Thursday, August 20, 2009
Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Lisa Rashotte
by Marisa Adelman
To misinformed outsiders, professors may sometimes seem about as well-rounded as a cardboard box. Well, they haven’t met Dr. Lisa Rashotte. With an eclectic background and interests—including undergraduate degrees in sociology and classical civilizations, professional experiences in the non-profit sector, and personal experiences as a wife, mother, and doula—she is truly an interdisciplinary scholar who lives up to that title.
Rashotte started her educational career at Florida State University, where she majored in sociology and classical civilizations and minored in psychology and communication. When she wasn’t in classes, Rashotte worked full time for a non-profit foundation that raised funds to build and staff affordable, co-op-style student housing for students in need. Four to five hours of sleep per night were the norm, she recalled, while pursuing these interests and goals. Regardless, Rashotte still managed to complete her undergraduate degrees in only four years.
The University of Arizona was Rashotte’s next home, where she pursued her Ph.D. in sociology. The study of sociology complemented her interest in social psychology while addressing the way in which societal and organizational structures constrain human action and behavior. Compared to the rigorous undergraduate schedule she maintained, graduate school seemed a breeze. This was particularly true after she received a prestigious National Science Foundation fellowship, which provided funding and flexibility (including opportunities to minor in anthropology and volunteer with Habitat for Humanity) during her second, third, and fourth years of graduate school.
From early in her graduate career, Rashotte’s advisor, Dr. Lynn Smith-Lovin, treated her as a colleague. “She trusted me to be in charge of research projects, sending the message that I was capable of being an equal in the research process,” Rashotte said. This gave her confidence in her research and teaching abilities, and prepared her for some “particularly traumatic” hounding by one of her committee members during her final oral examination.
Like most graduate students, Rashotte faced challenges in graduate school. But she found a fundamental enjoyment in being part of the scientific enterprise and found herself attracted to “the core idea of building knowledge.” Her favorite part of the research process was—and continues to be—the design of a study. “There’s an elegance to it,” she said. Revising manuscripts, on the other hand, is by far her least favorite part.
Rashotte only applied to academic jobs out of graduate school, and her first interview was with UNC Charlotte’s sociology department. “The department seemed non-political and collegial,” Rashotte said. “The interview really gave me the sense that this would be a good place to work; plus, they were building a group-processes lab.” So within just a few days, she cancelled her remaining interviews and accepted the job.
UNC Charlotte turned out to be a great home for Rashotte. She has excelled in her teaching and research, and she’s currently serving as the chair of the Sociology Department. Given her interdisciplinary background and interests, Rashotte’s association with the Organizational Science program was a natural fit. Her current research examines social interaction in groups and teams in a variety of ways. Specifically, Rashotte said, “I am interested in how people use various kinds of information—for example, personal characteristics—to decide who is competent, which leads to future influence.” Next on her agenda is investigating the role that nonverbal behaviors play in this process.
Rashotte is also passionate about teaching. She continually seeks to bring sociology to life in the classroom and to fascinate undergraduate and graduate students alike with social-psychological experiments. “I see myself like a gardener,” Rashotte said, “trying to encourage others to learn and grow—giving them the start on a long process of learning.”
Additionally, Rashotte spends time cultivating learning and growth at home with her husband and her 12-year-old son, Tucker—for whom social psychological lessons are a part of everyday life (whether he is aware of them or not). She also serves as a doula, a role that she describes as “an assistant, coach, and mother’s advocate during the birthing process.” She’s a voracious reader, making her way through about one novel per week on top of her academic reading, and enjoys watching television and working out.
With a hectic schedule and many competing roles, Rashotte finds inspiration in her desire to make the world a better place. “This is awfully Hallmark,” she said, “but I feel a need to understand the social world simply because so many people in so many situations are not being allowed to make things better.” Her message to those of us studying organizations? Bettering people and making money are not opposites. On the contrary, “places could make more money if they paid attention to good ideas instead of ideas that come from someone who looks like they should have good ideas.” For Rashotte, a woman whose ideas have greatly influenced the interdisciplinary landscape, the call to simultaneously better people and organizations is one that she hopes will resonate in the ears of interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners alike.
Favorite Novels: Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child; anything by Dennis Lehane
Favorite TV Shows: Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Gray’s Anatomy, Survivor, and, as much as she hates to admit it, Big Brother
Favorite Sayings: “Into each life some rain must fall” – something her father used to say to her, and now she says to her son Tucker. She also enjoys many fun quotes and sayings, and starts every Introduction to Sociology class with one. For example, “if the English language made any sense, then lackadaisical would have to do with a shortage of flowers.”
Surprising Fact: She has a tattoo of the moon, stars, and clouds on her hip, which she designed herself during her time in Tucson, Ariz.
Superpower: Flying! She dreams of flying all the time.
Advice for those starting their research career: “Always be on the lookout for interesting questions.”
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