Happily ever after? Career advice for mid-career academics

The Cocoon is foremost a forum for early-career philosophers, but I have decided to put together some advice for mid-career academics. This is partly because I am in this situation (I am now senior lecturer, which is the equivalent of an associate professor), after a long period of temporary positions. It is also partly because I have seen that many associate professors are faced with challenges that do not get much attention, because people assume - mistakenly that associate professors have figured it all out by now.  I hereby pool some advice I heard from other academics as well as my ideas on issues facing mid-career academics.

For a graduate student, postdoc or any other academic who is not in a tenured or tenure track position, it seems that happy ever after starts once one obtains a tenure-track position (or equivalent), a bit like the female protagonist finding a suitable partner in a Jane Austen novel. People outside of the tenure track look on in disbelief as their tenured and tenure-track colleagues grumble about committee work, heavy teaching loads, the lack of accommodation for their spouses, decreasing pension and healthcare benefits, and the decline of wages in real terms. The thought presents itself that if only I had such a job I wouldn’t complain. When I was a postdoc, I entertained such thoughts.

Now I know that obtaining a tenure-track position is only the beginning. It definitely beats being off the tenure track, but it is not happy ever after. You need to be savvy about your career in all stages—all the way from searching for a tenure track job to being a full professor. In Jane Austen’s novels, it makes sense that the match is the end of the novel. After all, women in Jane Austen’s time had few prospects, and the main way to have economic and social goods was to marry, and that was the one and crucial decision to make. 

With the erosion of tenure and an increasing mobility of academics, finding your tenure track job no longer resembles a Jane Austen novel, where you find yourself with your dream job (Mr Darcy) or a job you deem suboptimal (but, hey, your PhD is getting stale and you need something permanent, Mr Collins).

According to several surveys, associate professors are less happy and experience less career satisfaction compared to people of other tenure-line ranks. The job uncertainty is finally gone but new doubts creep in: Is this it? Here follow some points of advice.

1. Insofar as you haven’t been able to before, try to find a better work-balance 

   Working long hours and having no personal time seems to come with being a tenure track professor or being on the market for years. It is difficult to shift gears and try to treat your job as just a job. But it is important to do this at this stage. Try to cordon off some time for yourself and, if applicable, your family. For instance, try to not do any work-related stuff for one day per week. Or keep your evenings free. I hope to heed my own advice as soon as semester ends here!

2. Cultivate some non-academic activities

   It is fun and revitalizing to do something that has nothing to do with your research, such as reading fiction books, going for walks, singing in an amateur choir, etc.

3. Try to work on things you find enjoyable and are passionate about

   ...Even if this means it won’t be published in Phil Review or Mind. With tenure, or its equivalent status elsewhere, you can afford to write papers and do research you really enjoy even if it does not find its way into mainstream journals. Finding joy in one’s work is the reason for many of us got into philosophy in the first place. Of course, there might still be opportunity costs, but doing work because others value it, at the expense of work you would value for itself, also has its costs.

4. If you are unhappy in your situation, try to move out

   For whatever reason you may be unhappy in your present situation. You realize that academic permanent jobs are rare, and that many people would love to trade places with you. You may even feel survivor’s guilt for having made it this far, and as a result, you may feel an obligation to stay in your present position because others find it wonderful, not because you do. This is never a good reason to stay.

   First, ask yourself if there is any way you could improve the situation without having to leave your job (e.g., is a reduction in teaching load possible? Do you feel burnout and could you take leave such as a sabbatical?) Do not be afraid to ask for these things at your present employer.

   If this does not work out or your employer cannot help your situation (for instance because you do not flourish in the geographic area where the school is), I would suggest you go on the market. This is easier to do from a tenure-track position, but it can be done at the associate level. Unless you are a research superstar (and even then, see this story), do not wait around for an offer to come your way. Instead, actively apply far and wide.

   Many positions are open-rank and in case of doubt you can ask the head of search committee if they are willing to hire at a senior level (associate professor, senior lecturer etc.) When you do receive an outside offer, try to negotiate harder than you would (or presumably did) for an entry-level job. After all, your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) is now a lot better than it was for the tenure-track, unless you were one of the few who had several offers simultaneously. The hiring school knows this and they will expect you to negotiate accordingly. By now you know what you need, e.g., a higher salary, a spousal appointment, less teaching. Negotiate accordingly.

   A counteroffer has to be handled with care – think of the bigger picture: will I be happier with this counteroffer? Balance the new situation at your home institution to the job you have been offered. Do not take a counteroffer merely out of loyalty for the existing institution, or refuse it merely out of spite (if you feel very spiteful, though, it may be a good idea to move anyway).

   If you think there is a deeper reason that academic life ultimately does not suit you, try to find a non-academic job instead. There are people such as Zachary Ernst who found their way into satisfying non-academic careers, and here is a recent testimony on the Cocoon by Matt Drabek about his work in the non-academic sector (as well as my interviews with seven philosophers who work outside of academia).

   The best way to go about this is to network with non-academic philosophers (there are dedicated LinkedIn groups) to obtain a better view of what possible career prospects you could have. It is sometimes necessary to get additional training (e.g., in programming), which is often available through online courses. You can also network locally with people who work for think tanks, startups and other firms where philosophers have found employment before. Job advertisements for these go all year round. 

5. Apply for grants and fellowships

   Fellowships, grants, research leaves, etc. are a good way to energize your research, for instance, to kickstart a new research project. Unfortunately, the odds to get such grants are low, and they take a lot of time to write. Still, I find personally I work well with grant support – it gives me the drive to focus on a project and to get the job done in time. It helps research as grants usually come with teaching relief, money to organize a workshop, or to pay research assistants. Grants provide a way to network with philosophers working in the same program, which also is beneficial in the long term. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

6. Engage in peer mentoring, support groups, or seek professional advice

   As I said earlier, it is a mistake to think that associate professors have got it all figured out. They don’t. Rejections still hurt. A two-body problem can remain unsolved. One can be stuck in a rut, out of new ideas, find it hard to finish that book project. Writing groups, or finding support from a peer mentor (someone who is in a similar position and to whom you can turn for advice, often a mutualistic relationship) can help. There are also professional career coaches who offer help for a fee.

7. Say no

   The difference between the successful and the very successful – so Warren Buffet may have said – is that very successful know how to say no. Midcareer academics still have a hard time saying no—I know I have! The motivation for saying no is that you can say yes to projects you really care about. The following is a good heuristic: at this point, you can afford to say no to projects that you do not feel excited about, thus freeing up your time for projects you want to say yes. Although we have a duty to others to do some share of refereeing etc, you can  say no to refereeing once you have done your share (which you can establish beforehand, e.g., referee at least 3 times what you submit in a year or similar heuristic). Often midcareer folks are asked to do more than their share). You can also say no to book reviews of books you wouldn't spontaneously read.

8. Loyalty to colleagues rather than fealty towards institutions

   Universities are corporatized entities, that do not care about your personal wellbeing or development, or only do so only to the extent that these affect how you perform in the job. As a consequence, you do not owe your institution fealty or loyalty. What you do owe them is to do a good job as a professor as specified in your contractual agreements: teach well, do research in line with the institution’s expectations, and do a fair share of the admin, committee and other work. Many mid-career people find it helpful to think in terms of loyalty to their colleagues, rather than loyalty to an abstract institution. Philosophy is a small world, and if you do choose to move on chances are you’ll see your former colleagues again. Whether you spend your entire tenured career in one place or move around, treat your colleagues well.

   These are some points of career advice for mid-career academics. Any other thoughts (from more seasoned mid-career people) are very welcome!

Comments

[Kevin]

Another great set of advice, Helen.

[Anon Tenured Faculty]

While I think there is a lot of good advice here, I don't necessarily agree with 8... ``Universities are corporatized entities, that do not care about your personal wellbeing or development, or only do so only to the extent that these affect how you perform in the job. As a consequence, you do not owe your institution fealty or loyalty. ''

How little your university cares about your well-being or development probably depends on the university you work with, and it would be pretty sad to be in a permanent post somewhere and feel this way about your institution. More than that, tenured faculty have special obligations to make the places they work better communities, in virtue of having a permanent stake in those intuitions. You may not owe your university ``fealty'' (I don't even think I owe my colleagues fealty per se). But if I am a permanent member of the faculty then either the institution I am part of should be a welcoming, flourishing place or I ought to be working to change it. Tenured people owe more to their institutions.

[Helen De Cruz]

Anon Tenured faculty: I still don't see how the points you raise mean that I would owe more to an institution than teaching well, doing a fair amount of service (including such things as open days, etc), and doing research in line with what the university's expectations are. Universities demanding loyalty from their staff asked, for example that staff would condone such horrible things as a recent university president who thought struggling students should be weeded out (like drowning bunnies), or would be OK that a tenured professor was fired for believing in open theism. These are just two recent cases. It seems clear to me that the professors who were outraged by the official university's line were in the right. I knew people who were deeply angry with the official university's line (for instance in the case of the open theist professor). They tried to change the decision, but it was all to no avail. Donor money or viewpoints of a few influential people. They left the university for other places. In general, I am pessimistic about how much we can change institutions that are corrupt or off-track. It is in those cases far better to leave.

[Ed]

Do people have ideas/advice for people who are not from US/UK/OZ/Canada, and not trained in those places, who have a good, tenured, position, but are thinking of an international move, which would probably mean going to one of the above listed places?

[Anon Tenured Faculty Again]

Why would you continue to work at an institution you thought was corrupt? Also as a tenured faculty member, you do not just work for the institution---you are a permanent partner in it. That is what the offer of tenure amounts to. At the point where you accept a tenured post, you are taking on significant responsibilty for the institution you are part of. That was the point I was trying to make in the previous post.

[Helen De Cruz]

Of course, if one is working for an institution one deems corrupt, one should try to get out. I think our disagreement ultimately boils down to the question of how much a professor job is like any other job, which means, you do the best you can within the constraints of that job - and your employer will, like others, have its good features and its bad, or whether tenure means you have some sort of special investment into the institution. I guess I am more pessimistic about how the dynamics are changing and the power that faculty have within a given institution (compared to, e.g., administrators). Because I believe those dynamics are shifting in a way that is not good for the professors, I think we need to be wary.

[Helen De Cruz]

Hi Ed: I have a PhD from the Netherlands (Groningen) and worked in Belgium and the Netherlands, and I am now working at a British university. I think it's important to be aware of the specific research culture of a given place (e.g., what the REF is), what funding bodies one can apply to (e.g., ERC, Leverhulme), and build some contacts with the place where you would like to end up in. Maybe it's worth writing a longer blogpost about this?

[Ed]

Helen: Yes, please. Personally I am most concerned with issues of "culture". Where I am now, things are very informal. Since I mostly teach grad students, I can freely use humor, discuss current events, and so on. Another important issue is that everyone is clear on research being the key metric (though it is not judged simply by counting publications, but rather by trying to judge quality) and students don't feel they can threaten professors with teaching evaluations/complaints. (Not that I have any problems on this front, but it does tell you something about the academic climate). Mostly of all, though, I was thinking about the issue of tenure. Since I have tenure where I am, one wonders how one applies without (at first) people knowing, and how reasonable it is to expect to get a tenured offer.

[Regina]

Do the job you are passionate about and let loyalty be your slogan.