RHIANNON MATON, Ph.D. 
Owner of Strategic Writing Consulting

​I became increasingly aware of the harm often caused by schooling while teaching in under-resourced urban high schools in Canada and the U.S. I saw that K-12 schools often unintentionally hurt young people and the teachers who are dedicated to their growth. And, I saw that this was particularly the case for people already experiencing historically-situated social and economic marginalization due to their race, class, gender, sexuality, linguistic, and disability identities. I viscerally experienced such harm myself at times, and bore witness to the challenging plights of my students.

 

I decided to dedicate myself to teaching students and professionals how to navigate higher education, so that they could access the professional positions and financial resources that they desired and deserved.

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My first step was to better understand how higher education works. I earned a Masters degree in Educational Administration from the University of Toronto, which ranks in the global top-ten for my field. Here I focused on understanding the structural constraints shaping students, education workers, schools, and educational policy.

 

Next, I sought to learn about the specific needs of students and education professionals experiencing historically-situated social and economic marginalization. I earned a Ph.D. in Reading/Writing/Literacy from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) Graduate School of Education, which ranked in the top five Education programs in the U.S. Here, I worked with top international scholars in Literacy Studies and under the mentorship of Dr. Vivian L. Gadsden, Past President of the American Educational Research Association. 

 

Prior to the Ph.D., I had never before taken a standardized test—and I single-handedly guided myself through all stages of GRE studying, on my first try ranked in the 99th percentile in both Analytical Writing and Verbal Reasoning. My Dissertation earned the "with distinction" top honor at Penn, and I taught for one year in Penn's rigorous Critical Writing Program following my studies. Here, I honed my understanding of academic genre analysis and higher education writing instruction. 

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I earned tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in a well-respected teaching-focused public university, the State University of New York at Cortland, where I work closely with undergraduate and graduate students. I am pleased to share that I was recently awarded Full Professor status, just two years after earning tenure, and four years after earning promotion to Associate--which speaks to my skill in strategically decoding and navigating competitive academic environments. Here, I continue to hone my instructional expertise in academic writing instruction and knowledge of college administrative structures and processes.

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I conduct qualitative research in the social sciences at the intersection of labor studies, sociology, and education, and have established myself as a national (U.S.) and global scholarly leader in the area of teachers' work and unions. ​I am the author of 25 refereed publications, including one handbook, six book chapters, 18 peer-reviewed journal articles in leading outlets such as Teachers College Record, History of Education Quarterly, Critical Studies in Education, Curriculum Inquiry, the Journal of Educational Change, and Gender, Work & Organization.

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I have Co-Edited a Routledge Handbook, the Handbook on Teachers' Work: International Perspectives on Research and Practice (2026), the leading international text in the field, and am ongoing Co-Editor for a Routledge Book Series, Critical Perspectives on Teaching and Teachers' Work​. I recently wrapped up a term as Managing Editor for Wagadu: Journal of Transnational Women's and Gender Studies, and now Co-Edit Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor. I am also a previous Co-Editor of a four-part special series for Critical Education Journal.

 

My scholarship has been recognized with multiple awards, including SUNY Cortland’s Waring & DiNardo Outstanding Achievement in Research Award and the University of Pennsylvania’s Ralph C. Preston Award for Social Justice Research.​ I hold a range of leadership roles in my field, including as Past Co-Chair of the American Educational Research Association’s Teachers’ Work/Teacher Unions Special Interest Group, Visiting Scholar and Affiliated Researcher at the Hunter College National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, and Associate Professor (status-only) at OISE/University of Toronto.

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For a full record of my publications and service, please see my CV and Academia.edu profile.

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Now, I work with two main populations in my consulting business: ​

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1.  Doctoral Students completing theses and dissertations, and seeking to get published; 

2. University Faculty seeking to strengthen their tenure and promotion portfolios, including across the organizational methods and portfolio writing processes. I also help faculty learn and hone the art of getting published in academic journals. 

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