Kristina Cowan -

Welcome

Journalism is my addiction. Each story drives me to another. I’m glad Northwestern gave me credentials to camp out on the Fourth Estate. I've covered everything from the polyglot culture of Barcelona, to the 9/11 attacks in New York, to a high-profile mass-murder case in Chicago. If you poke around on my site, you’ll find links to those stories, as well as my personal background, my blog, which focuses on women’s issues, and links to other sites.

My clips

An Excellent Work Ethic

"Kristina is one of the best journalists I know. Her unflagging curiosity, thoughtfulness, intelligence, and excellent work ethic were manifest in the writing and editing she did when she served as my associate editor at Community College Week. They were the reasons I recommended to the publisher there that Kristina succeed me as editor when I left, and they have continued to serve her well ever since." - Scott Cech, director of education projects at CommunicationWorks

My CCW articles

A Well-Connected Journalist

"Kristina is a well-connected, intelligent journalist who always produces trustworthy, insightful articles. She takes the time to select only the best sources, and then double-checks all of her facts before allowing her work to be published. Plus, she comes up with excellent story ideas that spark the interest of her editors. Kristina is communicates easily about deadlines, story angles and accepts the rare edit gracefully." - Bridget Quigg, web content editor, PayScale, Inc.

My Payscale articles

Knows the Education Beat

"Kristina is a very good writer and knows a lot about education (our specialty). She is a conscientious and accurate reporter and a pleasure to work with. She has written two solid articles for the Harvard Education Letter, one of was among the Top Ten Most Viewed stories published in 2010." - Nancy Walser, editor, Harvard Education Letter

My Harvard Education Letter articles

Seasoned business correspondent

How do introverts advance in a culture dominated by extroverts? Is it possible to stay interested in your work and competitive at the same time? What does it mean to be "a business of one", and how can it boost your earning potential? For answers to these and other career-related questions, read my coverage for The Ladders.

My stories for The Ladders

Education

Covering education is tough, gritty. It’s taken me from the depths of New York’s ground zero to the sunny plains of Spain. How does a U.S. college come back to life after losing students and space on 9/11? How do K-12 teachers, with so few resources, close the seemingly cavernous cultural gap between themselves and their students? These are just a few of the questions I’ve tackled on my favorite beat.

Business

As the lead writer for PayScale.com, I learned to love the business beat. My stories focused on executive compensation, gender dynamics, personal finance and continuing education. That led to syndication at AOL and Yahoo, and later helped me land gigs with TheLadders and The Kellogg School of Management.

Women's Issues

There’s never been a better time to be a woman. Or has there? We’re just as educated and able as our male counterparts - in some ways, we outshine them. Yet if we marry and have children, we can’t escape the question: Why can’t we have it all? We, more than our husbands, grapple with something called work-life balance, pay gaps and ceilings, glass or otherwise. We can do more. We can do better. As we do, the issues will keep me up at night.

Journalism is my addiction. Each story drives me to another.
I hope you find stories and content on this website that enrich and inspire you.
Keep seeking the truth...