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[catguy]

I'm a humanities Ph.D. on the market. My partner is in her first year of a top-ranked masters' program that requires her to reapply at the Ph.D. phase (that will happen in her second year--next year).  Should I receive an offer this year, is there any precedent for trying to negotiate some kind of preferential consideration process for my partner in the Ph.D. program at the school that might make an offer to me? We are trying to stay together geographically, and several of the programs that have shortlisted me have excellent programs in her field.

[carebearstare]

I have never heard of this happening, but that doesn't mean you couldn't give it a shot. However, some random thoughts:

1) Are the dept. you would be hired in and the dept. your partner would be a student in the same college? The dean might be able to play a role if so, but this all depends on the culture of the university, the power of the dean, and the autonomy of the departments.

2) How competitive is the program she would be applying for? How competitive is she as an applicant? If she has a good chance at getting in anyway--of her own merit, without your strings--then that is a good sign. But I wouldn't count on it necessarily.

3) What will happen when she completes her PhD--will she be planning to get an academic job in the area? If so, will you also be planning to move at that point? If the place you are applying is one where you think you might like to make your career (keeping in mind, of course, that you can never *really* know these things), then the likelihood of her being hired there from a PhD program is almost zero.

4) Might it make more sense for you to get a job offer, see where you land, and then have her make her decision about where to apply for a doctoral program at that point? Because the timeline of searches and the timeline for doctoral program admissions are very similar, by the time you know where you land, the schools will have already made offers to doctoral students. If the program is competitive, there might not be space or funding for her. But if you have a job there, and are on campus, it's much more likely that you could assess the situation and build the kind of relationships that might facilitate her admittance the next year.  

[macaroon]

3) What will happen when she completes her PhD--will she be planning to get an academic job in the area? If so, will you also be planning to move at that point? If the place you are applying is one where you think you might like to make your career (keeping in mind, of course, that you can never *really* know these things), then the likelihood of her being hired there from a PhD program is almost zero.

This is a huge consideration - the two of you need to have a long, long talk about your careers and your relationship.  It is extremely hard for one person in the humanities to get a tenure track position, and the likelihood that two will find jobs in the same geographic area is extremely small.   If there is anything other than a PhD that your partner would like to try, now is a great time to explore those options.

Also, you use the word "partner".   While universities vary on their definition of "domestic partner", very, very few are willing to accommodate someone who is at the "girlfriend" or "boyfriend" stage of their relationship.  Would you be asking the university to make a bigger commitment to your partner than you are willing to make to one another?  And you say you are only "trying" to stay together.  Are you committed to "staying together"?    If you aren't committed to one another, and you aren't committed to staying together, you'll come to the negotiating table in a very weak position. 

[janewales]

Catguy, I can tell you that my own humanities department would be very reluctant. Your partner would need to be competitive in hu's own right and the timing would have to match our application/ funding cycles. We don't have the money to be flexible outside those limitations-- we can't conjure up a support package for special circumstances, and we don't accept doctoral students whom we can't fund well. Other disciplines may vary-- but I'd second the idea that this is a good time to think long and hard about what it means to go down the two-body road. Spousals are so hard to do in so many institutions and disciplines. And even if the two of you, in the future, achieve the holy grail and get two tt jobs somewhere-- there's no guarantee it will be somewhere you like. I have a friend in this situation -- hu hates the institution, the department, the town-- but can't move, because it's so, so hard to get two jobs in the first place.

I wish you all the best.

[t_r_b]

Does your partner really want to choose her PhD program on the basis of where you get a job?

Does your partner really want to be known in her PhD program as the one who got in because her partner demanded it as a condition of the hire?

If the answer to those questions is yes, then another question presents itself: just how serious is your partner about an academic career?

[verbena]

I'd be very surprised if there were any precedent, but who knows? Maybe <insert star prof in the humanities here> managed it in 1987. Certainly if you get a job offer you should raise this issue during the negotiating process and make it clear that your partner's situation is important. The level of commitment in your relationship (straight or gay) isn't necessarily relevant to the negotiating process, from what I've seen (and experienced).

Then you could pause and wait for the chair/dean to offer your partnet an honorary doctorate and a spousal hire, or at least the possibility of waiving the admissions requirements for your partner and having her be treated for about six years like a second-class, non-funded, resented citizen in one of the "excellent programs in her field" -- if that's what you really think is best for her, or you both, or maybe just you. But don't hold your breath during that pause or you might not make it to the signing-the-contract stage. Saying anything as pushy as "can anything be done for her?" sounds to me a little more mafia-appropriate than you probably (should) want to sound.

[egret]

I actually do know of a situation where someone was hired with the agreement that his/her spouse would enter into the PhD program of another department in the same university. This wasn't a junior-level hire. I don't know the person well enough to know either the details of how this was negotiated or how it's gone since then though.

[macaroon]

The level of commitment in your relationship (straight or gay) isn't necessarily relevant to the negotiating process, from what I've seen (and experienced).

I've seen otherwise - although I've never seen someone try with a same-sex relationship. 

The OP needs to avoid giving the impression that the relationship won't survive if the partner doesn't get accommodation.  It's a weak position to bring to the table. 

[verbena]

The level of commitment in your relationship (straight or gay) isn't necessarily relevant to the negotiating process, from what I've seen (and experienced).

I've seen otherwise - although I've never seen someone try with a same-sex relationship. 

Sorry if I wasn't clear -- I agree it's sometimes considered relevant, but I also know that it's not always considered relevant. In any case I was thinking more about position hires than about getting a partner (married or not, straight or gay) into a PhD program.

[pink_]

I can't imagine this being a favorable scenario for your partner's graduate education.  Presumably s/he wants to get a Ph.D. because s/he also wants to go into academe.  Not only will there be suspicions from the get-go about how s.e got into the program, but what happens when s/he finishes?