The Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career: A Portable Mentor for Scholars from Graduate School through Tenure

332 Pages·2001·1.62 MB·English

by  John A. Goldsmith

A Portable Mentor for Scholars
from Graduate School
through Tenure
John A. Goldsmith, John Komlos,
and Penny Schine Gold
TheUniversityofChicagoPress/ChicagoandLondon
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Chicago60637
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Ltd.,London
(cid:1)2001byTheUniversityofChicago
Allrightsreserved.Published2001
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN:0-226-30150-8(cloth)
ISBN:0-226-30151-6(paper)
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Goldsmith,JohnA.,1951–
TheChicagoguidetoyouracademiccareer:aportablementorfor
scholarsfromgraduateschoolthroughtenure/JohnA.Goldsmith,John
Komlos,PennySchineGold.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex.
ISBN0-226-30150-8(hard.)—ISBN0-226-30151-6(pbk.)
1.Collegetraining—Vocationalguidance. 2.Collegeteachers.
I.Komlos,John,1944– . II.Gold,PennySchine. III.Title.
LB1778.G63 2001
378.1(cid:2)2(cid:2)023—dc21
00-012565
(cid:3)(cid:1) Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsof
theAmericanNationalStandardforInformationSciences—Permanence
ofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials,ANSIZ39.48-1992.
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xix
PartOne:BecomingaScholar
1. DecidingonanAcademicCareer 3
Theadvantagesanddisadvantagesofacademiclife
• • •
Academicsalaries Academicfreedom Thepersonalitytraits
ofsuccessfulgraduatestudents
2. EnteringGraduateSchool 18
Differencesbetweenundergraduateandgraduatetraining
• •
Preconditionsforagraduateeducation Questionstoask
• •
yourself Financialconsiderations Pickingtherightschool
• •
Specialization Knowingwhetheryou’vemadetheright
careerchoice
TheInsideTrack:FinancingGraduateEducation
byTomThuerer 30
3. TheMentor 44
• •
Theroleofthementor Findingamentor Thementoring
commitment
4. WritingaDissertation 54
• •
Prerequisites Thedissertationrequirement Choosingatopic
• •
Howlongittakestowriteathesis Becomingdiscouraged
andpersevering
vi Contents
5. LandinganAcademicJob 66
•
Preparingtoentertheacademicjobmarket Presentinga
• •
paperataconference Thejobsearch Howtoreadjob
• •
advertisements Assemblingthedossier Applicationletters
• • •
Lettersofreference Thec.v. Interviewsatnationalmeetings
• • •
Whatshouldbeavoided Applyingasacouple Theshort
• • • •
list Thecampusvisit Thejobtalk Rejections Howlong
• •
tokeeptrying Receivingandevaluatingoffers Negotiating
•
thetermsoftheappointment The‘‘two-body’’problem
•
Multipleoffers
TheInsideTrack:LeavingAcademiafortheCorporateWorld
byAmiKronfeld 126
PartTwo:TheAcademicProfession
6. TheLifeoftheAssistantProfessor 135
• •
Beginningthefirstjob Jugglingresponsibilities Sortingout
• •
priorities Committeesandcommitments Keepingtenurein
• •
view Gettingalongwithcolleagues Theinstitutionalbureau-
• •
cracy Departmentalpolitics Gettinginvolvedininstitutional
• • •
change Long-termgoals Familyconsiderations Job
satisfaction
7. TeachingandResearch 161
•
Whatteachingisallabout Expectationsatresearchuniver-
• •
sities Expectationsatteachinginstitutions Preparingasylla-
• •
bus Learninghowtoteach Examsandwritingassignments
• • •
Thefirstdayofclass Evaluatingstudents’work Evalu-
•
atingyourownteaching Teachingatthegraduatelevel
• •
Plagiarismandotherethicalissues Makinglifeeasieron
• • •
yourself ‘‘Publishorperish’’ Beginningtopublish Finding
• •
therightjournal Submittingthearticle Theeditor’s
• • •
decision Refereereports Coauthoring Publishingabook
• •
Gettinggrants Survivingwriter’sblock
TheInsideTrack:PublishingtheFirstBook
byColinDay 205
Contents vii
8. Tenure 210
• •
Whytenureexists Thetenurereviewprocess Evaluation
• • •
criteria Attacksontenure Beingdeniedtenure Oppor-
tunitiesoutsideacademia
9. CompetitionintheUniversitySystemandOutsideOffers 225
• •
Theforcesofcompetition Mobilityandloyalty Juniorand
•
seniorhires Outsideoffersasawaytomoveup
TheInsideTrack:ConsultingandIntellectualProperty
byPierreLaszlo 234
10. Family,Gender,andthePersonalSideofAcademicLife 236
• •
Effectsonfamily Sharedappointments Discriminationin
•
academia Sexualharassmentandconsensualrelationships
11. Conclusion 252
Appendix1: TheAdministrativeStructureofaUniversity 257
Appendix2: PoliciesonParentalLeaveandSharedPositions 266
Appendix3: Tables 272
Notes 277
Bibliography 295
AbouttheAuthors 301
Index 303

Preface
Thisbookis,inessence,auser’sguidetoacademiclife,conceivedforthose
considering taking up a career in the traditional academic disciplines—
seniors in college, perhaps, or others thinking about goingintograduate
school—as well as those who have already started out along that path,
which is to say, men and women working on a Ph.D. and those already
with appointments as assistant professors at a college or a university.1
Someofourremarksmaybeofinteresttoothersaswell:seniorprofessors
whoareinterestedinotherperspectivesontheacademicscene,confused
andbewilderedparentsofjunioracademics,professionaladvisors,spouses
ofgraduatestudentsandjuniorfaculty,andlaymeninterestedinlearning
aboutthemysteriesofacademia.Foreignstudentswhoarethinkingabout
acquiringanAmericangraduateschooleducationwillcertainlyprofitfrom
readingthisbook.2
Our backgrounds are in the humanities and the social sciences, and
our views naturally reflect our own experiences, observations, and what
wehavelearnedinthecourseofourcareers.Webelievethereissufficient
overlapamongthevariousacademicdisciplinestomakevalidgeneraliza-
tions possible. As teachers, we have often been asked to offer advice on
myriad issues of both a professional and a personal nature, and we have
tended to give the same advice over and over again. We’ve written this
bookinresponsetowhatwefeltwasarealneedforinformation.Wechose
theformatofanextendedconversation,muchlikeconversationsthatwe
have actually had on many occasions with those who have soughtusout
todiscusstheiraspirations,hopes,fears,andproblems.Thequestion-and-
answerformatemphasizesthatwearespeakinginthisbookmuchaswe
would duringouroffice hoursorovercoffeeinthedepartmentallounge.
Although the questions in boldface are our constructions, for the most
parttheyarequestionswe’veoftenheardorcanimagineourreadersmight
wanttoaskiftheycould.
ix