The Philosophers' Cocoon

Online conference ideas for spending spare $ on?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

I have a question that is likely to be relevant to quite a few current postdocs, but not only to them.

I find myself in a position where I have a reasonably short-term postdoctoral research position which, while it lasts, has a decent amount of money allocated specifically for research event expenses. I had intended to put on a fairly big conference on the topic of my research project which would have cost a fair amount, but since this has been moved online due to the pandemic the funds are going unused (and the participants are no longer getting treated to a nice meal or two and a stay in an interesting place).

I wonder if anyone has any recommendations for fun and/or interesting supplements to online conferences that it would be worth spending some money on, and that participants would be likely to appreciate?

Good question - any ideas from readers?

Can one remain competitive while teaching K-12?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

I have a question about "staleness" and the job market.

I just defended my dissertation. Last year I got a position as the Logic/Philosophy (and Latin) teacher at a middle/high school. My PhD was a major factor in my being hired, outweighing my lack of an Ed degree or significant K-12 experience. So I'm employed as a philosopher in a FT academic position, but not in a traditional way.

I love my job and at this point I feel like I could stay here forever. But I don't want to assume that's what's going to happen, and I could see myself wanting more time for research someday, so I continue to watch the market.

So suppose for the next several years I teach middle/high school philosophy, publish 1-2 articles a year (given I'm teaching 6-8 classes at a time and have a family), adjunct here and there, and then apply for TT positions. Would I be seen by committees as an early/mid-career philosopher making a lateral or upward move, or a "stale" PhD grad who never "made it"? Or how do I prepare and present myself so as to appear (as I actually would be) the former rather than the latter?

(FWIW The program here is pretty rigorous. Students take a year of informal logic and two years of formal logic in middle school, so once they reach high school they're better prepared for a philosophy class than the vast majority of college students I've taught.)

Great questions! I'm curious to hear what readers think. I'm inclined to think that if a person in this situation really does publish one or two articles per year while teaching K-12 and adjuncting at a university, then sure, they could remain competitive--at least for jobs at teaching focused universities and community colleges. Further, I can't help but wonder whether, if they found a way to publish in top-ranked journals, they might remain competitive for postdocs or research jobs. But I'm inclined to think that (A) a lot turns on whether they do in fact continue to publish (which might be difficult while teaching K-12), and (B) whether they keep adjuncting (as I expect universities will favor candidates who have more university-level teaching experience over candidates with less). 

But these are just my reactions. What are yours?

Criteria for hiring a VAP?

A reader writes in:

Maybe you've talked about this before, but I'm wanting to hear from those who have served on search committees who were hiring a one or two year VAP, and what particular dynamics are in play in this kind of search as opposed to a TT search. For instance, what are some of the criteria used to make a first big cut in this kind of search? Do they differ from other searches? Do those hiring for such positions, especially when they're just a sabbatical replacement, or where there's very little chance of extension, still look at one's publication record and weigh it heavier than teaching experience and performance? I'd assume teaching fit matters a lot here, but then again I'm not sure. I also wonder whether these kinds of positions often receive the same high number of apps as TT positions. 

Given that these positions look to be more prevalent (in fact, a decent amount or starting to trickle in now), I figured this might help more people than just me? 

Good questions! My own experience hiring VAP positions at a liberal arts university is that teaching is our #1 priority. But I wonder if the same is true at other universities, particularly R1s. Any readers with experience hiring for VAPs care to weigh in?

Joining editorial boards while non-TT?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

I have a general question about joining editorial boards/working as a journal editor while one is in a postdoc or a non-TT position. In short, is it worth it? Does having something like that on your CV look pretty good, enough to offset the responsibilities that come with it? Or is it generally better to wait until one is securely employed (and maybe tenured) before taking on that level of service to the profession?

And here's another more narrow question: if you - a non-TT philosopher - do interdisciplinary work, and you get invited to join an editorial board for a (reputable) journal in another field, should you do it?

Interesting questions! I'm inclined to think that it depends a lot on the journal. If it's a prestigious journal, then I'm inclined to think it may look impressive - as it indicates that well-recognized people in the discipline think highly of you and consider you an expert in the area. However, how likely is it that you'll be approached to join an editorial board at a journal like that while you're in a non-TT job? It seems unlikely to me, and that the more likely case is that you may be approached to be on an editorial board of a less-prestigious journal. And in that case, I'm not sure it's worth it, in terms of 'looking good' for the job market and later tenure decisions if/when you get a TT job. By a similar token, I'm not sure joining the editorial board of a reputable (but not particularly prestigious) interdisciplinary journal is likely to help much on the philosophy job-market.

So, since editorial responsibilities can be time-consuming, and the primary things you'll be judged on while you're on the market or a tenure decision will be research and teaching, I'm inclined to think that in most cases, it's probably not worth joining an editorial board while non-TT. Indeed, I've known junior people who have worked for journals, and I've heard it can be a lot of work (without, again, a lot of 'upside'). For these reasons, I'm inclined to think that it's generally better to wait until tenure to join editorial boards - unless, of course again you're invited to join a particularly prestigious journal (in which case that is, I think, a different story).

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours?

Putting recommended verdicts in referee reports?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

I have a question about referring. What are people’s thoughts about putting your verdict into your report for the author? E.g. putting “I am recommending revise & resubmit …” or “I am recommending rejection because …” somewhere near the beginning. Do you think it is best practice to always do this, or perhaps to refrain from it? The editor of course already knows the referee’s verdict, but I’m asking about a referee communicating that verdict directly to the author. As an author I sometimes have to read the tea leaves about whether a referee thought a paper should be revised or just rejected. I’d be interested to hear what authors and referees think, but also editors as well. Maybe there's a reason that info shouldn't always be included?

Chivers Butler responded:

I suspect this would result in authors arguing with editors over their decisions, or at least attempting to get them to justify their decisions when they differ from that of (one of) the referees.

I'm actually a bit surprised by this response. As a referee, I always either put some kind of recommendation or other in my review for the author, or in a few rare cases have explained why I had trouble arriving at a firm recommendation. I've just always assumed this to be good practice, and I've always been thankful as an author when referees are clear about their recommendations.

Online philosophy discussion groups?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

Are there online communities of professional philosophers participating in reading groups or workshopping their papers? Most of my colleagues from graduate school have left the profession, and so philosophy has become a rather lonely undertaking for me.

This is a great question, and I hope we can help this reader out. The short answer to their question is yes. I'm actually a member of a couple of online groups like this, and I've enjoyed participating in them very much. The issue, unfortunately, is that some of these groups are invite-only, as the people who run them can want to keep them relatively small and personal. One reader, Tom, submitted the following reply:

I've got a small group like that that I run with some friends. We work on loosely-connected stuff, but mostly I chose who to invite to such a thing by thinking about who I'd most like to hang out with. My guess is that if you know such people, this kind of thing will be super easy to start right now. We're all desperate for friendship. Also, I started out with just a couple friends, and now we're slightly larger because my friend invited some of their friends.

Of course, the worry about groups like this is that they can be exclusive, rather than inclusive to those (such as the OP) who might be in the greatest need of opportunities like this. But I'm not sure what can be done about this, aside from perhaps creating more groups, or perhaps some groups like these that aren't invite-only but rather open to anyone who is interested.

Fortunately, it occurred to me that perhaps the Cocoon can help in this! I'd like to open the discussion board below both for discussion of these issues, but also for readers to share information about publicly-accessible groups, as well as commenters' own contact information if they'd be interested in setting up a new group or joining an existing group (note: I'd like to ask readers not to share information about private groups organized by someone else, as the people who run those groups might not want information about their group to be made public - which I think is important to respect). 

Alt-ac job discussion thread (2021)

In our job-market discussion thread, a reader asks: "Is there a place where people discuss hiring information about alt/ac posts targeted at philosophers (e.g. the Notre Dame Center job)?" I don't know if there is any place like that, but I think having a dedicated thread for discussing alt-ac (i.e. non-academic) job opportunities and preparation (i.e. non-academic resume-writing, interviewing, etc.) is a fantastic idea. So, this is that thread! If you are a philosopher seeking an alt-ac/non-academic job and you're looking to commiserate with other similarly-minded philosophers, feel free to discuss in the comments section below. Feel free to post:

• Non-academic job ads
• Application questions
• Questions about resumes, interviews, etc.
• Etc.

As with the academic job-market reporting and discussion threads, I will keep a permalink to this thread on the right-hand side-bar of the blog. Hope some of you find it helpful forum in your job-search!

How can we help you? (March-April 2021)

Now that it's been close to a couple of months since our last "how can we help you?" thread, it's time for a new one.

For those of you unfamiliar with this series, this is a chance for you to post openly or anonymously in the comments section below on anything you could use help with related to the profession. After you post your query in the comments section, I will then post new threads for readers to discuss your query.

Please feel free to ask questions on anything (within the Cocoon's mission) that you could use help with, including but not limited to:

• Life and work in the COVID-19 era
• The job-market (applying for jobs, etc.)
• Issues in the profession (including issues of social justice)
• Graduate school
• Publishing
• Teaching
• Work-life balance
• Personal struggles
• Etc.

Fire away - we're here to help! Important reminder: if you submit a comment in this thread responding to someone's query, I won't post it, as this makes it difficult for me to keep track of everything in the comments section, particularly which queries I've started new threads on and which ones I have not. However, if you do post a follow-up comment, chances are good that I will post it in the new thread I start on the relevant query. So, do feel free to submit responses. Just know that they won't appear in this particular thread and might instead appear later in a new post!

Publishing philosophy without credentials?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

I do not have an academic background in philosophy but nevertheless have ended up spending significant time working on a philosophy book for which has required vast amounts of research and reading. (I have worked with academics in the process to challenge my ideas & check I am not totally mad).

When published, I wonder if the academic audience will treat it as 'no-good' or not give it the time of day because it does not come from someone working in an institution. I am curious, is this likely or will it simply come to the quality of ideas?

This is a good question, and I am glad that someone asked! Allow me to share some thoughts before opening things for discussion.

How does 'networking' help?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

I've been inspired by the discussion about ways to flourish in the profession as an introvert.

While many people have mentioned the importance of networking, I am wondering if people can share some concrete examples of the benefits from networking, especially for graduate students and junior faculty members.

I can see that networking could help a person find external members for their committee and have letters for the job market (grad student) or for promotion (junior faculty). I have a hard time seeing other benefits besides abstract things like knowing your name and knowing your work. For example, do people get invited to apply for some jobs or get invited to submit to a journal because of networking? Any other concrete examples?

These are great questions! I'd love to hear concrete examples not only from grad students and junior faculty, but also from senior faculty, including (for example) those who have served on search committees, edited books or special journal issues, etc. If you're a grad student or faculty member, do you know of any concrete examples of how 'networking' helped you? And, if you're a senior faculty member, do you know of concrete examples where it helped junior folk? 

Contacting profs before applying to postdocs?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, sahpa writes:

After washing out on the job market twice now, I'm contemplating a strategy for being a bit more proactive and selective in what I apply for, going forward.

I'm thinking about reaching out to professors (for European postdocs, where the norm is to be attached to a specific professor) in advance and just telling them a little about myself, and then asking them whether they think I might fit for the position they're looking to fill. This would be primarily to ascertain whether I should even bother applying. This could benefit both parties: me, because I could hopefully figure out quite cheaply whether to invest substantial time into the application itself; and them, because it would help them preemptively manage the pile of applications they'll receive. In this respect, it's a win-win.

However, I'm worried that, if this is just not really done, it might come off the wrong way. On the other hand, if a lot of these postdocs get filled through networks anyway (and I have some evidence, here and there, that that might be rather common), is this really problematic?

Can readers who have relevant experience in the European postdoc market weigh in?

Two readers submitted replies:

I work in Europe and I am familiar with the post-doc culture. I would NOT contact someone unless they have a post doc position advertised. I get contacted by two types of people about post doc positions: (i) those in foreign countries who want to get into a program with financial support (which I do not have, if there is no advertisement); and (ii) those in certain countries who may have funding from their home government and want to consider coming to work at my institution. Wait for an ad to be posted. Then contact the people. That is the normal way. - Submitted by Euro

It's a good idea, but the wrong method, I think. Conferences, seminars, and workshops are much better ways of finding out if more senior people are interested working with you. - Submitted by William Peden

I'm curious what other readers think. Euro seems to think it's fine to do after a job ad has been submitted. But I share the OP's and William Peden's concern that it could come off poorly. Then again, given how much time and effort it does take to apply to jobs, it also seems to me like a legitimate thing to do. It might be good to hear from people who have served on search committees (particularly for European postdocs), as well as from people who have either tried what the OP describes or who have been contacted by people in the OP's situation. What do you all think?

Can shy, timid people flourish in the profession?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

Is a shy and timid person suitable for a philosophical profession? I am a phd student and not outgoing, and in fact quite unconfident. I usually doubt whether I am right when I defend my view. But I see so many philosophers confident and decisive. In fact, I barely meet anyone like me in this profession. I am wondering whether a timid person could do philosophy.

Great question, and I am curious to hear how readers answer, particularly those of you who match the OP's description. If you're shy and timid, have you found yourself 'suitable' for the profession? Have you been able to flourish? If so, how? Did you have to work to overcome your tendencies?

Danto on Cookie-cutter philosophy and what to do about it

Way back in 1984, Arthur Danto made some critical remarks about the philosophy profession in his presidential address to the Eastern APA.

His remarks focus on the journal article, the standard unit of publication since philosophy became seriously professionalized. How could we end up, starting out with so many different literary forms -- ranging from dialogues, Meditations, aphorisms, poetry, to playful short stories, with the dry cookie-cutter philosophy paper our discipline now favors? 

Danto speculated that the journal article was the result of a process akin to Darwinian evolution, "merging by natural selection from a wild profusion of forms darwinized into oblivion through maladaptation".  Particularly striking to Danto is how author- and hence also reader-effacing these papers are: 

The journals in which these papers finally are printed,... are not otherwise terribly distinct from one another, any more than the papers themselves characteristically are: if under, the constraints of blind review, we black out name and institutional affiliation, there will be no internal evidence of authorial presence, but only a unit of pure philosophy, to the presentation of which the author will have sacrificed all identity. This implies a noble vision of ourselves as vehicles for the transmission of an utterly impersonal philosophical truth, and it implies a vision of philosophical reality as constituted of isolable, difficult but not finally intractable problems.

When to give up on the academic job market?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

Here's a question that I could use an answer to. When is it time to give up on the tenure-track job hunt? I understand that in one way this depends on personal circumstances. That's not what I'm asking. I'm wondering at what point, after years of rejection, can you be reasonably confident that a tenure-track job is not going to happen.

I have a CV that's good enough for tenure at most R1s. At this point, will more books or articles or teaching experience help? I'm beginning to doubt it. I have gotten a lot of helpful feedback over the years, and the things I know would really help, like different demographics, I do not have control over.

These are good questions. As this philosophy job-placement graph illustrates, the job-market is basically a toss-up: depending on what kind of PhD program you graduate from, your overall chances of getting a tenure-track job are somewhere between 20-60%. Then there's the following graph, which I first posted about here: 

Delaying publication dates for tenure?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

Here's a question that I've only had the opportunity to ponder in the abstract.

Some places only count pubs towards tenure if they came out while you're officially at that college/university, i.e. stuff you published in previous jobs elsewhere doesn't count towards tenure.

Have people ever tried delaying publications when transitioning to a new job (especially NTT to TT). Either by explicitly asking a journal that has accepted a paper to wait or more informally by dragging one's feet to submit an R&R draft? Do people have other strategies?

To reiterate, hold the rotten veggies, I don't have a TT offer and a forthcoming paper. Just curious if this is a thing.

Interesting question, and a good one to ask, as I expect not all readers know of this feature of many TT jobs. My university works like this. When you come up for tenure, candidates are evaluated only on what they have done since starting the job. So, publication dates can make a big difference. I guess I don't think it's appropriate to try to ask a journal to delay publication (though I'd be very curious to hear if any readers think it is appropriate and/or have tried it!). I guess I'm also not sure whether it's a great idea to delay completing an R&R for this reason, as plenty of R&R's are rejected and it's always possible that if you delay publishing, the literature will move on in some way that renders your argument passé (undermining your ability to ever publish the relevant paper). Personally, this is something that always stresses me out, as there have been a few occasions in my career where I was 'beaten to the punch' on an argument that appeared in the literature. So, I generally try to publish quickly. But of course these are just my predilections, and I know mine aren't everyone's. 

Anyway, what do you all think? It might be good to hear from readers who have found themselves in the OP's situation. Do you have any inside tips?

Funded high-ranked MA or lower-ranked PhD?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

I am a current PhD applicant waitlisted at several top 20 programs with some offers from lower-ranked programs. I also have gotten a funded offer from a top terminal MA program with excellent PhD placement. Does anyone have any advice about how to decide at which point I am better off doing the MA first and then re-applying in two years? Are there any important questions to ask myself and the lower-ranked programs that might help me make a clear list of "better than MA" schools and "worse than an MA" schools?

Great question! My sense is that the funded MA is probably the better idea, but I think it probably matters what the job placement rate of the lower-ranked PhD program is - as some lower-ranked PhD programs have very strong placement rates whereas others don't. What do you all think? It might be especially good to hear from students who pursued either type of option, what the results of the choice were, and how satisfied they are with the choice they made.

Ideal publication record for getting a non-R1 job?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

What's an ideal publication record for someone who's not aiming to end up at an R1 institution?

Here's why I ask: I just defended, and I lucked out to get a one year postdoc that's research oriented. I've also been lucky, in that I've had success publishing (3 publications in journals that are top ranked in my field... however my PhD isn't from a notable department). I've got more papers I could send out to journals. However, my worry is that if I publish too much, too soon, I might make myself look unattractive for jobs that are teaching orientated (even though I've taught a fair amount too). Might I inadvertently give the impression to search committees at teaching schools that I'm only interested in research? Honestly, I'd be perfectly happy in a dept. without big research expectations - not to mention, because my PhD isn't from top tier department, it's really unlikely I'd ever be able to land anything close to an R1 job anyhow.

What's the best approach to take?

This is an excellent question - though I'm not sure there is anything remotely like a determinate answer to it. For example, the OP notes that they already have 3 publications in journals that are top-ranked in their field. While I suspect a publication record like this may already price the OP out of some jobs--specifically, jobs at small, non-elite SLACs whose focus is on teaching--I suspect there are plenty of other non-R1s where those kinds of publications are likely to be looked upon favorably. Indeed, my sense is that research expectations and norms can differ dramatically across non-R1 jobs. So, I'm not sure there's an 'ideal publication record' for getting a non-R1 job. Rather, I suspect that something like the following rule of thumb is the best way for candidates to think: the more highly-ranked publications you get, the less you may look like a good 'fit' for a non-R1; the more lower-ranked publications you get, the more you may look like a 'good fit' for non-R1 jobs. Here's some anecdotal data for thinking this is true, and it certainly fits with my experience on the market.

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? It might be especially good to hear from people who have served on hiring committees at non-R1's, as well as from people who got jobs at non-R1's on what their publication records were like at the time they were hired!

Submitting papers that borrow from each other?

In our newest "how can we help you?" post, a reader writes:

I have a question about submitting a paper ("Paper 1") to a journal that borrows from thinking/writing in another paper ("Paper 2"). Paper 2 is under review/in manuscript form.

The situation I'm in is this: Paper 1 attempts to a solve a problem that was raised in Paper 2. But to motivate why we should care about the problem, I had to sketch the view I develop in Paper 2. I borrow heavily from my work in Paper 2 to do this, and thus there's a lot of overlap between the papers for a few pages of Paper 1. I of course tried to present the material slightly differently and with different examples, but I'm rehashing the same arguments/considerations.

I would like to submit Paper 1 to a journal as well. But I'm not sure what the norms are regarding borrowing from work in progress in cases like this. (I do mention in a footnote that I'm borrowing from other work I have.) Should I just submit and not worry about it, or should I wait or try to edit Paper 1 down a ton to *really* minimize overlap. (Again, there's only so much I can do that!)

Any thoughts very appreciated! Maybe I'm just being paranoid about the norms.

This is an excellent question, and frankly one that I've never been able to resolve very well. I suspect it's something that many early career people struggle with, particularly when it comes to publishing work from one's dissertation. The thing about dissertations, after all, is that they are usually addressing a particular problem, so different chapters may draw on similar stuff (i.e. 'set up'), and draw upon each other in different ways. Like I said, I've never developed a very good answer to the question, and I've mostly just tried to minimize overlap (not always very successfully). So I'd be very curious to hear what other readers do, and whether they have any helpful tips!

Choosing a US or non-US grad program?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, Javier writes:

I’m a MA student in a European country, studying in a university without any sort of top international recognition regarding the programs available. I did a BA in Philosophy here as well, and I have a fairly good record, some things better than others, but not an excellent one. And I have some research experience, though I’m finding it difficult to write a publishable paper. Also, a couple of scholarships.

By the end of the year, I should apply to a few doctoral programs, both in my country and outside. And I’ve been wondering about what it would mean going to the US. Reading the acceptance rates and scrolling through the profiles of PhD students in some universities makes me think it might be impossible to be accepted in a program that makes the move to another country advantageous. I would have an opportunity here, and I have a wonderful advisor, but there are limitations.

My primary motivation to go is the possibility of teaching in my area of interest, which won't happen where I am. But better pay and the possibility to work with new faces in that area are obviously in my mind as well. Also, the structure of PhD programs in the US is attractive to me, as I feel I haven't as much education as I'd like regarding either my area of interest or my development as a researcher.

There are two distinct, but related, concerns here:
1 – Is moving to a US to be part of a program that has less recognition an advantage if you are in a European program without much recognition as well, but where you might have the possibility of doing research in the long run?
2 – Are PhD students in the US always in the need to move after they end their degree?
3 – As someone with mental health issues, being in a place where there’s at least the possibility of stability is important for my ability to work. Is this a problem for international students in the US, given the lack of insurance that affects so many people there?

I know a ‘top’ program is something a bit vague. I’m considering programs like the ones usually ranked has such.

I apologize if similar questions have been asked before. As I do not have the financial ability to apply to many programs, I feel the need to be sure about at least some things before applying to any program at all. I understand I'm the only one able to answer some questions, but your personal experiences and your insights on this might help me look at some aspects that are currently on the dark for me.

Good questions! Two readers submitted replies. One reader writes:

You write that "it might be impossible to be accepted in a program that makes the move to another country advantageous." All the top phd programs have students from all over the world. I wouldn't worry about this. Regarding some of your other concerns, my personal opinion is that it's not worth going to a program that is not top ranked. Even top programs might not be worth it if getting a job is your concern. (See the recent job market post here to get a sense of what the philosophy job market is like.)

Elisa Freschi then wrote:

I am not sure about why you don't mention the alternatives, but perhaps they are worth considering? For instance, the world is not just made up of Europe and the US (there are attractive philosophy programs also in Canada, Australia, Singapore…). And some of these places have public health coverage, so that you would not need to worry about 3), while at the same time having the needs you mention under 2) (=new faces, new challenges…) covered. You might also consider moving somewhere else within Europe. A final comment, which Marcus or others here may rectify, since I just moved to North America: If you apply to a US job from a low-ranked US program, the committee may assume they know what is your value (low). If you come from Europe (etc.), they will just not know. This can be an advantage.

I disagree with the first reader that it's not worth going to a program that is not top ranked. Back in 2017, the ADPA Report found that some low-ranked and unranked programs have significantly better overall academic job-placement rates than high-ranked program. If I were in the OP's position, I think I would want to enter a program with a good placement rate where I think I would flourish - and given how competitive top-ranked programs are, it might well be that the OP would flourish more at a less competitive place. However, being an American, I'm inclined to think that the OP's second and third issues may be more relevant. First, yes, virtually all PhD students in the US need to move after the PhD - often multiple times for temporary academic jobs. Second, as we all know, the US is not the best place to be for health insurance. Are grad students covered for insurance by their employer? Honestly, grad school was so long ago that I don't remember - and anyway health insurance has changed a lot since I graduated.

Anyway, it might be good to hear from people 'in the know' - that is, from other international grad students who chose to get their PhD in different places (the US, Europe, Asia, etc.). If you were in a similar position as the OP, what choice did you make, and would you recommend it given the OP's situation? Why/why not?

Grappling with student complaints?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

I am in a TT contract in a NA university (but I did not study nor leave in NA before). The head of my department recently let me know that two students had complained with him about me. The reason is trivial: I wrote in a tweet "I am reading a student's paper and I would like to share some reflections…". The reflections were very general and had to do with the profession in general (use of philosophical jargon, i.e., something we ALL do). The students thought I was publicly criticizing one of them.

Between the lines, I understood that they are among my advanced students, with whom I was confident to have built a good relationship and whom I had offered hours and hours of "counselling" in this horrible year. I am heartbroken that they did not feel confident enough to reach out to me first before calling or emailing the head of the department. I do not know how to get back to normal, I oscillate between anger and despair (yes, the year has been hard for me too!).

One reader submitted the following frank reply:

You should not tweet about student work ... or imply your tweets are inspired by student work. It is inappropriate. Almost everything on twitter is inappropriate. I hope you can sort this out, but stop tweeting.

While I think frank responses like these can be important to hear, I also think that because this is supposed to be a supportive blog I'd like to try to be a bit more supportive than that. So, with an eye to a little solidarity with the OP, I'll be honest: like many people (or so I suspect), I made a few errors early in my career that got me into a bit of trouble. Each case stressed me the hell out, and I worried that I'd destroyed my career or whatever. Fortunately, my spouse counseled me to avoid that kind of catastrophizing, assuring me that things would blow over - and sure enough, they did. The crucial things, I think, are to realize that we're all human and to learn to avoid making similar mistakes in the future.

Tenure standards for research at a public university w/o a philosophy grad program?

A reader writes in:

At a public university without a graduate program in Philosophy, but in a College and University with high expectations for research and scholarship, what are the expectations of junior faculty coming up for tenure about the number of publications in good journals? My sense is about 1 a year, so that in the 6th year, the candidate has 4-5 good publications. My sense is that talks at professional meetings or works in progress or under review do not count officially as research productivity. Does everyone agree?

This is a great query, and I'm really curious to hear from readers who work at a university similar to the OP's. What are tenure standards in research at your university?

Being on the job market: some application statistics & takeaways (by Michael Walschots)

Hi Everyone,

My name is Michael Walschots and I’m a postdoc in philosophy currently at the University of Würzburg, Germany, working primarily in ethics and the history of philosophy (eighteenth-century philosophy, Kant). I’m participating in this year’s installment of the Cocoon mentoring program (which I’ve found to be extremely helpful) and Marcus has kindly invited me to share some information about my experience on the job market that has arisen from my chats with my mentor. One of the reasons I signed up for the mentoring program was to get an outside perspective on my profile as a job candidate to see if there are things I might do to improve my chances on the market and also to get general advice on whether there are things about my profile/my application documents that might be contributing to the relatively low success I’ve had so far. Something my mentor encouraged me to do right away was to take stock of my job application statistics (where I applied each year, what kind of jobs they were, whether I was successful or not, etc.) to get a sense of where I was having success and where I wasn’t, and thereby help me get a more realistic picture of the jobs that are within my reach, and which are not. It’s these statistics that I’d like to share with you in this guest post.

A few notes before I list the numbers:

1) My main purpose is not to complain or despair about the state of the market (despite my temptation to do so). Nor am I trying to throw a pity party. My main purpose is to provide a window into what the job market has been like for me so that: a) others with similar, or indeed different, profiles have a point of comparison, b) people who are earlier in their careers than I am can get a sense of what they might expect in the years to come, and c) so that those who are not currently on the market can see exactly what things are like for job candidates.

2) On the one hand, these numbers are really only relevant to me personally because they concern jobs that are relevant to my AOSs/AOCs (I’ve mainly applied for ethics/history jobs). And my relative success (or lack thereof) presumably has to do with my particular profile, at least in part (if you’d like to get a sense of my academic record, you’re welcome to visit my website: https://mhwalschots.wordpress.com/).* Someone at the same career stage with a more prestigious PhD, more publications in better places, etc. would of course have different results. On the other hand, I think there are a number of general lessons to be drawn from my experience and I hope that this can be helpful for others, if only it encourages them to take stock of their own application statistics themselves so that they, too, might get a realistic picture of their experience.

*I should also say that I have put in a considerable amount of effort to make sure that my application documents themselves are in the best possible shape. I’ve consulted with numerous colleagues and mentors to get feedback on my CV, cover letters, teaching dossier documents etc. I’m sure there is still room for improvement, but at this point it would shock me if these things alone have been a main contributing factor to my relatively low success.

Some things to note about how I’ve compiled the data:

1) Although this is probably self-explanatory, a job cycle approximately ranges from the fall of one year to late spring of the next year, for jobs starting the following fall. My Ph.D. was granted in Feb. 2016 and I first officially went on the market the fall before defending, so the first job cycle of my statistics is 2015-16.

2) I have classified the kinds of jobs I applied for somewhat artificially into 3 categories: TT (tenure-track) is any permanent job, so includes UK lecturerships; LTA (limited term appointment) are all contractually limited (often primary teaching) jobs; and Postdocs (which can range in number of years and teaching requirements, which I haven’t specified).

3) Sometimes postdocs are offered without interviews, in case you’re wondering why numbers in those categories don’t add up.

4) My application patterns change pretty drastically (as you might expect). Years when I have a secure position the following year, I rarely, if ever, apply for temporary positions for that following year and only apply for permanent jobs or longer-term postdocs.

5) It’s possible that I applied for even more positions than the ones documented here. I tend to keep good records, though, and these numbers represent the jobs I still have records for.

With this out of the way, here are the statistics from my experience on the job market over the last 6 job cycles (including this cycle).

Grappling with interpersonal discouragement?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

I'd benefit a lot from discussions of graduate students dealing with interpersonally discouraging experiences (e.g. a faculty underestimated them, treated them differently compared to others, being mistaken as someone else, etc). My colleague and I (both women) struggle with feeling discouraged from experiences like those, and I'd be curious if minority philosophers feel this way more often. Do people have coping strategies?

This is a really good and important query, and I am sorry to hear that the OP and her colleague are feeling so discouraged. I grappled with discouragement from some interpersonal experiences early in my career, and frankly I didn't deal with it very well: I isolated myself from others and turned to all kinds of non-academic distractions. The only things that helped me through it were finding a support group (which I found in a supportive dissertation reading group) and working hard to become a better philosopher (which made me feel more competent as my work seemed to improve). But I'm don't know how helpful these experiences are for readers in the OP's situation. 

What do you all think? Have you had interpersonally discouraging experiences in graduate school? If so, have you found any good coping strategies? Any strategies that didn't work (or otherwise backfired)? Following the OP's suggestion, I think it could be good to hear from readers in general, but particularly from minority philosophers.

What is it like to work as a philosopher in South Korea?

This is the twenty-first installment of The Cocoon Goes Global, a series that gives a sense of what the philosophy profession looks like outside of the Anglophone West. After a brief hiatus, we are very pleased to start this series again and we hope to basically keep going. If you live in a non-anglophone country and work as a philosopher in higher education, and would like to be featured, please get in touch.

This guest post is written by Natalja Deng who is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Underwood International College, Yonsei University, Seoul/Incheon, South Korea. 

South Korea is a pretty amazing place. It’s got a fascinating history, a vibrant ancient and contemporary culture, a great standard of living, and a language that’s difficult but also rather fun to try to learn. I’ve lived here for four years and I’ve barely scratched the surface of all there is to discover.

SK’s population is around 52 million. Of these, 25 million live in the Seoul Capital Area, which comprises Seoul itself (10 million), Incheon (second syllable rhymes with ‘won’), and Gyeonggi Province. The number of expats is relatively small but steadily rising; in 2019, there were 2.5 million. SK has one of the largest American expat populations (over 100,000).

About half the population is affiliated with a religion; most are Christian (about 28%) or Buddhist (about 15%). Apparently, Shamanism (a set of practices based on the belief that the natural world is animated by spirits) also continues to exert an influence, though my only first-hand experience of this has been hearing Shamanism-related chanting while hiking on Inwangsan, one of the many, lovely mountains/hills in and around Seoul. Confucianism’s influence, on the other hand, is tangible. A form of Confucianism was the state ideology during the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) and it has left numerous traces in Korean society.

One legacy of Confucianism is a strong emphasis on education. This includes an intense focus on exam results and getting into what are perceived to be the best universities. The university entrance exam (‘suneung’) is famously exhausting to prepare for. High-school students typically study round the clock for months or even years. More generally, competition is a facet of many aspects of life in Korea.

Addressing a gap year due to COVID?

A reader writes in:

My guess is that many are in similar positions, so I’d like to ask:

I think I won’t get an academic job this round. So far I applied for 70+ jobs, got longlisted 4 times, and shortlisted once. I have an acceptable record, like 3 publications in Leiter’s top 20, and a decent amount of highly-rated teaching. I don’t think I’ll have more publications or teaching this year, as I don’t have time to do anything in academics given financial pressures since mid 2020, roughly when I received my degree.

Will the fact that circumstances prevent me from making my CV more attractive after one year of graduation put me at a huge disadvantage on the job market next round? Or will search committees take into consideration pandemic circumstances and not take a blank year on one’s CV as a bad signal? Should I say something about this on my cover letter? Or is that my record is simply not good enough, and there’s not much hope for me anyway, since the job market won’t get anywhere better?

These are really good questions. I'm not sure what the answers are. I do expect that search committee members will notice this kind of 'gap year' on your CV. What I'm not sure is how they will treat it, especially given the reality of COVID, or whether the OP should mention it in a cover letter. Personally, I'm inclined to think it is probably best to not draw any additional attention to the gap, as I'm not sure that it would help. I also think that search committees generally want to interview and hire the candidates they take to be best for the job. So, if (like the OP), you already have a strong publishing and teaching record, I'm not sure a gap year will hurt much. Each job market year is unique, and the OP could do better on the market next year than this year depending on how many jobs are advertised in their area. Indeed, given that the end of the pandemic appears to be in sight due to vaccines, it's entirely possible that there will be more jobs advertised in the OP's AOS/AOC next year than this year. So, who knows: maybe they'll have more luck next year. Their overall record sounds strong, and this was a uniquely terrible year. 

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours?