Academic researchers need more help navigating critical “stress points” in their careers, including the years leading up to tenure decisions and retirement, say participants in a two-day workshop being held here this week by the National Academy of Sciences.
The workshop, organized by the academy’s Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, was designed to serve as a “brainstorming discussion” to identify potential changes in university policies and approaches to crucial career moments, said Kevin Finneran, the committee’s director. The event’s speakers, he said, include researchers, professors, center directors, and administrators who can discuss problems from different perspectives.
“We have to make sure we’re not undermining our own goals by having management practices and rules and regulations that make people unhappy,” Mr. Finneran said, “and drive people away from scientific research careers.”
Richard N. Zare, a chemistry professor at Stanford University and the committee’s chair, said that the current academic career arc relies on an outdated model in which academics work full time until they retire, sometimes then losing all connection to an institution.
The career arc should be tailored to allow faculty members to take breaks—to have children, start a company, or take care of aging parents—so that the academics can “refuel” before they return, Mr. Zare said.
“When the system of universities was set up, the faculty was all male, all white,” Mr. Zare said in his remarks to workshop participants on Monday. “That doesn’t describe this country anymore, and we have to get with it.”
To deal with the increased need for flexibility in the academic career path, Mr. Zare suggested re-evaluating the institution of tenure. Discussions about changing tenure can be “taboo,” he acknowledged, because many people fear its loss would restrict their academic freedom.
To replace the traditional tenure model, Mr. Zare proposed longtime, not lifetime, appointments that would assure the traditional advantages of tenure and would allow for longer periods of time away from a campus. Long-term appointments would create more “family friendly” career arcs in which faculty members could temporarily step off the academic track, Mr. Zare said.
Keeping Retirees Connected
Among panelists who are expected to speak on Tuesday about new approaches to helping researchers at key career points is Janette C. Brown, executive director of both the University of Southern California’s Emeriti Center and the Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education.
The Emeriti Center aims to maintain the connection between retired faculty members and the university. For example, retirees can present programs and teach through the Emeriti Center College, and they retain library privileges and technology support. The university also connects deans with retirees and organizes events with speakers across generations.
Keeping professors connected with academic institutions benefits both parties, especially as faculty members are working more years, she said. Centers like hers allow academics to contribute “in meaningful ways” on a campus, she said. Pre-retirement programs, including mentoring to help professors make the transition to the ends of their careers, also help faculty members feel more confident in their decisions to retire, knowing they can continue parts of their life’s work.
“Many professors are still in love with what they do and are fearful of leaving the academy,” Ms. Brown said.
Mr. Finneran, the committee director, said the workshop organizers had sought to attack the problems facing academic researchers across the arc of their careers in a holistic way, discussing each stage’s issues in the context of others’. Mr. Finneran said the committee expected to publish a summary of the workshop discussions in the coming months.