Professor Virginia Hamilton has taught Communication courses at UC Davis for nearly two decades, but her life journey has allowed her to cross paths with jobs and people of all kinds. Along the way, she’s learned a little bit about leading a well-balanced life and building supportive relationships with both our colleagues and our loved ones.
Tell me a little bit about your career journey after you graduated college!
In my first two jobs after college, I’d say I was “underemployed.” I was a manager of a women’s clothing store and then a counselor for a vocational school. I did choose to go to graduate school for my Master’s degree as well as my PhD, and was a teaching assistant. I taught at CSU Sacramento for a year, but then for the next eight years, I worked as an internal consultant for three different consulting companies. I finally returned to academia as a lecturer here at UC Davis. It’s been quite a journey.
You’ve mentioned that a professor once encouraged you to be more ambitious rather than believing you had to follow the ‘typical’ housewife trajectory. Have you faced other internal or external challenges as a woman with a career?
The biggest challenge for me as a woman started when I had an unplanned pregnancy while I was a traveling business consultant. I had to quit that job and re-think my career plans. I was fortunate to have had employers who allowed me to work three 10-hour days a week and work at home and so I was able to balance being a mother and having a career.
I have never experienced overt sexism or sexual harassment in the workplace, though I’m aware of several women who have. One of my employers once said openly to me that he preferred to have men work for him because women make their families a priority and men make work a priority. I see his point, but I also don’t see why it matters as long as you can fulfill the obligations of both at a high level of quality, which many of us can and do.
How long have you been teaching at UC Davis? What keeps you here, and what do you love about it?
I have been here for 17 years now. I say to people that teaching at UC Davis was such a dream job that I didn’t even dream it. The benefits are amazing. It provided me a perfect schedule for a mother and a continuous flow of meaningful work by having helped and supported dozens of students throughout the years who have lost parents, gone through terrible break ups, have had serious illnesses, were trying to get through school while pregnant or having a baby, and more.
I love to lecture, especially on the subject of Communication. I love to read and synthesize the material I read to make it useful and meaningful. The students here are highly intelligent, caring of one another, diverse, interesting, and less materialistic than I have found other places. I have had thousands of interesting conversations. I’ve made about six really close friends who are a lot younger than me, which gives me a different vantage point on the world.
What do you hope young people, especially young women, will learn from taking your course? What advice do you hope they will listen to most?
I have had different hopes about what students learn for each of the six courses I have taught. Generally, I want students to learn how to have constructive, supportive relationships with intimates as well as co-workers. And to always strive for excellence and to be ethical and moral.
I want women who are or are planning to be mothers to be aware that the world judges us if we work too much or if we don’t work at all. It’s very challenging to be “superwoman” and it can be dull be a 100% stay at home mother. Trying to find the balance is very difficult. I’ve noticed that this judgment comes mainly from females themselves. It’s very important that women think through the choice to have children long and hard. We also need to partner with someone who has the very same expectations about what you two want to get out of life. It’s vital that you and your spouse have a shared vision of what you want out of life, family, and career.