next »

[professorpaint]

This is something that has been on my mind lately. How might a tenure-track professor recognize if their current position is not a good fit? How does one know, one way or the other?

[canuckois]

I'll ask the obvious question: how do you feel about your job?

[msparticularity]

For me, things became clearer when the difficulties began to emerge at multiple levels--and especially when the vast majority of them had nothing to do with me, personally--but interacted with my abilities, values, and priorities. To wit: I am in a state with a deadly combination of critical budget issues and serious denial, with everything from health care to pensions affected already and a massive trainwreck nearly inevitable; my institution, which is clearly affected by the statewide issues, has a relatively new upper administration and has adopted top-down measures that are increasingly destructive to students and faculty alike; and while I have always gotten along well with my colleagues--who have been quite appreciative of my willingness to pitch in as needed--my academic interests and commitments make me something of an odd duck in relation to the evolving needs and priorities of the department.

It took me awhile to reach the tipping point, though. For my first two years I was still quite open to staying here forever. By last year I was probably at the 50/50 point--definitely committed to looking around a bit, but not certain I wanted to leave. By the time this fall rolled around, though, I wanted to be very careful not to leap from the frying pan into the fire, and I was well aware that there were probably many worse options--but it was quite clear that if the right job came along, I would leave.

[glowdart]

What MsP said. 

And, there's nothing quite like an interview somewhere else to help clarify a situation.   

[larryc]

When your new colleagues don't share their hooch.

[quietly]

I left a job for similar reasons to MsP, plus a toxic department with factions that were both trying to recruit me. 

But I think a place can be a bad fit even if it's financially stable and your colleagues are generally happy there.  If those things are true and you're still unhappy, then maybe the place is a bad fit.  I have seen people at my current institution whose mission doesn't align well with ours.  Maybe they want more research and less teaching, or are libertarians who don't like that the mission statement is explicitly anti-greed, or whatever.  Then another institution might be right.

If I get what you're asking, though, it's: how do you know it's a bad fit and not just that the things that make you unhappy are just normal academic life? If you're unhappy with the balance or direction of your teaching, scholarship or service, then maybe a bad fit.  If you just don't like or aren't very good at those things generally, then maybe it has nothing to do with fit.

Q.

[pink_]

These are difficult and thorny issues to address, and sometimes the only way to get perspective is to talk to someone you trust who is outside of the department or institution. I've found that oftentimes, we tend to assume that the way things are in our department ar at our SLAC/R1/etc. is just the way things are everywhere. We tend to think that what is normal for us is normal for everyone. It was only in talking to friends on other campuses that I was able to begin to recognize these kinds of differences.

[bevo98]

Yes to all of the above.  Talk to trusted colleagues in other schools, if possible.  We do often think we have the worst situation only to discover it was not that bad.  A dear friend of mine now awaiting a tenure decision at another institution, gave up two earlier tenure-tracks, one at my U and another, because he was concerned about the fit.  He landed in a snake pit where even the tenure process seems highly politicized.  He sadly regrets his earlier decisions.

Meanwhile, like msparticuarity, I thought I would stay where I am now forever but things are changing rapidly and I am now keeping my options open.  I have tenure, but even that may not be enough to keep me. 

If you are on track for tenure, don't jump unless you have to beforehand.  It is simply not true in any field that you are more marketable before you get tenure.  If, on the other hand, the tenure track is becoming difficult and/or unbearable, take a peek elsewhere bearing in mind that one usually only gets to move once, maybe twice pre-tenure. 

Good Luck

[imawakenow]

This is something that has been on my mind lately. How might a tenure-track professor recognize if their current position is not a good fit? How does one know, one way or the other?

To bastardize a quote: Faculty who fit are all alike; faculty who don't fit, don't fit in their own way.

For me, I (generally) like the people I work with. I've come to appreciate the students, and they've come to appreciate me.

But when I sit in faculty meetings, when I listen to the administration talk, when I look at where institutional resources go, when I look at the recent decisions, I can see clearly that I don't fit here. For example, on just about every major decision in the last two years, I would have taken the exact opposite course. That doesn't mean that I'm right and they're wrong. It just means that I have other priorities, and those priorities aren't reflected in the direction of the department and university.

So, it wasn't a specific moment for me. It was just seeing that what I value isn't supported or valued, and that's why I'm leaving.

[ruralguy]

Though I understand the point of the last quote, I do disagree with it, in that you do have to find your own path to a good fit.

I might be able to live at a 4-3 load SLAC if I am able to work on research on some weekends, wednesday afternoons, and during the summer. Others might find it the kiss of death...or they may also find it a good fit and do bare minimum of research (which here, seems to be close to none at all). I might emphasize working with seniors on Honors projects, whereas others might want to rake in freshmen and muddle through a bunch of quick projects. What we all have in common is that we can "find a groove" and not fret over our jobs.

When things didn't fit as well for me, I lost sleep, needed therapy...and well...didn't like what I was doing!

Others, can put on a brave face for a decade or two, win teaching and research awards, but then, at the end of the day, decide they want more, or want something different.

[msparticularity]

But when I sit in faculty meetings, when I listen to the administration talk, when I look at where institutional resources go, when I look at the recent decisions, I can see clearly that I don't fit here. For example, on just about every major decision in the last two years, I would have taken the exact opposite course. That doesn't mean that I'm right and they're wrong. It just means that I have other priorities, and those priorities aren't reflected in the direction of the department and university.

Yup--this is exactly what began to happen for me, too. Some things were really little and kind of silly--stuff like details around how graduation procedures and commencement ceremonies are handled--but they were also part of a larger pattern of decision-making that was making changing priorities clearer and clearer. Together, the large and the small stuff began to  wear away at the qualities I had found most attractive. I think things may be run more "professionally" around here these days, but that professionalism has behind it priorities that have eroded the values I was well-aligned with, and found charming (even when they were less efficient).

[imawakenow]

Though I understand the point of the last quote, I do disagree with it, in that you do have to find your own path to a good fit.

Well, the quote was tongue in cheek, but I'd agree with your general point that people who "fit" at a college or university aren't going around all the time wondering whether or not they fit. Sooner or later they realize that they don't.

[ruralguy]

It can be a struggle to a "fit", but, yeah, if, most of the time, you aren't "just doing it", then there could be a problem.

But I'd urge folks not to get too upset with Presidents and such. You'll probably outlive them. In the end, your views really do matter more, regardless of whether the President or someone else says differently. Now, its easier to say that at a small school than a big one, and at a school that didn't have someone like, say, John Silber, stick around for decades.

However, my wife and I find ourselves daydreaming of leaving more often under the current admin. Lesson 1: NEVER, NEVER , NEVER hire a "go getter" business school type as president, especially if its their first Presidency. They get into EVERYTHING. It sucks!

[msparticularity]

Lesson 1: NEVER, NEVER , NEVER hire a "go getter" business school type as president, especially if its their first Presidency. They get into EVERYTHING. It sucks!

Would you mind jumping back in time about 18months, and appearing to speak before a Board of Trustees?

[bevo98]

Update on my friend at the snake pit...he was denied tenure.  I think this is important because he left two previous tt positions because they were not a good fit.  So, think very carefully about your move.  It is sad news that my colleague, who is an outstanding teacher and researcher, would end up back at the beginning.  I think he may have had unreasonable expectations.  Gracious!