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[sunanoonna]

I have heard about married academics sometimes getting "shared" positions, each one .5 of a full position. Can someone tell me more about how this works? Are both of these positions tenure track? Does the .5 refer to both the teaching and the pay? Do people actually live on one combined salary? Does the .5 increase over time? Do both people have to be in the same department? Thanks... I'm confused about the whole thing.

[neutralname]

The prior question is "do shared positions work?"  The answer is often no. 

[sunanoonna]

Why? What happens?

[neutralname]

I've had 2 sets of friends try to do shared positions, and they have found it very challenging.  They nominally each have a half-position, so the two add up to one.  But in fact, each person ends up doing more work than half.  They are often both expected to attend meetings.  They get worried about tenure criteria, and so both partners feel like they have to publish as much as a full time person, especially if they may need to get a job elsewhere.  So basically it ends up being just about a full time job for each person, yet on pay for one person.  Often they need to find additional work to make ends meet.  In both cases, the couples found alternative arrangements pretty soon, because they didn't like the situation.

[dismal_sci]

Maybe you have seen this discussion of a shared position at Grinnell.

http://web.grinnell.edu/individuals/montgome/Shared.htm

[americanist]

I saw this happen up close once. A couple applied for a senior position, asking to be considered for a shared position. Throughout the interview process, they kept arguing that we would be getting two for the price of one, etc. Then we made them an offer, at which point they switched tack and insisted on two salaries, two research budgets, etc. The dean was so pissed we nearly lost the hire altogether. They eventually worked it out, but there was a lot of ill will, and I doubt the university would have been amenable to hiring others for "shared" positions for a good while after that, if ever.

[ellyn]

I saw this happen up close once. A couple applied for a senior position, asking to be considered for a shared position. Throughout the interview process, they kept arguing that we would be getting two for the price of one, etc. Then we made them an offer, at which point they switched tack and insisted on two salaries, two research budgets, etc. The dean was so pissed we nearly lost the hire altogether. They eventually worked it out, but there was a lot of ill will, and I doubt the university would have been amenable to hiring others for "shared" positions for a good while after that, if ever.

You still wanted to hire them after that?