next »

[50+]

I received my terminal degree one year ago.  I have a job in a public school system but would like to relocate to another area and get a professorship at a college or university.  I am a 52 year old female.  Am I being unrealistic?  I have teaching experience and excellent qualifications.

[HV]

I got my first tenure-track job at 52.  Due to wishing to find a decent college, I've obtained two other tenure-track jobs since.  I doubt that you can get a job at Harvard, but state and community college jobs are within your grasp.  If you teach an "applied" field like education, social work, or nursing, your chances are even better.  You may be able to get a job at the associate professor level in one of those fields based on work experience.  My field is not applied, but I still have not had any trouble finding a job.  I have always been careful to publish, get good teaching evals, and do service.  Publications really can open the door by distinguishing you from the field, even at teaching colleges.

[50+]

Thanks so much for posting.  I am getting ready to send out my first batch of applications and was secretly wondering if this would really be a moot point.    I have no Ivy aspirations but would like a tenure track position.  It helps me immensely to know that it is indeed possible.

[plasticeneporter]

50+, we had 3 new (female) faculty members, each one over the age of 50,  join our college. Two of them had taken at least a decade off to raise their children. All had been employed in public schools, completed their terminal degrees in areas that we were hiring in at the time, and had something interesting about them that appealed to our search committees.  In addition, they presented themselves as knowledgeable, enthusiastic candidates. I would urge you to apply; don't let your age discourage you from doing so. My guess is that you have a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience to share with your future students and colleagues. Good luck!

[50+]

Thank you so much for the encouragement.  I appreciate your words more than you can know.

[another 50]

a friend got a job at 58 as a prof. took a cut in pay as univ pay less than school system...good luck...univ need your experience..just keep your areas of rsearch new and relevant (my friend's research was more cutting edge than her 40 yr old colleagues)

[40P]

Another 50 gives very good advice - merit trumps age.  This is KEY because subtle age-discrimination can enter the equation when the search committee/department discussing the "energy" or "research timeliness" of an applicant.

[Responder]

There is age bias though actually it makes no sense. Someone who got a recent PhD at a late age is obviously different from someone who got one 20 years ago (and in the latter case you can look at what they did recently - in academia all is revealed: publications, teaching evals etc.). And the risk to the school is lower, because tenure probably means a shorter period that they are committing to in practice the older the candidate.

[positive vibes]

Please consider that you have a wealth of life experience combined with recent credentials. Many people can claim one of these advantages, but not both.

Your commitment to higher ed is a carefully considered decision, I would imagine, and you are not just "trying it out" to see if it suits you.

You have many strengths. Leverage them.

pv