Abstract: Mithali (female) is a 38-year-old academician who lives in a nuclear family, has recently finished her doctorate at one of India’s top institutions and joined a reputable institution a year ago. While completing her PhD, she also raised her daughter; consequently, she could not focus on her research and was lagging behind the desired research quotient, which she had to attain to advance in her career. Compensating for the lack of research, she focuses on her primary job of teaching and, after that, with whatever time was left, she conducts research. She prioritizes her research and her family. Accordingly, on a few occasions, she has turned down the institutional administrative work offered by the senior management and her senior colleagues.  Lately, she has found that her peers in the institution are distancing themselves from her, and Mithali has started to realize that this might be due to the attitude that she has shown towards institutional administrative work. On one side, she is heading towards unfavourable appraisal at work; on the other side, two of her research papers have been rejected. She aspires to attain a better future but sees no chance; for at least a year or two, her situation will remain the same. If she continues the way she used to, it might dampen her career in her current workplace, and if she engages in administrative work, she might lose time for her research – which could get her better career options. She is unclear as to whether she should correct her attitude towards work or continue to be assertive in her approach, focusing only on her long-term research goals.  

Learning Objectives

Detailed study and analysis of this case will provide the students with an understanding of the following:
• The challenges of the workplace
• The importance of the right attitude for the career
• The right use of assertiveness in the workplace
• The impact of one’s decisions on their short-term and long-term career