Grad skool rulz everything you need to know about academia from admissions to tenure

81 Pages·0.377 MB·English

by  Rojas, Fabio

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GRAD SKOOL RULZ:
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ACADEMIA FROM ADMISSIONS TO
TENURE
by
Fabio Rojas
Smashwords Editions
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Fabio Rojas on Smashwords
The Grad Skool Rulz:
What You Need to Know about Academia from Getting In to Getting Tenure
Copyright 2011 by Fabio Rojas
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given
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* * * * *
Table of Contents
Introduction
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Do Not Go to Graduate School
Chapter 2: Picking a Graduate Program
Chapter 3: Don’t Pay for Grad School
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Chapter 4: Get the Rules!
Chapter 5: Learn the Unspoken Rules
Chapter 6: Course Work
Chapter 7: Time Off: Summers and Leaves of Absence
Chapter 8: Develop Good Taste
Chapter 9: Passing the Tests
Chapter 10: The M.A. Thesis
Chapter 11: Make Some Friends
Chapter 12: Picking the Advisor and Finding a Mentor
Chapter 13: The Rest of Your Committee
Chapter 14: The Dissertation Topic
Chapter 15: The Dissertation Prospectus and the Prospectus Meeting
Chapter 16: While You’re Working on that Dissertation…
Chapter 17: Writing Your $^#@@ Dissertation
Chapter 18: Sorry, You Can’t Write Your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day
Chapter 19: Working with Your Committee
Chapter 20: What Can You Say to Your Advisor?
Chapter 21: About Teaching
Chapter 22: All in the Family
Chapter 23: Words for Women
Chapter 24: For Students of Color
Chapter 25: When to Quit
Chapter 26: Publishing in Grad School
Chapter 27: The Publishing Process
Chapter 28: Publication Strategies for Graduate Students
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Chapter 29: Conferences
Chapter 30: Am I Done Yet?
Chapter 31: The Job Market
Chapter 32: What Jobs Should I Apply For? What about Post-docs?
Chapter 33:The Job Talk
Chapter 34: Getting Non-academic Jobs
Chapter 35: Wrapping It Up
Chapter 36: What Professors Can Do to Help
Chapter 37: Rulz for Post-Docs and Junior Faculty
Chapter 38: What is a Post-Doctoral Appointment?
Chapter 39: Should I Do a Post-Doc? How Do I Get a Post-Doc?
Chapter 40: Issues with Post-Doctoral Appointments
Chapter 41: Visiting Professor Appointments
Chapter 42: What is Tenure?
Chapter 43: How Does Getting tenure Work?
Chapter 44: What Counts for Tenure? How Much Do I Need?
Chapter 45: Publication Strategy
Chapter 46: Working With Graduate Students
Chapter 47: Keep Everything in a Box
Chapter 48: Service, Time Management, Saying No
Chapter 49: Professional Obligations, Conferences and Referee Requests
Chapter 50: Grants and Fellowships
Chapter 51: Department Conflict
Chapter 52: Be Nice to the Staff
Chapter 53: Midterm Review and Yearly Reviews
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Chapter 54: The Tenure Dossier
Chapter 55: The Actual Tenure Review Process
Chapter 56: Early Tenure and Switching Jobs
Chapter 57: Success
Chapter 58: Failure
Chapter 59: Conclusion
About the Author
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THE GRAD SKOOL RULZ:
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ACADEMIA FROM GETTING IN TO GETTING
TENURE
Introduction
Does graduate school confuse you? Have you spent too many years as a graduate student? Do
you feel that there are invisible rules that everyone else knows, but you don’t? You are not alone.
I felt the same way. I was in graduate school for a long time. I was confused and anxious. I often
asked myself if there was some sort of handbook that would answer my questions or guide me. If
I ever finished graduate school, I promised that I would write down everything that I learned so
that other people would learn from my mistakes. People might have a resource that explains how
graduate school works. If nothing else, a few people might finish their doctoral program a little
quicker.
Life improved and I graduated with my doctoral degree in 2003. I began teaching at Indiana
University. In 2005, two young assistant professors, Brayden King and Teppo Felin and a
graduate student, Omar Lizardo, asked me to join their new academic blog, orgtheory.net. The
blog is mostly about sociology, but I had the freedom to write on any topic. In addition to social
science research, I began writing an occasional column called “The Grad Skool Rulz.” Every
once in a while, I’d write a blog post on various graduate school topics, such as writing the
dissertation or doing a job talk. Eventually, I decided to write a post on every graduate school
topic I could imagine.
Soon, the Grad Skool Rulz attracted a following. Thousands of people have read the Rulz. At
conferences, people talk to me about the Rulz. Clearly, the Rulz were working. Friends
suggested a book. Untenured, it would have been a bad decision to spend time on a book that
was not oriented toward research. Fortunately, I was promoted and I now have more freedom to
choose my work. Academic research is still my focus, but I decided to spend some time
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compiling the Rulz into one text. I added material for post-doctoral workers and assistant
professors.
The remainder of this introduction addresses two topics: Who is this book for? And, what will I
get out of this book? First, this book is intended for doctoral students. These are students who are
pursuing the advanced research degree in a university – the “doctoral degree.” This book is not
intended for law students, medical students, terminal master’s degree students, or any other post-
graduate student who is in a program with clearly defined enrollment (e.g. two years for the
M.B.A.) and lacks a major research project. This is a book for people who are on the Ph.D. track
and are aiming for tenure track jobs.
Second, this book’s major strength is that it is blunt. Many graduate school advice books are
valuable, and I recommend that you read them, but they are written in a very careful manner that
obscures obvious truths. Instead, here, I am direct. For example, the very first section of this
book is called “Do Not Go to Graduate School” because there are too many graduate students.
Departments and universities need young people to teach and run laboratories, but offer few
incentives for timely graduation. My personal history is another strength. I made some serious
errors in graduate school. To survive, I really had to think about how the academic job works.
Finally, my book is fairly detailed. I discuss a lot of details that you won’t find in other texts.
As you work through the Rulz, keep a few things in mind. First, these rules were originally
written for social science graduate students. I trust that you will be resourceful enough to adjust
the advice for your own situation. Second, this book is aimed at students in American
universities. Graduate education works differently in other nations, but I hope that the advice will
still be useful for readers in other parts of the world. Third, this text reflects my own judgment
and experience. The book contains some unorthodox opinions. Please do some additional
research before you make any major decisions about your career.
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Acknowledgments
The following people provided much needed criticism, editing, and close reading: Katherine C.
Chen, Melissa Pirkey, Robert Wuebker, Richard Tee, Catherine Bolzendahl, Simone Mariconda,
Carson Byrd, and Mary Nell Trautner. The chapter on developing intellectual taste emerged from
a blog post and discussion with Omar Lizardo. Beth Duckles was extremely helpful in editing
passages on teaching and liberal arts colleges. Sean Medina helped me compile all the Rulz into
a single document and researched the self-publication process. My co-bloggers provided a
wonderful environment for experimenting with an academic advice column: Kieran Healy,
Brayden King, Omar Lizardo, Teppo Felin, and Sean Safford. The orgtheory readers also
provided much needed debate and commentary: jimi adams, Thomas Basbøll, Bedhaya, Jessica
Collett, Tina Fetner, Jeremy Freese, Benjamin Greer, Dan Hirschman, Steve Horowitz,
Guillermo, Shamus Khan, Caroline Lee, Jenn Lena, Jordi, Jacob T. Levy, mike3550, musa,
Michael F. Marotta, Josh McCabe, Dan Myers, olderwoman, Christine Percheski, Brian Pitt,
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Richard Pointer, Gabriel Rossman, sd, Trey, and Chris Uggen. I also thank my colleagues at
Indiana University for showing me a well-run doctoral program, and my graduate advisors for
their help during my academic training. Kirby Schroeder designed the cover for the e-book. I
thank my spouse, Elizabeth H. Pisares, for her love, faith, and companionship. I thank Merlyn
for being a little wizard.
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Chapter 1: Do Not Go to Graduate School
College is usually the end of formal education for most people. However, every year people
continue to “graduate school.” In this chapter, I’ll tell you what graduate school is, how to get in,
and whether you should go. In general, I recommend against graduate school. The Ph.D. is
expensive in terms of money and time and many graduate programs are poorly run. The doctoral
degree prepares you for academic research but rarely confers skills that would be useful in other
jobs. Some non-academic employers even see the Ph.D. as a liability. Therefore, you should not
go to graduate school unless you have an exceptionally strong belief that being a professor is the
right career for you. Even in the sciences, there aren’t enough teaching positions and schools
can’t absorb all recent Ph.D.’s. Many science Ph.D. holders will find jobs in industry.
Let’s get started: What is graduate school? It’s simply any additional formal education beyond
the bachelor’s degree. In general, there are two types of graduate education, professional and
academic.
Professional graduate school – you are trained for a specific job, like being a doctor or lawyer.
Professional degrees include the M.D. (medical doctor), M.B.A. (masters of business
administration) or the M.F.A. (masters of fine arts).
Academic graduate school – you are trained to create new knowledge in a specific area. Most
will teach in a college or university setting. Typical degrees: M.A. (masters of arts), Ph.D.
(doctor of philosophy), Sc.D. (doctor of science).
The big difference between professional and academic graduate school is research. The medical
student does not have to show she can discover new things. She’s learning specific skills that
will solve specific problems. The Ph.D. program demands that you to discover something new
before you get the degree. This book is about the Ph.D. degree program.
What do you learn in grad school? Here is what happens if you enter grad school. Two or three
more years of courses. A few will teach you research skills, others will survey certain topics, and
some are highly specialized. Then, you will take a bunch of tests and write a Master’s paper,
which is a short research project. Finally, you will write a short book called a dissertation. You
have to discover something new and write about it. It will be bound like a book and stored in the
university library.
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As you can see, graduate school is a very long process. It can take anywhere from 3 to 20 years.
Physical science fields have an average completion time of about six to seven years, depending
on the field. The humanities graduate student often spends, on the average, ten years in their
program. That’s the first thing you have to know. Graduate school is a huge investment of time
and money. A graduate program is an apprenticeship that’s much longer than those found in
most other jobs. For that reason, graduate education is not really school, it’s a job.
Why does graduate school take so long? Here’s a partial list of answers:
* Low pay – you often have to work while you study and stipends are low.
* No structure. After the courses and tests, people do miserably without externally imposed
deadlines and professors pushing them. Some people can’t focus and choose their own goals
without a supervisor.
* You might flunk tests and have to retake them.
* Your research doesn’t work out the way you expect. You have to redo everything.
* Dissertation/faculty problems – your advisor can give you an unusually hard time and/or not
help you.
* Coaching – some graduate students do not learn well from the faculty.
* Ability – Sometimes, people don’t have the academic ability needed to complete the program.
Graduate school is only for people who have a strong internal drive and have the organizational
skills necessary to function in an environment with little or no supervision. In medical school,
you have to graduate in four years. They force you out. In graduate school, if you are too lazy or
disorganized to write your dissertation, no one will care. Your school or department will let you
hang for years. The result? About 90% of medical students become doctors, while only half of
Ph.D. students finish their program.
Why should people go to graduate school? Here are the main reasons:
* A strong internal drive to discover how the world works. You will participate in a conversation
that is hundreds of years old.
* Love for teaching college age students.
* Tolerance for working without deadlines and you can set your own schedule.
* Tolerance for rejection. For example, the top academic journals reject over 90% of submitted
papers, including many that go on to be very important.
* Tolerance for working alone or in small groups.Tolerance for modest pay and little control
over region where you live.
When should people avoid graduate school? Here are the main reasons:
* You need a lot of clear guidelines in your life.
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* You have trouble finishing projects by yourself.
* Your main reason for going to graduate school is that you like reading, or that you like school,
or that you just really, really liked you undergraduate classes.
* You find arguing over theories boring and pointless.
* You don’t know what else to do with yourself.
* You expect to make a lot of money, or you need lots of money to feel good. You need a lot of
external validation.
* You need to live in a very specific area of the country.
Graduate school is not to be taken lightly. Don’t start graduate school because you don’t know
what else to do with your life or you have a tough time with a regular job. If you are thinking
about graduate school because you can’t find a job or hold a job, stop. Learn how to find a job
and hold a job. Become someone who can learn skills and who other people want to be around.
There is no point in being a journeyman academic unless you are highly self-motivated. Outside
of academia, you will make more money, you’ll have the same job stability, and you will have
more time.
If you decide to embark on an academic career, you will need to gain admission to a graduate
program. What do you need to get into grad school? Here is the bare minimum:
* A decent GPA (3.0 or better).
* Three letters of recommendation, usually from faculty.
* GRE scores.
* A complete application with essay that explains why you are interested in graduate school.
* In many fields, a writing sample.
These are minimum requirements. Competitive programs will require mostly A grades and high
GRE scores. As with any other profession, it helps to have connections, show excellence in your
work, and be creative.
Which schools should you apply to? Fortunately, that’s pretty easy. The rule of thumb is that you
apply and go to the highest ranked school in your discipline. Why? When you finish your
graduate program, people judge you on your degree because you don’t have a track record. Also,
and this is very important, the higher ranked schools tend to have more money, better professors,
and better students. The top schools are responsible for most of the job placements. Furthermore,
you will be in a dense network of people working at the cutting edge of your field. Basically, you
have more access to important resources at higher ranked schools than at lower ranked schools.
It is rather easy to discover the rankings in your discipline. Numerous publications, such as the
US News & World Report and the National Research Council, have published rankings. You can
also ask professors at your undergraduate institution.
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You should not be driven exclusively by rank. For example, there probably isn’t much difference
between a department ranked #24 and #16. They are both legitimate and respected graduate
programs. But there is a huge difference between programs ranked #6 and #52. Unless you had a
very good reason, you are probably making a career mistake if you turn down #6 for #52.
If you have a choice between similar schools (say rank #12, #18, #26) then you should consider
other factors like:
* Funding : How much can you get paid? Are tuition, fees, and health insurance covered? In
general, you shouldn’t pay to go to graduate school. See Grad Skool Rulz #9 for detailed
explanation of the importance of funding.
* Specialty: Do professors work in an area that you might want to work in. Only go to a graduate
program where you can imagine yourself working with at least two or three of the professors.
* Region: If you want to be close to your family, then this might be important.
* Support: Are the professors nice to graduate students? To understand this point in more detail,
read the next section on toxic graduate programs.
* Placement: Do people finish the programs and graduate with their doctoral degree? Luckily,
you can find out about job placements using Google or by asking the department chair. Look at
the CVs of recent graduates and advanced graduate students.
There are two questions that I’d like address before we move on. First, do you have to be a
professor after graduate school? Of course not! Being a professor is like any other job. Quit if
you don’t like it. If you hate academia, you will be much happier in other jobs. However, most
academic graduate programs don’t train you for jobs other than being a professor. A lot of
professors have never had any other job. So, yes, you can have a career goal other than being a
professor, but the Ph.D. program is usually not good training for that job.
Second, what about stand-alone M.A. programs that are not part of Ph.D. programs? This is a
tricky question, but my sense is that if you have a bad GPA or GRE, or you aren’t sure about
academia, then you might try the M.A. program, get good grades, and transfer. But be warned, it
can be hard to transfer credits to a Ph.D. program and the M.A. by itself doesn’t do much for you
out on the labor market. Furthermore, since M.A. students are only enrolled for a few semesters,
they may not get as much attention as undergraduates or full time doctoral students.
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Chapter 2: Picking a Graduate Program
Once you have applied, you will hopefully have some success. If you have only one offer of
admission, you should probably accept it unless the financial support is very bad or the program
has a terrible track record in graduating students and placing them in desirable positions. If you
have more than one offer, you should choose higher ranked programs, but don’t obsess over
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small differences in prestige. In addition to overall reputation, you should pay close attention to
the program’s culture and style. You can learn about a department’s culture by asking recent
graduates, current students and faculty, and your professors who may have heard about the
quality of training. Graduate programs fall into the following four types, starting with the worst:
Toxic Graduate Program – Some departments provide no support for students and seem happy
pitting students against each other in zero sum games (e.g., grading exams on an x% fail rule).
Signs of the toxic graduate program: nobody has graduated in a while; placement is bad; low
morale among students and faculty; etc. Only go here as a last resort.
Benign Neglect Program – This characterizes most graduate programs. A few good students get
support from the faculty, but otherwise, it’s “every man for himself.” Signs of benign neglect:
the program has no consistent record of graduation or placement, but you see the occasional
success story; people talk about individual supportive faculty, not about any broader system for
helping students.
The Workshop System – The program has clusters of scholars, who work with graduate student
“apprentices.” The professors are organized around seminars that function as graduate training
seminars. In sociology, the workshop system is common in areas like demography, organization
research and medical sociology. The physical sciences are often organized around laboratories. A
good system, but if you aren’t in the workshop, it can be lonely and tough. Signs of a good
workshop system: faculty routinely publish with students; the department produces leaders in
specific research areas; they have big grants to support graduates student research assistants and/
or post-doctoral students.
The Supportive Overall Program – The program has a well thought out set of courses that
exposes most students to what they need. The professors are really good at helping and
mentoring students. There are enough sources of financial aid so students can learn the academic
craft and earn a living. Signs of the overall supportive system: few involuntary drop outs for
failing exams or fighting with faculty; strong placement in multiple specialties (not just the ones
tied to workshops); consistent publication by grad students in good journals; high morale in a
broad cross section of the grad student population; support for different career paths. For
example, students aiming for a position at a liberal arts college will need a different set of skills
than those aiming for a research career in a large university.
There are other factors that should go into your decision, but this four part typology will help you
understand which programs are likely to help you complete your graduate degree in a reasonable
amount of time. Also, as with any career decision, the quality of the applicant matters the most.
You might survive the highly toxic programs because of intelligence and persistence. On the
other hand, you will fail in a supportive program if you are flaky.
One final comment on the typology. These internal department conditions can be short lived as
faculty enter and leave a program. A program with a few solid workshops may degenerate into a
toxic program when the most active professors retire or leave. A toxic program may turnaround
with a cohort of new professors ready to make things work. Get current information from recent
graduates and make sure that there are at least a few good professors will be active while you are
a student.