Women's History Month with Lina Gómez-Vásquez: An International Inspiration
Posted on Mar. 16, 2023 / Diversity & Inclusion, Chapter News, Member News / Subscribe 0
Lina Gómez-Vásquez, Co-Director MA in Social and Emerging Media and an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Tampa, recently spoke with PRSA Tampa Bay's Diversity & Inclusion Chair Kecia Carroll about her international career journey, embracing equity and shaping new generations of PR professionals.
"Equity is ensuring everyone is included and feels safe, comfortable, and respected in all the activities, events and scenarios we participate or collaborate in."
You are an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Tampa. What excites you about your work? What challenges you?
The most exciting part of my job is to have the opportunity to impact students' professional lives and help them grow to find their career paths. It's a rewarding feeling to receive LinkedIn messages or emails from former students already working in the field and say, "Thank you for preparing me for the real world,” and “Thank you for everything, I'm using everything I learned from your classes". That excites me and encourages me to continue pushing students to excel, get out of their comfort zones, and find their career passions.
The main challenge (and I think this for all educators) is keeping Gen Z students engaged since they are constantly distracted by their phones, laptops, etc. They have all the information I'm teaching at their fingertips. Hence, as educators, we must look for diverse ways to keep the engagement with the content using class discussions, creative projects, group work, etc.
Earlier this month we celebrated International Women's Day, and you are certainly an international woman with a fascinating professional journey. Tell us about your own education and how you got to where you are today.
It's been a long journey since I graduated from college in Barranquilla, Colombia, 20 years ago. I did my bachelor's in communications and moved to Puerto Rico to pursue my master's degree in communications. In Colombia and Puerto Rico, I worked mainly in public relations at higher educational institutions and in an advertising agency before joining academia. While living in Michigan, I discovered my passion for education by teaching Spanish classes, and I wanted to teach in my field.
From there, I decided to pursue my second master's (in corporate social responsibility) and my doctorate (in business focusing on organizational sustainability) in Spain. Living in many places has been a wonderful experience, meeting people from different backgrounds and learning from other cultures. After finishing my doctorate, I got my first full-time teaching position in Puerto Rico in 2013. Living in Puerto Rico was amazing; I learned much and grew as a professor. But, I wanted to push myself and experience something completely different: teaching communications classes in English rather than Spanish. Working and adapting to a different culture was not easy, but it's been a wonderful experience living and working in the United States.
What does embracing equity mean to you, and what tips can you offer to help communicators embrace it more openly?
Equity is ensuring everyone is included and feels safe, comfortable, and respected in all the activities, events and scenarios we participate or collaborate in. In other words, everyone belongs, and they are happy. We all must #EmbraceEquity and be part of the solution. Something simple is to audit and assess all your organization’s communications, including websites, newsletters and social media posts. This is a process of self-reflection to determine how equity is practiced through messaging and design. For instance, avoid language that dehumanizes populations, ensure content is accessible to people with disabilities or impairments, consider captions for videos, searchable text, and alternative text for images.
"I advise being the best in one platform and dedicating at least 30 minutes to an hour a week to know what's happening."
Your research examines how social media platforms are changing communication processes. As communicators, what advice would you give for staying on top of, or even ahead of, those changes?
The industry is changing so rapidly every day. It's a constant challenge to stay on top of social media updates. It’s impossible to learn every trend or know everything about every update to each platform. Each platform is way different for strategically creating content and engaging with audiences. I advise being the best in one platform and dedicate at least 30 minutes to an hour a week to know what's happening. Newsletters are the best resource to keep up with these changes, and one of the best social media newsletters out there, in my opinion, is the Geekout by Matt Navarra, a social media consultant and industry analyst.
For the students you teach, how are these changes shaping the communications they can expect in their professional futures?
I always encourage students to keep up to date with all the changes in the industry, including trends and keep up with pop culture, because these updates might affect how they propose strategies and messaging across platforms. Research is essential before any plan or campaign, as simple as understanding what keywords to use in your message, hashtags, or trends. This helps students to understand that they must learn what's happening in our industry every day, and that learning doesn't stop after getting your college degree.
Lina Gómez-Vásquez has over 15 years of international experience in higher education and strategic communications. Currently, in dual roles at the University of Tampa, Lina serves as both Co-Director MA in Social and Emerging Media and an Assistant Professor of Communication, teaching courses recently in Public Relations Campaigns, Strategic Social Media and Analytics, and Research Methods. As a PRSA Tampa Bay member, she has co-led our annual Professional Development program for two years, inspiring others through her leadership and her commitment to supporting the career growth of young professionals. Her efforts were recognized two years in a row with the President's Award.
0 Comments