Last year at this time I noted that deferred retirements were having a significant impact on the job market, in that many planned positions never materialized. Indeed, in some cases, a deferred retirement by an advanced full professor may block two entry-level positions because of the budgetary impact.
While the retirements seem to be returning to a more normal pace, I have noted a new dynamic in the market this year that has created another problem for entry-level applicants: the emergence of advanced applicants.
With so many institutions in financial turmoil, many experienced faculty members are open to pursuing new opportunities elsewhere. As I have advised search committees on my campus and on others, I have been amazed at how many fine applicants have been at very advanced assistant-professor status or even associate rank. When a committee compares a candidate who will graduate this May and has no full-time teaching experience or scholarly production against someone who has, say, four years of teaching experience, a track record of research success, and other proven abilities, it’s hard for the entry-level person to compete except in the purely financial realm of being cheaper to hire. I have seen many entry-level candidates who would be slam-dunk hires in previous years languishing on the market because there are so many other candidates looking this year. As one entry-level candidate complained, “It’s hard to be optimistic about landing a job when I find out that one of my professors from my alma mater was also a candidate for the positions for which I’ve applied.”
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5 Responses to An Ever-Expanding Market Glut
john_drake - March 29, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Tenured faculty members have always been free to pursue opportunities elsewhere, and there have been advanced candidates on the market in English for years. How is this year significantly different?
watermarkup - March 29, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Tenured faculty members have not always been forced to pursue opportunities elsewhere, and advanced candidates have not always had to scramble for any position anywhere to avoid losing their careers. The difference isn’t hard to figure out.
megannelson - March 30, 2010 at 10:24 am
Although I am not surprised that financial instability has pushed tenure-track faculty onto the job market in the last couple of years, I am skeptical that they are elbowing graduate students out of all of the jobs (or even most of them). In my experience on hiring committees and in the market, Hot Young Things often have an edge because they are all about potential, which can be more appealing (and perhaps less threatening as well?) to committees than a scholar with an established track record.
11161452 - March 30, 2010 at 4:48 pm
I agree with #3, for all the reasons the commenter lists, and also the relatively cheap price tag. I wonder how soon committees will be asking for “salary requirements” as part of the application, as schools already do for staff personnel.
frenchgirl - March 31, 2010 at 2:52 am
Yes, one of my friends is an advanced asst. prof at a good R1 and has published a great deal in top journals and with excellent presses over the past few years. She is, one would think, in an excellent position to secure an even better position at a research university this year. Not so, it turns out. Universities have either passed her by entirely or interviewed her and then hired someone fresh out of grad school, or even ABD, instead. She may come with a lengthy CV, but I think administrators are more interested in saving money right now. Of course, years ago when she interviewed for jobs, she was passed over in favor of more advanced candidates. So it seems as though the tables have turned a bit and it is now, perhaps, harder than before to make a move in, say, year 3 or 4 of the tenure track.