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[lotsoquestions]

Regarding the "retirement tsunami," the day I showed up at my R1 institution to defend my dissertation, there were posters all over the corridors announcing the NINETIETH BIRTHDAY PARTY of a dearly loved emeritus professor who was proudly still teaching!  Hooray, hooray.  Isn't that lovely?  I remember defending my dissertation and thinking to myself, "This is so pointless.  Obviously no one ever retires and I am NEVER going to get a job . . . "  I pity the poor fools who waited year after year after year for that fellow to retire so that the position would open up for themselves, their spouses who had followed them there, their spouses who were currently living and working across the country just until a job opened up, etc. etc. etc.

[charlie_11]

charlie,


I am sorry to hear of your difficult situation as an adjunct and truly sympathize with you, as I am also an adjunct. From what I gather from your post, here are some of my thoughts.



2. You should think LONG AND HARD before committing yourself to a Ph.D. program. I tell my students that if they are able to answer YES to the following questions, then perhaps they should continue to look into it:
A. Do you love your subject/discipline greatly and want to learn more about it, just for the sake of learning?
B. Are you willing to spend the next 5-8 years, working very hard and making sacrifices?
C. Are you willing to accept the distinct possibility that you may not obtain the Ph.D. despite your hard work, since attrition rates in Ph.D. programs can be quite high?
D. Assuming that you obtain the Ph.D., are you willing to accept the possibility that you will not receive a tenure-track position in academia (and hence, you might end up adjuncting again)?


I wish you the best of luck for your future.


Mathguy

Thanks Mathguy and everyone else. Actually, I got a lot less negativity than I expected, especially considering the tone of my post--pretty negative. (I searched frantically for a way to delete it afterwards.) I don't know if it's a good thing, but I can answer 'yes' to all of the questions, of which I have seen many versions on these fora. I have been thinking about the Phd for years, and preparing and I am eager to sacrifice for it. That's why I have been teaching, but I have come to terms with the fact that something needs to change now. I know that one of my work situations has been very volatile and I am not the only one affected. I appreciate you wonderful people supporting me.