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[humanfactor]

Inspired by this post -- http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,68321.0.html -- but not wanting to derail that thread with a tangential question:

Those of you who have had experience with spousal hires, either as hirer or hiree, how likely is this to occur?

- Trailing spouse Pat is hired by another department in part to appease Pat's spouse Sam and Sam's new department. Pat's department believes that perceived problems with Pat's performance, large or small, are the fault of Pat being a joint hire rather than hired purely (!) on merit. Pat's department feels resentful; the term "foisted upon us" comes up here and there. Note: when I say perceived performance problems, I'm assuming that everyone will have less than perfect performance, and that the attributions and resentment are related to the kind of performance problems that anyone might have, not deal-breaking, untenurable performance problems.

Does this sound realistic at all?

[tenured_feminist]

Being a trailing partner is difficult, but in some ways it may be easier if the trailer is in a different department than the primary. The key is for the trailer to do everything possible to develop an independent identity.

In the case you describe below, the trailer should make every effort to hit or exceed the mark in externally valid terms. If the publication record is strong (as strong or stronger than others in the same cohort), the teaching is above the comparator group, and the service unexceptionable, it's much harder for a resentful department to avoid renewing or make trouble at tenure time. And, while the trailer should be sensitive to the fact that the department's grudging willingness to hire a trailer may have meant giving up on the pony the department really wanted, a very positive attitude and willingness to be a contributing member of the department goes a long way. I've known a few situations where a resented trailer transformed into a much valued colleague by tenure time.

The trailer should always insist on being judged on the merits without any consideration of the partner, and the partner should stay far, far away. And the LAST thing the trailer should ever do is give any hint that any bumps in the road the trailer encounters are the fault of the trailer's colleagues. Nothing will poison the well quicker (with the possible exception of bruiting about that the trailer must be tenured because the primary is so fabulous). Trust me.

[humanfactor]

thanks for such comprehensive advice, tenured_feminist! Thankfully, we are not actually in the hypothetical position I described. Instead, we are entering the market as two bodies and expect that one will trail the other. We want to be aware of the kind of challenges we might encounter and how we might deal with them. For starters, whether 'resentment happens' (sounds like in at least one case the answer is yes!).

[shrek]

If you're the trailing spouse I think it's important to:
1. do your best to fit into the culture of the department
2. do good work, do it alot

We have a situtation of being the receiving department of a trailing spouse. The primary is a rising star, the spouse is not. Also, the spouse is from a related field. Unfortunately, the spouse doesn't seem to understand what it takes to get tenure in our department. This person is presenting conference papers everywhere and probably has a couple of conference proceedings, but NOT ONE PUBLICATION since they've arrived. I'm not resentful-- we wouldno't have gotten this slot at all; but I am stunned at the level of cluelessness. The person has a powerful advocate on the faculty, but this person is becoming disillusioned.

[janewales]

Some years ago, our place was (briefly) awash in cash, and made spousal hires (it doesn't happen much anymore). We were, it seemed, constantly bombarded by demands from other departments and faculties to accept trailing spouses. We developed our own internal policy, and would only consider candidates whom we could imagine making a short list in an open search; then we'd put that person through the usual campus visit. It worked pretty well-- most of us tend to forget that the handful of department members who came through this process were trailing spouses. However, we had to dig our heels in hard to avoid having unsatisfactory candidates "foisted upon us," and succeeded only because we're a pretty determined and powerful department in our own right. So I'd suggest trying, as much as possible, to get a sense of the power relationships in the institution-- it would involve figuring out how routine spousal hires are, whether they are equally available to all units, that sort of thing.

[garlic_tooth]

It is not easy to be a trailing spouse - there will always be people who would like to remind the trailing spouse that s/he was not really hired based on merit, but because s/he is a spouse. But as tenured_feminist said, it makes a big difference how hard working the person actually is . Also, some universities are very sympathetic and help dual couples, but as far as I know, there is no university that would guarantee tenure to a person just because s/he is a trailing spouse.

We do have a trailing spouse in our department and there are some people who are happy to remind her/him all the time that s/he was accepted because of the spouse.However, because s/he is a very active scholar and a good teacher, those who make comments are actually isolated by the majority and there are no real problems for the trailing spouse faculty.

Good luck with your search!

[tenured_radish]

Pat will have to do a little bit better than average than her junior colleagues in order to win over her/his department. Sad, but true. Since Pat secured a job without the usual rigorous vetting process, however, this seems a fair trade-off. Our department has made four spousal hires in the last decade; all four of those scholars have been disappointing in various ways, but all still have jobs, which is more than many terrific scholars can say these days!

[lyndonparker]

From the perspective of a faculty member at a SLAC that in the past hired a number of trailing spouses, please at least pretend to be collegial and team-oriented. Everyone has their strengths, everyone has their weaknesses, but we don't relish having an unpleasant thug foisted on us. The college has done you and your spouse a huge favor--a little gratitude would be appreciated. It usually isn't. Which is one reason we hire many fewer trailing spouses these days.

[tee_bee]

From the perspective of a faculty member at a SLAC that in the past hired a number of trailing spouses, please at least pretend to be collegial and team-oriented. Everyone has their strengths, everyone has their weaknesses, but we don't relish having an unpleasant thug foisted on us. The college has done you and your spouse a huge favor--a little gratitude would be appreciated. It usually isn't. Which is one reason we hire many fewer trailing spouses these days.

On the other hand (interthreduality alert) some departments are so wrapped in the "we did you a favor rhetoric" that some members of the department are insufferable and are predisposed against the trailer from the get-go. So it's a two-way street. At least give the trailer a chance.

[mouseman]

This:

Pat will have to do a little bit better than average than her junior colleagues in order to win over her/his department. Sad, but true. Since Pat secured a job without the usual rigorous vetting process, however, this seems a fair trade-off.

And this:

The college has done you and your spouse a huge favor--a little gratitude would be appreciated.

But this, too:

On the other hand (interthreduality alert) some departments are so wrapped in the "we did you a favor rhetoric" that some members of the department are insufferable and are predisposed against the trailer from the get-go. So it's a two-way street. At least give the trailer a chance.

In short, a spousal hire should be aware that they were not really vetted and they should feel the need to prove themselves, on one hand, but the department should do their best to make the hire feel that they are part of the department, and give them the same support other hires get, on the other. 

In other words, a spousal hire should try and remember that they were a spousal hire (at least until they are tenured), but the other faculty in the department should try and forget this.

[spyzowin]

Inspired by this post -- http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,68321.0.html -- but not wanting to derail that thread with a tangential question:

Those of you who have had experience with spousal hires, either as hirer or hiree, how likely is this to occur?

- Trailing spouse Pat is hired by another department in part to appease Pat's spouse Sam and Sam's new department. Pat's department believes that perceived problems with Pat's performance, large or small, are the fault of Pat being a joint hire rather than hired purely (!) on merit. Pat's department feels resentful; the term "foisted upon us" comes up here and there. Note: when I say perceived performance problems, I'm assuming that everyone will have less than perfect performance, and that the attributions and resentment are related to the kind of performance problems that anyone might have, not deal-breaking, untenurable performance problems.

Does this sound realistic at all?

I was a postdoc in a department where there were two trailing spouses, and both were heavily resented by not only the regular faculty but the entire pool of wretched graduate students, adjuncts and various hangers on (myself and the other postdoc included). The university was a real prize (not so much for reputation although it is formally an RI, but because of its location).

The second spousal hire was the most galling as the trailing spouse was entirely substandard. Me and the other postdoc were not permitted to vie for the post, and we complained all the way up to the president's office with no avail. The department was ordered to protect the potential hire from any potential embarrassment.

So yeah, I'm really against spousal hires. I would never ever vote for one. I don't care about the circumstances. I don't care about professor X's happy little family. I just don't care.  And if one sneaks in... I'm not going to socialize with a fake hire. I'm not going to work with a fake hire. I'm certainly not going to take direction from one.

Jobs should be won through open and fair competition.

Now, as far as my old postdoc institution was concerned... those two spousal hires are still there, and they are still more or less shunned. They are given the worst service in the department and are more or less excluded to this day. One has sort of forged hus own identity after getting divorced from the superstar spouse, who eventually moved on (quite predictably really). The other just takes up a priceless office and breathes valuable air.

[promovenda]

Me and the other postdoc were not permitted to vie for the post, and we complained all the way up to the president's office with no avail.

Blinking in disbelief...

[polly_mer]

Me and the other postdoc were not permitted to vie for the post, and we complained all the way up to the president's office with no avail.

Blinking in disbelief...

Have you not observed Amnirov in action?

Yes, some people are vehemently against spousal hires and I certainly would be angry about someone unqualified getting a job for which I was qualified and not even considered for.  I wouldn't file a protest to the president's office because I'm not that socially tone-deaf, but I would definitely be looking for a different position and mentioning to other people the practice of hiring and retaining unqualified people when qualified people exist.

However, I can also see a very good case for considering spousal hires who are qualified and could be an asset to a department.  Foisting those hires on the department is a bad, bad idea, but offering the department the chance to vet the spouse to ascertain qualifications and then making a joint offer to the couple with all affected parties agreeing to the arrangement seems sensible and "fair" to me, especially if the money for the spousal hire is not coming from the departmental budget except for classes that would otherwise go to adjuncts.

[mouseman]

Me and the other postdoc were not permitted to vie for the post, and we complained all the way up to the president's office with no avail.

Blinking in disbelief...

Have you not observed Amnirov in action?

While other have been fighting such unimportant issues like loss of tenure, grade inflation, glass ceilings, lowered admission standards, reduced funding for Universities and for research, brave Amnirov has been fighting the TRUE reason for the decline in higher education - SPOUSAL HIRES!!!!!!

[promovenda]

Me and the other postdoc were not permitted to vie for the post, and we complained all the way up to the president's office with no avail.

Blinking in disbelief...

Have you not observed Amnirov in action?

While other have been fighting such unimportant issues like loss of tenure, grade inflation, glass ceilings, lowered admission standards, reduced funding for Universities and for research, brave Amnirov has been fighting the TRUE reason for the decline in higher education - SPOUSAL HIRES!!!!!!

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough.

I was blinking in disbelief at the grammar fail. Not the attitude. I've read enough posts by amnirov to expect THAT. But "Me and the other post-doc..." ?????