just very straightforward. 

How do you let your team know if there is a problem with the project you're working on?

Straight up email or text and then chat about it.

Have you found senior management lack the ability to communicate clearly or effectively?

I don’t currently have any management as such, so it’s a non-issue now.

In the past, I did often feel like I’d have meetings that lasted hours and got nothing done, primarily because concrete goals were communicated poorly.

When you're working on briefs, what makes the project run smoothly?

I don’t really deal with briefs, but I suppose now when I have meetings, I try to have one or two questions that the meeting’s goal is to create answers for without getting too off-topic.

The Gender Question

Have you noticed any major differences in the way people treat you compared to your male colleagues?

I have been a lecturer at two different universities in Ireland. This is, of course, totally anecdotal, but when I was a lecturer in a female-headed department, I felt my gender was less of an issue, and that predominantly the pressures I faced as an early career academic were the result of my age alone.

When I worked in a male-headed department, I was acutely aware of the fact that ALL of the full-time, permanent staff were male, and ALL of the part-time/fixed-term/COD staff were women. Added to that, I was told on several occasions that it was ‘good’ that I am female (for the sake of setting an example for my students, for the sake of gender balance in the workplace, etc etc), which of course is/was true, but it made me feel tokenistic and like the quality of my work paled in comparison to the importance of my gender for the sake of optics. Patronising incidents like that were frequent. I also was referred to as ‘darling’ and ‘sweetheart’ by my superior a few times, which was profoundly annoying.

Do you know, roughly, the percentage of men to women in leadership positions in your industry?

I’m not sure, though in my personal experience the highest leadership positions have been held by men who, as they retire, are now being consciously replaced by women.

There are probably more women than men in film studies, but men are over-represented in leadership positions.

How can we be sure we don't pass subconscious bias down the line?

I definitely think permanent/full-time academic staff should be made to attend a workshop/seminar or two on using appropriate conduct and vocabulary with regards to gender and staff relations. This would be specifically and not-so-subtly to target the ‘old boys’ of the system and to establish awareness of unconscious biases and behaviours. And all staff members should be given clear routes for reporting objectionable behaviour anonymously. 

What advice do you have for young women entering this industry?

I don’t really want to say anything cautionary to anybody who really wants to enter academia. I suppose I’d say, ‘be sure you care more about research than teaching’ - and once that’s true, it IS a rewarding career for anyone, regardless of gender.

To women specifically entering academia, I’d add: ‘You will, sooner or later (but probably sooner rather than later), have someone make you feel like they’re doing you a favour in your job because you’re a woman. You can let them think that, or you can call them out. Neither one of those options is wrong.’