next »

[tee_bee]

There are a few independent scholars out there who are successful, but they are distinct minority.  Mostly, independent scholars are not very good scholars, and if there is a pecking order, then they are at the bottom.

Yes. In my field, "independent scholar" usually equals "flake." Sorry. I said usually--there are exceptions, but not enough to overcome the impression--based on hard experience--that "independent scholars" or "consultants" (sort of the same thing in my field) are academic misfits. I am not saying this is the OP's situation, but it's a hard perception to overcome.

And, with a "couple of a articles" and a book manuscript, there's not much of a record here to build on. This sounds like a retirement gig, not a career.

And, if you'rein the humanities, God help you--or, perhaps, charity.

[i_do_not_have_a_phd]

Mostly, independent scholars are not very good scholars, and if there is a pecking order, then they are at the bottom.

Um...

If they're making money, they have a one-up on you. It's actually interesting, in speaking with people who make s***loads of cash, seeing how little they care about 'pecking orders' or being 'good' in their fields.

If you reach people, you reach people. If you don't, well--welcome to the ivory tower.

[i_do_not_have_a_phd]

Yes. In my field, "independent scholar" usually equals "flake." Sorry. I said usually--there are exceptions, but not enough to overcome the impression--based on hard experience--that "independent scholars" or "consultants" (sort of the same thing in my field) are academic misfits. I am not saying this is the OP's situation, but it's a hard perception to overcome.

Keep in mind that value judgments are constructed by the culture in which they are applied. Academia is MOST DEFINITELY a culture in itself. A 'flake' in academia could be a superstar to the rest of the world. A 'consultant' might just have more people-skills than those who are locked too deep inside their own heads/disciplines. Therefore they might be of more use to society in general. Therefore they might get paid more. Nothing to be jealous of; you could do the same thing, if you'd get over your complex.

Really not hard to understand.

[alleyoxenfree]

If you need to stay where you are until you can get another source of income lined up, a couple of things I have seen work for others are to leave your small town as frequently as possible, for whatever reason.  Cut your expenses to the bone so you can afford air fare to visit friends, see museums, go mountain biking, whatever you need to rejuvenate yourself.

As for your teaching, do some radical shaking up.  See if you can trade some courses.  Or assign some new out-there books, assignments, go on a field trip, add a service-learning angle, do anything possible to entertain yourself.  It is also possible to do the same old thing so you have less prep and I am not suggesting too much new prep, unless you think that would let you dive in and divert yourself.  Just take some changes with new things since you might leave anyway. 

Look around the job market and see what you might be interested in doing for a buck (assuming you aren't independently wealthy).  If segueing to another area of teaching, make sure your courses fit those areas.  If some kind of non-profit or for-profit, see if you can connect those to your current teaching.  You'll get a charge out of knowing you are going in a new direction, while finishing this up.

Do the other things recommended on the fora for depression, as they also apply to second-year fatigue.

[larryc]

In history I know of some absolutely top notch independent scholars.

[marigolds]

In history I know of some absolutely top notch independent scholars.

Yep, there are some in English too.  In fact, one I'm thinking of was in academia for a long time and left because he wanted to write books that more than 300 people would read.  And boy, has he succeeded.  (And his 'popular' books show up regularly on comps lists, too!) 

[farm_boy]

And then there are those of us who have been miserable failures both inside and outside of academia.  But just wait until retirement--THAT'S where I'm going to shine!

[arizona]

In history I know of some absolutely top notch independent scholars.

Yep, there are some in English too.  In fact, one I'm thinking of was in academia for a long time and left because he wanted to write books that more than 300 people would read.  And boy, has he succeeded.  (And his 'popular' books show up regularly on comps lists, too!) 

Who? Who?

[educator1]

The best advice for the OP is highly dependent on the field. In some areas all of the research "action" is in the university setting and the OP will be straining significantly to earn a living as an "independent scholar".
In my field, an independent consultant or researcher in industry can easily out-perform a beginning tt individual financially and not have to teach.
The best advice in this thread is to research your options and have a workable Plan B before you give up a revenue stream, unless you are independently wealthy. In that case, if you don't like teaching, get out immediately for your sake and the sake of your students!

[aandsdean]

In history I know of some absolutely top notch independent scholars.

Yep, there are some in English too.  In fact, one I'm thinking of was in academia for a long time and left because he wanted to write books that more than 300 people would read.  And boy, has he succeeded.  (And his 'popular' books show up regularly on comps lists, too!) 

Who? Who?

How many "independent scholars" in the humanities and social sciences make more than, say, $60,000 per year as a result of their scholarship?

I'm going to bet that the total, complete, in the entire U.S., is less than 1,000.

And that doesn't even count self-employment tax.

I spend a huge amount of my time in bookstores.  I used to spend basically my entire free time in them.  Look at the shelves.  They are the tomb of the dreams of tens of thousands of scholars. 

For every Gertrude Himmelfarb, Carolly Erickson, Antonia Fraser, or the like, there are 15,000 people waiting tables while they pursue their "independent scholarship."

In the humanities, places like the Huntington Library won't even LET YOU IN if you don't have an institutional affiliation.

[post_functional]

Good advice.  I quit after getting tenure, out of "principle."

I found that "principle" doesn't pay well, and that no one wants to hire a troublemaker.

I bounced around (factory work, public school teaching) and now at 50 I'm on a one-year contract as Instructor at 30 grand.  But I'm fairly happy, considering.

Wow.  As Snoopy once observed, make one mistake and you pay for it the rest of your life.

[mathspice]

I think trying to move now would be a giant red flag.  

You need to stick around at least a few years in order to show that you can play well with others.  

I suggest staying put for a while, and publishing your @ss off.  While you plot your escape, you should do your best to do the things you need to do to get tenure.

FWIW, it is normal to be exhausted in your second year.

Sounds like what I did at my former cc. It felt good to leave on my own terms (not the trouble the OP is having, but it's what I did) and with a back-up plan. I told myself that if I was still unhappy at my next cc, I'd consider a new career entirely.

[tolerantly]

OP -- I'm talking to you as a writer who doesn't teach and doesn't want to. Do not jump if you have significant debt, including student debt. By "significant" I mean more than, say, $3-5K. Get rid of that first if you're serious, because your new lifestyle will not support debt payments.

Here's what you need if you're serious:

-Extremely low overhead (best if you have no rent or mortgage to pay)
-Access to inexpensive good out-of-pocket health insurance (you'll need to be very careful about how you play this so you don't wind up with an individual policy; that'll stab you on portability when you make your next jump)
-A good head for math (so that you don't screw yourself on taxes)
-The ability either to live on air or to generate $40-50/hr freelance reliably, more if you live in an expensive area
-Multiple income streams so that you don't wind up in serious trouble if one job disappears

I write while raising a kid in middle-class style in a relatively inexpensive part of the country on about $35K/yr. That entails doing significant commercial freelance work that I don't like, but which pays well; having a rental property (which will take care of much of the housing overhead when it's paid off a few years from now, but will also cause more tax headaches at that time); having child support that contributes about a quarter of the total; access to excellent health insurance (out of pocket); and always, always, always keeping an eye on the taxes. It's still a very bumpy road. Sometimes I get long stretches of time to myself; other times I'm pulling multiple all-nighters per week to hit clients' deadlines, and I get none of my own work done. There's also far more uncertainty than most people are willing to live with. You guys get contracts that run a year; I never know if I've got work three months down the line, and sometimes there are long stretches of unemployment. When the economy tanked in '08, it was bad news here; clients died, others were too scared to move, and I had no work at all for five months. When the work turned back on, it was completely out of the blue, and for all I know it'll stop again tomorrow

My expectation is that my own writing will never generate significant income. Unless you go in with that expectation, or you're rich, I think you're asking for trouble.

[tolerantly]

Oh, forgot to add -- I also bother to maintain an institutional affiliation if I'm writing nonfiction. Staff or student affiliation, doesn't matter, except that one costs minor money and the other doesn't. But if you're writing nonfiction or scholarly stuff and you can't wear a badge that says "______ University", you're out there naked, and that's no good. Besides, you need the library/journal access.

[yellowtractor]

I don't know why Post_Functional revived this old thread, especially since the OP never returned.

I do, though, want to add that having myself spent several years as an independent scholar, freelancer, and/or adjunct before returning to full-time tenure-track teaching, I think Tolerantly's two posts are the best on this aspect of the subject that we've seen in quite some time.

I wish there were some way to cross-list relevant posts in other forums, in this case "Leaving Academia."