By Joya Misra and Jennifer Lundquist. Is there an academic midlife crisis? Although associate professors have successfully navigated challenging straits to find a permanent faculty position, the irony is that many are even more dissatisfied than they were pretenure. It is true that job satisfaction is lower at midcareer outside of academe as well; however, the midcareer gully is particularly deep for faculty. Read more...
Too many PhDs, not enough tenured positions
By Holly Else. The oversupply of PhD holders in Europe is causing “considerable dissatisfaction and stress” for researchers on temporary contracts, according to a report by the European Science Foundation. More...
Beyond the Professoriate was a success
By Jennifer Polk. I co-hosted an online conference earlier this month, with Maren Wood: The 2nd Annual Beyond the Professoriate. What fun! What learning! The conference reaffirmed for me that PhDs working in non-faculty positions are enjoying all kinds of wonderful, fascinating, and meaningful careers. More...
Higher-ed execs prioritize career outcomes
Improving how institutions track career outcomes has emerged as the highest priority for senior executives of online and professional higher education programs, according to the annual Future of Online and Professional Education Survey from EAB. More...
"Low Hanging Fruit" for Respecting Adjuncts
By John Warner. A recently published study, “Supporting the Academic Majority: Policies and Practices Related to Part-Time Faculty’s Job Satisfaction,” revealed that while the vast majority of adjunct faculty suffer from underemployment, one of the things they most want is “respect.”
No one who has been an adjunct or involved with issues of adjunct labor was surprised by the findings. A career as full-time “contingent” as opposed to part-time “adjunct” faculty at four different schools, I know the experience of working with and without respect from the institution and the people within it, and it makes a significant difference. Read more...
Science careers: doomed at the outset
By . Has it become harder for graduate students to thrive, and are our best potential scientists giving up on academia. More...
An Adjunct’s Farewell
By David J. McCowin. I am an adjunct (part-time) instructor. As such, I receive drastically less pay than full-time faculty members, and I receive zero benefits. Assumption College pays me $3,500 per course, which is more than many other institutions pay. But “more,” in this case, is still not even close to “good.” According to my own conservative calculations, I devote roughly 220 hours to every course I teach – including construction, delivery, administration, and evaluation – which means that my compensation equates to $15.91 per hour (less at other colleges). At Assumption, the department for which I teach typically has very few courses available for adjuncts (at other institutions, the number of adjunct-taught courses is often far higher), so I have never taught more than two courses per semester there. More...
Recommended Hashtag: #AcademicNovel
Among the entries at #AcademicNovel: "I'm Still Grading at Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil," "The Brothers Karamazofficehours," "Bonfire of the Humanities" and "No Country For Old Men; or, The Committee Prefers a Younger Candidate." Some entries just add a subtitle to an existing title, as in "Invisible Man: The Story of an Adjunct." Read more...
Promotions, mutations I.T.R.F.
3 Ways to Think About Your Annual Performance Review
By Joshua Kim. Today is the day that I will be having a conversation with my boss about my annual performance review. So this upcoming discussion is much on my mind.
How do you think about, and prepare for, your annual review? What sorts of review methods and processes have you found the most helpful in your career. Read more...