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[dreamsailor]

Thank you. "Advise" was a typo. Is there a way to edit the subject?

I don't hate writing. I just wish I could write better and faster. I do need some strong editorial support for my writing. English is not my first language, and as a qualitative researcher in social science field who happens to be a perfectionist, writing can be stressful from time to time. It's one of the most common challenges all immigrant faculty need to deal with. That accounts for the higher attrition rate among social science/humanities international PhDs  than their hard science and engineering counterparts. Similarly, there are more quantative researchers than qualitative researchers among immigrant faculty.  

I read a professor friend' manuscript today as he solicited my critiques. While I was reading it, I kept wishing I could write with that kind of ease, grace, and clarity.

There is not much point in doing research and attending conferences if you are not going to publish or write. One major purpose of research is to disseminate the findings.

PS Advise (ad-vize) is a verb; Advice (ad-vice) is the noun you want here.

hat I enjoy is teaching, researching, attending conferences, and giving speeches.

Don't you have to write speeches?

It sounds like you want a teaching position or a research lab position where you don't have to write!

[dreamsailor]

Hi Msparticularity: Thank you for your input! I was wondering how this year's market is. No I didn't apply for job this year. I was kind of hoping to get on the market next year. No you are not making me more anxious. I do need a reality check and if the door to TT really is closed to me, then there gonna be some windows open for me, which could lead to a brighter future. Who knows. :-)

But is there a career other than TT that allows you to go to conferences, giving speeches, and teach?  Thinking...
 

Dreamsailor, you are facing some very serious difficulties on the TT job market, and I'm afraid that your doctoral program may not have mentored you appropriately for the job market in your field. The first thing you need to realize is that dedicated positions in educational foundations are increasingly rare; unless you also have K-12 teaching experience and/or administrative credentials and/or higher ed background (in programs, finance, or something similar), there will be relatively few positions for which you will be qualified and you will have an enormous number of competitors for those. The second issue is that education is a "journal field." You, however, have now been out since 2009, have no peer-reviewed journal articles, and apparently do not have anything left from your dissertation that is suitable for journal submission. From the perspective of a hiring committee in your field, you really do not have anything to demonstrate research credentials. Further, since you're not all that excited about research, you need to think long and hard about the fact that your field is not one that is typically even available at teaching-focused institutions.

Have you even begun to look at the job listings in your field this year? I have, since I'm in a related area, and it's pretty scary even for those who are massively qualified. I'm truly sorry to contribute to your anxiety, but I'm afraid that the reality is not pretty--so I'm even sorrier that no one has said any of this to you earlier.

[yumyumdonuts]

dreamsailor, I'm in the same boat as you as far as looking for positions. Would a Sociology of Education PhD be qualified to work for school districts in assessment? Couldn't you look into government positions in the Department of Education?

[msparticularity]

Dreamsailor, depending upon what kind of other skills you have, there may be administrative/professional positions in higher education that would be appropriate for you. Do you have any kind of background or skills related to management: supervision or oversight of student workers, budget, event planning, or anything along those lines? In general, though, these positions would not include research activity (including conference travel), so you would have to do that on your own time and at your own expense.

There also are small four-year colleges out there at which faculty research activity need consist only of conferences--although travel funding at those places is often non-existent, and research does not count toward workload so you'd be teaching 4/4 or 5/5. You would also need to be able to teach undergraduate coursework: did your master's degree and/or doctoral coursework include enough straight sociology that you could teach that?

Depending upon your methodological preparation, you might have other options as well. Can you tell us what research methods you are competent in, for conducting, analyzing, and/or for teaching research? (If, as Yumyumdonuts suggests, you're going to investigate employment with the Department of Ed, you will most assuredly need quant competence.) There are certainly policy analysis positions that might be appropriate for an educational sociologist in government, higher ed, and the private sector, but again you would need to be pretty quant-oriented for those.

And no, you would not be qualified to work in a school district in assessment, unless you are specifically qualified in the kinds of assessment that are typically taught in a department of educational psychology and/or in a graduate psych program--again quant-based.

[dreamsailor]

Well, today one of my dissertation comittee members is inviting me to coauthor with him for a book chapter...
 I'm not sure how another book chapter will help me...

[msparticularity]

Well, today one of my dissertation comittee members is inviting me to coauthor with him for a book chapter...
 I'm not sure how another book chapter will help me...

Yeah, I'm afraid you really need to think about getting something out to a journal. Book chapters can definitely be fun, but in education it's a mistake to focus on those too much before you're tenured.

[dreamsailor]

Thank you for your advice. I did some soul-searching and began to wonder whether I really fit in the academic box. I thought about the subjects that I most want to research on and teach abut-- an interdisciplinery study of well-being (philisophical, sociological, religious, etc.) and incorporate practices of yoga, meditation, taichi, etc. Is there any professorship on this subject?

I did some soul-searching and this is what I'm concerned most: students' well-being-- help them to know and love themselves, establish and fulfill life and academic goals, help them to nurture their body, mind, and soul. This is what I want to do: Travel around US and developing countries such as China and Africa to give talks/workshops on study methods, well-being, etc. I used to think I need a title/affiliation that would help me to get in the door of schools, but that title, such as a professorship,  might bind me to all the job responsibilities and distract me from what I really want to do. Maybe I can start a non-profit organization. I don't want to make a fortune out of this, nor do I think I will. I don't plan to charge the schools. I just need to figure out a way to help with the traveling cost and maintain a minimum living.

I had another post related to these thoughts.  http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/board,28.0.html

[helpful]

Universities often have a position with Student Life (or under another name). Perhaps you need to investigate that.