The No Club: How to Manage Your Task Load, Say No Strategically, and Negotiate for Greater Impact

This workshop is inspired by The No Club (Babcock, Peyser, Vesterlund & Weingart, 2022), which distinguishes between promotable and non-promotable tasks in academia. Research shows that women disproportionately take on non-promotable tasks, which can negatively affect their career progression. This workshop provides insight into these dynamics and offers practical strategies to help early-career women academics manage their workload more strategically.

Because managing task load often requires negotiation, the second part of the workshop focuses on negotiating with supervisors and colleagues. Women in academia may face additional challenges in negotiations due to societal expectations and gendered norms. Participants will learn evidence-based strategies to navigate these challenges effectively. Through practical exercises and reflection based on real academic scenarios, the workshop supports direct application to participants’ daily work. By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish between promotable and non-promotable tasks and assess their own task portfolio critically.

• Recognize gendered patterns in task allocation within academic environments.

• Apply practical strategies to set boundaries and decline non-promotable tasks professionally.

• Prepare and conduct negotiations about workload, roles, and expectations more effectively.

• Navigate gender-related negotiation challenges using evidence-based techniques to improve outcomes

Date & Time:

3rd of June, 2026 from 9.30 – 16.30

Please note that this course is GIGA internal only.

About the trainer:

Dr. Fieke Harinck is a negotiation trainer and (team) coach with a focus on negotiation skills for women. She received her PhD in negotiation at the University of Amsterdam in 2001 and worked as an Assistant Professor at Leiden University for 22 years. She has delivered training programs for a variety of organizations and has led negotiation courses at several renowned academic institutions Dr. Harinck is also the founder of the Fieke Harinck Training en Theater.