Comments on: Academic Productivity, Part 2

By: Jonathan Gray

Jonathan Gray — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:14:26 +0000

to add onto my own point here, the “take what you can get” market can be a blessing. I say this as someone whose father had a job that moved my family around the world every two to three years growing up. I never had a say in where I lived, and would never have chosen some of those places beforehand. But I often loved those places with a passion, and miss some of them dearly. Similarly, I have numerous friends in academia who accepted a job somewhere begrudgingly, yet who later came to adore the job, the place, or both. This needn’t obviate planning about where one would like to be, but an openness to being surprised by a different place, change of pace, etc. is probably integral to continued sanity in our line of work.

By: Jason Mittell

Jason Mittell — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:02:21 +0000

Fully agree with Nina point that you should think about the type of academic career that will be most rewarding to you concerning the genre of school, location, and disciplinary arrangements (among others) - and even in a "take what you can get" market, you can make choices in your first job that will hopefully lead to a more appropriate 2nd (or 3rd) years down the road. For people interested in the possibilities & pleasures (and limitations) of a liberal arts college job, I wrote a post a few years back that a number people have said has been helpful to them.

By: Jonathan Gray

Jonathan Gray — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:58:55 +0000

Well said, Nina. I’d slightly revise for the contemporary “take what you can get” market by adding that it’s not just about thinking purposefully about what kind of life one wants, but being open to a variety of options. So many folk get it drilled deep into their skulls that they need to be at an R1 to count as scholars, and for the world to acknowledge them, that they don’t stop to think that life may be better elsewhere.

That said, I’d also note that productivity is the battering ram into most jobs, not just the R1 ones, and if expecting nothing but an R1 gig is one problem, another is people who decide early that they don’t want to be at an R1, and think that this means they don’t need to publish. This market doesn’t reward that.

By: Nina Huntemann

Nina Huntemann — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:45:45 +0000

Great start to this new series! I’m looking forward to future posts.

I was also pleased to read the last paragraph about graduate training’s focus on R1 jobs. I am not at an R1 and thus I have a heavier teaching load (3/2), greater service expectations, but less pressure to publish. I am grateful that my not-R1 institution doesn’t pretend to be an R1 by expecting more teaching and service as well as R1-level publishing. I’ve had many conversations lately with junior scholars who are under R1 pressure but with fewer resources, no pre-tenure sabbaticals, etc.

When I was on the job market in 2002, positions were far more abundant than these past few years, so I say the following with that critical caveat. I purposefully did not apply for R1 jobs because what I knew about R1 expectations did not appeal to me. I didn’t think an R1 job would give me the life I wanted. I also had a fairly small map of places I was willing to call home, which was a very important part of my vision of work/life happiness. Had I applied for R1 jobs, for all I know I may not have even been considered. I was ABD and games studies was still fairly marginal. That I landed in Boston (a city I love) at an institution that supports my idea of a fulfilling academic career and truly values teaching (my favorite part of what we do) is a blessing everyday, even on days when I may pine for more research resources and fewer students.

So, for what it is worth, I would encourage Antenna readers to think deeply, as Jonathan and Amanda suggest, about what kind of academic life you want. There are many versions of this profession, all of which can be equally satisfying and successful.