Game On. The job hunt has begun.

(Guest post from anonymous blogger. YMMV.)

It’s appropriate that my first post is written today as it is also the day that I am submitting my very first academic job application. It would have been better if I could have written a post prior to this to introduce myself a bit, you know, provide a little context, but like so many of you out there, I am a procrastinator.

I suppose I should be more clear: I am incredibly busy with professional and personal projects; I stay up late, get up early, get distracted, and yes also find myself watching videos of baby goats for hours. Sometimes it is hard to get it all done in advance.  So now you know.  Considering that I am blogging anonymously, I suppose the less you know about me the better.

Here’s what you should know about me: First, I am on the job market this year. It’s my first year out there and I am scared. I think this is pretty typical and I hope to talk about this more in a future post. Second, this is a test year on the market. What does that mean? Well, I guess it means that I am getting my feet wet, testing the waters if you will. I could finish my dissertation this year and dive into a postdoc or swim off after the sparkly narwhal that is a job right out of the gates, but I have my water wings on. If it doesn’t work out, I can float around in my university’s pool until kids’ swim is over about a year and a half from now. Why does this matter? Because it changes the way I apply for jobs. Only being ABD and not having my PhD in hand means I can shoot for the moon but I’ll probably just land on that smelly hunk of cheese in the dumpster behind the department.

Taking a test year on the market is a contentious topic in the academic blogosphere and seems to depend a lot on your field (for some links to what’s out there scroll on down to the bottom). There are good points on both sides, which I will summarize as such:

Cons:

• Committees sometimes summarily dismiss all ABD candidates so you don’t stand a chance. This seems more common in the humanities and less so in the social sciences and bioanth in particular but it is something to keep in mind.
• A trial run can be demoralizing (since you may not be at your most competitive).
• You are taking valuable time and energy away from finishing your dissertation and your post-doc and write up applications (things which you may have a better shot at getting).
• You might get a job that isn’t quite what you wanted, isn’t in a place that you wanted, or maybe isn’t as good as you wanted and take it because . . . well it’s a job.

Pros:

• You will gain valuable experience in preparing an application.
• You may even generate some buzz about yourself and get experience with a job talk.
• It will force you to think about your research in a package-able and ultimately more manageable way.
• You have a chance to gain important insights into the weaknesses of your application and can address them for your second go at the market the following year.
• You may actually get a job . . . I hear this is great motivation to finish.
• You can avoid getting steamrolled by student loans without a real salary and the adjunct death trap altogether.

This last point for me is pretty critical. Not because it is my situation just yet, but because it is a pretty dire one that a lot of academics are finding themselves in today. By taking a test year, you give yourself a greater shot at getting a job. You maintain the benefits of your institution while applying (library, research, and professionalization resources) and you still have your affiliation with your graduate university, making you a better candidate. AND you get two years to find something!!!

I am going for it. I have already decided to make a go of the trial by fire year. My reasons for doing so are both structural and personal. My program has provided me with floaties but I am pretty ready to swim on my own. My publication record is okay but it could be better. My dissertation is in good shape and I could finish it in a few months if I had to (this is a must if you want to go on the market). I have a lot of support from my adviser and department to apply (another must as your adviser and committee will be vouching for your capability to finish the dissertation in time to start the job you are applying for. If they aren’t on board, don’t do it). But most importantly, there are a lot of great jobs out there right now for bioanthros, especially for a biocultural like me (we can save this discussion for another day). I just feel like I can’t afford to not try for them.

My parting words to you today are these: If you are taking a trial year, go big or go home. Find your dream jobs and apply for those. Don’t apply for a job that you don’t really want but would be tempted to take just because you think nothing else will come along.  Just don’t put your self in the position where you have to make that choice. Think about what you want from your career and go after it (Think about what this really means to you. It might be more than just getting a tenure track job). Your chances of getting the job might be less but the trial year provides you a safety net. If you shoot for the moon, you might just get it. If you land on the dumpster cheese . . . well . . . there is always next year.

Links to relevant articles about going on the job market ABD:

https://chroniclevitae.com/news/629-the-professor-is-in-i-m-still-an-abd-should-i-go-on-the-market

https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2014/09/10/essay-how-tell-if-grad-students-are-ready-full-academic-job-search

https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2014/09/24/essay-argues-going-market-you-are-done-dissertation-may-be-wise-move

Wait, I’m not a grad student anymore?

Guest post by Dr. Cara Ocobock:

I thought my final year of graduate school which consisted of finishing and defending my dissertation, applying for jobs, teaching, planning a wedding, and then planning a move would have adequately prepared me for my first year as a faculty member. I figured the differing demands on my time and attention would be similar to what I would face in an academic job. Now when I look back, I realize that my final year of graduate school was basically summer vacation.

• First, I can no longer spend 98% of my time in pajama pants or jeans. I know this may sound silly, but having to look semi-professional on a daily basis was a more difficult adjustment than I had expected…also expensive!
• Second, I have had to completely readjust my perception of time. During graduate school I used to think I needed at least a four-hour block of time to accomplish anything meaningful. This strategy worked because I had that freedom in my schedule. I no longer have those gloriously long, uninterrupted stretches of time. The majority of my days are now filled with classes, meetings, research students, office hours, and colleagues. Because of this, I have had to master the art of fifteen-minute productivity. Those short bursts of time in between various responsibilities are golden nuggets of writing and editing. It was difficult and frustrating to adjust to this at first. I felt like I never got anything done since I could only write a few sentences at a time. I soon realized those sentences here and there quickly added up during the day. It also served the purpose of keeping whatever I am working on fresh in my mind throughout the day and from day-to-day.
• Third, the constant pulls in different directions also meant I had to shift focus quickly. This has actually helped me a great deal. I rarely have the opportunity to stare at uncooperative data for hours on end, which invariably lead to me banging my head against the table and seeking out the nearest tub of ice cream. Being forced to frequently change gears prevents me from getting frustrated with what I am doing. So much so, it has now become a conscious decision to step away from what I am doing when I notice my thoughts wandering or frustration rising. Rather than bashing my head, I continue the productivity in a different direction.
• Fourth, I needed to lose the guilt I felt when not working. When I was a grad student, I would feel incredible guilt when I wasn’t spending every waking moment (and even the sleeping moments) not working. I would feel guilty about not working, which made me feel horrible about myself, which made it near impossible to work, which increased the guilt, and so on and so forth into the spiral many of us are familiar with. We need balance in life. Let me repeat…WE NEED BALANCE.  Working out, reading science fiction or the latest Krakauer book, occasionally seeing our loved ones, and taking 20 minutes out of your day to build a Lego while watching reality TV shows I am too embarrassed to name. This is the list of things I do that are not work related. And they are necessary. They make a better person if for no other reason than they allow me to turn my mind off, allow me to recharge. I have dropped the guilt and embraced the time I take for myself and for my loved ones. And that, in the end does affect my work output… for the better.
• At the moment, there isn’t a “Fifth” because I haven’t figured it all out, and I doubt I ever will. For example, I still haven’t learned how to say “no” when asked to take on extra work – and this includes saying “no” to myself. 

I am sure all of you reading this have your own incredible insights on the transition from grad student to faculty – please share in the comments section.

This is a constant learning process, and honestly, I fail all the time. But, those failures inform, I make the correction, and I move on knowing better. Despite all the changes I have had to make as a faculty member, I still delight in those rare days without classes and meetings where I can go un-showered, stay in my pajama pants, and just write.

U of Missouri Health Insurance Fiasco and the Exploitation of Graduate Students

(Huge thanks to guest blogger, Colleen Young, a PhD student at the University of Missouri. Thanks for speaking out!)

Like most academics, I didn’t have the summer “vacation” that many non-academics purport we have. Meaning, I worked. Hard. All. Summer. I’m going into my 3rd year as a Ph.D. student at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and this summer was the furthest from sipping a fruity drink on the beach that I’ve ever had. I took a language course for my area of research, worked on my dissertation proposal, and wrote as much as I could on papers that continually get pushed down by the ever-increasing weight being added by just about everything else required as a Ph.D. student (*deep inhale*). And (*exhale*) I don’t have a break. This academic year is going to be one of my most demanding years (I do fantasize that it gets better). In preparation for this tumultuous year, I sat down at my desk on Friday, August 14th, to clear my inbox.

Sifting through dozens of emails, my eyes caught one unique subject: “Changes in Student Health Insurance Subsidy for Graduate Teaching and Research.” As I read the email, I grew frustrated and angry (however, I just learned about the sympathetic nervous system in gross anatomy, so I also relished this intimate educational moment). The subject was surprisingly deceptive: The content of the message did not describe “changes,” rather it announced ending student health insurance. The content of the message is also deceiving: the administration claimed that their hands are tied as the IRS will not “allow” them to provide insurance subsidies to their graduate students as we are classified as employees. #ThanksObama.

We’ve all taken the GREs -- sorting through these word problems wasn’t difficult for any of us. The university was not offering Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance to their graduate students, so the IRS threatened to penalize them. Rather than providing us with ACA-level health insurance for full-time employees following the employee mandate, the university decided to cut all of our insurance and hand us 55% of the stipend we should be receiving for one semester as compensation. What are they going to do with the extra ~$4,000,000 from the health insurance budget next year? Hire another football coach with a $4,000,000 salary? Graduate students, as employees of this university, should be provided with ACA-level health insurance that full-time employees receive, and at a lower cost because we make less. But, the administrators refused to solve this simple problem for their graduate students.

The university claims that they were not aware of this upcoming problem, stating that they were informed of the potential issue on July 21, 2015. However, the state of Missouri and the administration have known about this since 2013. The IRS initially announced that they would be changing their interpretations of employees for health insurance coverage in 2013. (Legislators in the state of Missouri actively refused to participate in the ACA by not expanding Medicaid. Further, the administration at Mizzou is sympathetic to the state’s resistance by choosing to wishfully wait for the ACA to be overturned, rather than figure out a way to provide adequate health care coverage for its students.) The administration was notified in early July of this year that the legislation would be decided on within the next few weeks. Faculty and students weren’t notified about any of this until 14 hours before student health insurance was cut.

This is an example of legislation taken with poor administrative oversight resulting in policies that explicitly exploit graduate students. Graduate students at Mizzou cannot claim they work more than 20 hours a week per teaching or research appointment (0.5 FTE). Further, “Student Employees should not be scheduled to work more than an average of 28 hours per week across all concurrent university jobs.” We are effectively pigeonholed as part-time employees. This limit was supposed to protect students from being overworked. However, students are given the burden of teaching and grading exams for overcrowded undergraduate courses without being compensated for going over 20 hours a week (and many students do). We have to work as many hours as it takes to get the job done. We work more for less pay, while not qualifying for health insurance that full-time employees qualify for.

Doctoral students are highly qualified people who are willing to make low wages (~$1000 to $2000 per month, sometimes less!) for 5 to 10 years, often working 60+ hours a week. We often could not possibly work, and indeed, at some schools, are often prohibited from working, additional jobs outside of the university. The loss of the health insurance support at Mizzou is 1.5 to 3 months of pay (which is almost always budgeted in for grants, so the health insurance fees paid are not solely from tuition revenue). Is it easy for anyone to suddenly lose that much pay?

Sadly, I’m not that surprised by any of this. Health insurance was about the last thing that the university could take away from its graduate students. And the administration never effectively communicates with any of its educators and staff. These are expected actions by an administration that continually exploits and treats graduate students with egregious disrespect. In the past few years, administrators at the University of Missouri have made clear their lack of commitment to graduate education:

1. The student parent center was shut down (actually the roof of a balcony collapsed because of poor safety inspections and standards, and they chose not to repair or replace it). 
2. Affordable on-campus housing was closed (see above ^). 
3. Salaries have remained stagnant while the cost of living has increased. 
4.  Fees are increasing while resources are being cut. 
5. Tuition waivers for quarter-time Teaching Assistants were slashed. 

I am one of the few lucky graduate students; I received an external grant from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program. My colleagues aren’t as fortunate. I have to watch many of my peers suffer, stagnate, and sometimes drop out. Average salary in the anthropology department is below the poverty line. (For a one person family unit, the poverty line in Missouri is $11,770 a year.) Out of the 31 graduate students in the department, 8-10 are offered 0.25 time TA positions that provide only $5,508 - $6,059 (M.A. – Ph.D.) a year; and 5-6 students are offered 0.5 time TA positions that provide only $11,017 - $12,118 (M.A. – Ph.D.) a year. That’s all our department can afford. The rest of the students must find work in other departments or off campus.

Our highest quality students seem to suffer the most. A friend of mine, and a student in the anthropology graduate program, Rachel Munds, had to find a second, off-campus job to cover her monthly expenses. She TAs on campus in the biology department more than 20 hours a week (she was hired as a 0.5 TA, but works well over what she is paid for), and works at PetSmart roughly15 hours a week. I’m appalled by how much Rachel has to work just to pay her bills rather than focus on her research…research that has been recognized at many levels. In 2013, Rachel discovered a new species of slow loris, Nycticebus kayan, and has worked on several articles on genotype–phenotype mapping and species recognition in primates. Further, if she doesn’t complete this research she will not be able to complete her degree. The standards of science, the documentation of evidence, cannot be met in hour increments between teaching, grading, studying, cooking, completing chores, meeting family obligations, and cashiering.

This is at no fault to the department. Anthropology faculty are continually working hard to find resources and oases of support in the desert of educational support at Mizzou. Last year our faculty worked on a plan to provide more tuition waivers for our graduate students. To do so, they created more 0.25 time TA positions, and worked closely with students to apply for external sources of funding. What did the administration surprise us with at the end of last year? They cut tuition waivers for 0.25 TA positions.

In addition to these financially taxing matters, the administration’s unconscionable actions leave graduate students stressed, without housing, tired, and, with less time to focus on our research, ill-equipped for the job market. The morale among graduate students is one of defeat. We work hard. We teach courses, grade exams, have lab responsibilities, do research, take exams, go to class, network with peers; we go home to families with spouses and kids and dogs and cats. And we don’t receive the support we need, and deserve. We’re expected to wine and dine as professionals, but we can barely afford to meet basic needs.

As conditions continually worsen here, students are speaking out about the administration’s egregious, unforgivable actions. A walkout and rally are planned for Wednesday, August 26th, if the university doesn’t address our demands. Students are sharing their stories about how traumatic an immediate and unforeseen loss of health care has been. In the Forum on Graduate Rights on Facebook, one student shared her experience with the loss of health care and with the administration:

“It appears that President Wolfe's Executive Assistant is simply sending generic emails in response to student concerns about health insurance, including my story detailing my miscarriage and having to desperately register for some form of health insurance while rivers of blood and my actual pregnancy were leaving my body… I understand he must be busy, but that was absolutely ridiculous. Is the administration completely heartless??” – Natalie Tartiere (Posted at 1:16 PM, August 20th, 2015 in the Forum on Graduate Rights on Facebook)

(After stories and news of the walkout spread, the university responded with a one-year solution to our health insurance, which stated they will “…defer implementation of its decision regarding graduate student health insurance. As a result, the university will pay for health insurance for eligible graduate students.” We are still planning the walkout and rally because they have not adequately addressed our health coverage with a long-term plan, nor have they addressed any of our other demands.)

Administrators, like President Timothy Wolfe, are exactly the problem. President Wolfe received a B.S. in business, and graduated from Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He has worked in sales and management positions at IBM and other companies. His résumé doesn’t lie – he is great at what he does – he is successful at managing this school system like a corporation. However, it is a corporation that is destined to fail because of a bloated (in size and salary) administration. Compounded with a lack of state funding for higher education, the expansion of administrative oversight is making failing businesses out of university campuses, and is taking away the ability for educators to do their jobs effectively.

Unfortunately, the exploitation of graduate student labor is not isolated to the University of Missouri, Columbia. Graduate students across the nation struggle to attain their degrees and support themselves. Graduate student loan interest rates are an outrageous 6%, much higher than undergraduate rates. Further, the few resources that are offered to graduate students usually do not extend to their families. Even high-ranking universities, such as UC Berkeley, don’t adequately provide for their graduate students and families. Celeste Henrickson, a recent Ph.D. graduate from the anthropology department at UC Berkeley noted:

“I remember from the Grad insurance at Berkeley that there was a serious lack of insurance support for families and significant others. I was really thankful I had neither at the time, but it angers me that the university was so unsupportive of grad student families. I guess they expect us not to have them, even though that is the exact age when many start a family?”

Providing graduate students with their basic needs benefits everyone. At a time when societal and environmental issues desperately need quality research for solutions, providing graduate students with their basic needs to conduct research and teach is critical. Further, allowing graduate students to partake in innovative research brings prestige and revenue to universities. There is tremendous emphasis at any university on research output and obtaining external funds to conduct research. Research that directly and indirectly benefits broader society. Research that factors into how the university ranks nationally. Research that keeps our students up-to-date on the latest ideas/findings in their field of study. Research that is required for graduate students to get a job after grad school. Graduate students execute tasks on research projects and are integral to the process of new discoveries. They are also critical for teaching the next generation of undergraduates. Graduate students need to be provided with the time and proper working conditions to conduct their research to the best of their ability.

A step forward for all grad programs would be to unionize. Many graduate programs are taking this necessary step, and are seeing the benefits of working as a collective body. Graduates students are a powerful, smart group. If we come together, we can push back. The very nature of graduate school means that there is an ever-changing pool of workers that must understand the challenges of the system and the administration they work for. Unionization will afford graduate students with the power to speak with one voice and the continuity needed to address all needs as they arise. We are employees. We are educators. We are students. We deserve to be treated better with a fair salary, and benefits. We deserve to be compensated for every hour that we work.

Alas, as I enter my second week of anatomy this Monday and prepare for a Graduate Student Walkout on Wednesday, I have a diverse understanding of what it means to have a spine. In addition to being an almost professional biological anthropologist, I have developed quite a repertoire of skills as an activist. My cause? Graduate student and educator’s rights.



-Colleen B. Young
Ph.D. student
Biological Anthropology
University of Missouri, Columbia
Cbyoung44 at gmail dot com
@colleenyoung1
#GradInsurance #GradsDo

Grad & Postdoc opportunities at Max Planck!

Several funded opportunities for prospective PhD students and postdocs are available at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig.

PhD opportunity:
The Leipzig School of Human Origins, a joint Ph.D. program of the University of Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology invites applications to its PhD program. 
Deadline: January 31, 2012

The Research Group on Plant Foods and Hominin Dietary Ecology in the Department of Human Evolution is seeking one or more Ph.D. students to study plant microfossils and/or plant biomarkers as a record of plant foods in human prehistory. The project may involve developing novel methods for recovering evidence of plant food consumption, or collecting dental calculus and other samples for analysis of plant microremains. Other projects focusing on the role of plant foods throughout hominin evolution may also be considered.Postdoc opportunities at Max Planck:

Applicants should hold a Master's degree or equivalent in biology, anthropology, evolutionary ecology, or a related field. A good basic knowledge of the hominin fossil and archaeological record, and of common analytical methods, including statistics, is important. The fellowship is limited to 3 years. The student will receive a fellowship according to the funding guidelines of the Max Planck Society. The working environment of the institute is English-speaking. Accepted students will be a part of the International Max Planck Research School . Candidates should apply directly through the IMPRS website by 31 January 2011. For further information, contact Amanda Henry (amanda_henryeva.mpg.de).



I. Post-Doctoral Position in Biological Anthropology (deadline December 15, 2011)
The Research Group on "Plant Foods and Hominin Dietary Ecology" in the Department of Human Evolution of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig (Germany) invites applications for a post-doctoral researcher in biological anthropology. The research group is committed to exploring the relationships between the plant component of hominin diets and aspects of their biology, behavior, and evolution.
The position is a research-only post, with no teaching obligations. The initial contract, which is two years and may be extended, will begin March 2012 at the earliest. The project will provide substantial support in a highly stimulating environment. We offer a salary according to German public service regulations (TVöD-Bund). The successful candidate will work on aspects of plant foods in the dietary ecology of later hominins and modern humans, and will be expected to assist in current projects and to bring novel research foci to the group.

We are particularly interested in candidates with a strong background in one or more of the following: analysis of residues using mass spectrometry; human or primate dietary ecology; plant microfossil research; but will consider any suitably qualified candidate in a related field. The selected candidate must have a PhD and ideally will have post-doctoral experience with a strong track record of research.

Applications should be sent by email as a single PDF including: a cover letter, curriculum vitae, reprints of selected publications, short statement of research interests (2pg maximum), and the names of three referees, to Amanda Henry (amanda_henryeva.mpg.de). Reviews of applications will begin December 15, 2011 and will proceed until the position is filled.



II. Post-Doctoral Position in Zooarchaeology (deadline December 31, 2011)
The position is a research post with a specialization in zooarchaeology. In addition to zooarchaeological analysis of archaeological assemblages, we will consider favorably researchers developing novel or interesting methods addressing faunal topics including bone surface modification analysis, bone tool analysis, burned bone analysis, combined isotopic and faunal analysis, seasonality, migration, and taphonomic studies. Experimental programs are welcome, and the department is prepared to invest in equipment to support a research program. While the focus of the Department is on the archaeological record through to the expansion of modern humans, we will also consider favorably researchers specialized in Upper Paleolithic or LSA subsistence and prepared to start a program of comparison to earlier assemblages.

The selected candidate will have a Ph.D. and a significant track record of research. The initial length of the appointment is two years but the contract is extendable. For further information please contact Dr. Shannon McPherron (mcpherro@eva.mpg.de).


III. Post- Doctoral Position in Physical Anthropology (deadline December 31, 2011)
The position is a research post. We expect the successful candidate to work closely with Professor Jean-Jacques Hublin on the analysis of the Middle to Late Pleistocene cranio-dental fossil record. The selected candidate will have a Ph.D. and a significant track record of research.

The initial length of the appointment is two years but the contract is extendable. For further information please contact Professor Jean-Jacques Hublin (hublin@eva.mpg.de).

IV. Post-Doctoral Position in Paleontology (deadline February 28, 2012)
This position is a research post. We expect the successful candidate to conduct research on the Plio-Pleistocene African hominin fossil record. The selected candidate will have a Ph.D. and a significant track record of research. The initial length of the appointment is two years but the contract is extendable. For further information please contact Professor Jean-Jacques Hublin (hublin@eva.mpg.de).
 
Note: Please check here for specific application information as in some cases you will need to mail hard copies of materials.
ETA: Sorry for the wonky formatting. Cut and paste can be a cruel mistress.

Open House for prospective grad students at Purdue University

Considering a PhD in anthropology? If you're in the Midwest consider swinging by Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana to attend the Purdue Anthropology Graduate Program Open House on November 11, 2011. Purdue is the home of some really great primatology research by Melissa Remis and her students, including Brandi Wren who as a graduate student started a fantastic primatological field school in South Africa.

Opportunity for future PhD student

This fantastic opportunity just in from Pablo Nepomnaschy. I'm thinking maybe I need to get another PhD....

We are seeking to recruit a graduate student interested in pursuing a PhD on the early development of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (“stress”) axis.

Project description: The stress axis plays a critical role in determining an individual’s ability to cope with challenges throughout the lifetime. However, the extent to which stress axis function is ‘calibrated’ by prenatal stress at different gestational stages is unclear. This project involves the use of a unique longitudinal data set to explore the impact of stress experienced during the first six weeks of gestation on post-natal stress response in later life.

Qualifications: We are seeking an individual with:

• Excellent academic record
• Background in evolutionary biology, physiology, genetics and/or epigenetics
• An evident commitment and passion for science

Start : ideally, September 2011

We offer: annual stipend, research funds, training at the interface of evolutionary biology with physiology, development, genetics and epigenetics, innovative intellectual environment

Institution and location: Human Evolutionary Studies Program, Faculty of Health Sciences and Dept. of Biology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.

PIs: Dr. Pablo A. Nepomnaschy and Dr. Bernard Crespi

Required materials: Please send a letter of intent and a CV to Dr. Katrina Salvante at kgsalvan@sfu.ca

Expectations, meet reality.

A powerful essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education traces the evolution of the career expectations engendered by studying at an R1 institution, trained by faculty who themselves come from R1 and elite institutions, and the dangers of having no career development training in the meantime. Most doctoral students are exposed only to that research intensive setting and their primary models are faculty who have experienced only that research intensive setting.

"Virtually all graduate students receive their Ph.D.'s from a research university. They get their first classroom experience there, and their dissertations are mainly guided by professors whose research occupies a prominent place in their work lives. We should hardly be surprised that dissertation advisers become the first role models for graduate students....
But most academic jobs aren't at research universities, and those other jobs look jarringly different to graduate students than the positions held by their role models."

So the die is cast - that's the culturally appropriate career path. The reality is that there are far fewer of these R1 positions available then there are new PhDs to fill them. There are of course many other models of higher education careers. Many doctoral students envision a life as a teaching-focused professor at a liberal arts college, perhaps like the one they attended as an undergraduate. But we don't learn how to pursue that and other options (community colleges, private high schools, industry, NGOs, etc.) while we're still in graduate school, largely because our mentors are incapable or unwilling to teach us about them (how many advisors do you know have talked their students out of applying for certain jobs because "they could do better"? I've seen it done, and have seen students just accept this as "wisdom." It gives me a pretty big sad.) We start applying for jobs with a model in mind and create heirarchies of acceptable positions, and many of us are caught blinking when we're left with a list of crossed-off job applications and no job. I've been called out by blog readers before as being a pessimist for pointing out that it's tough to make the transition from lecturer to tenure-track, but that really is the general reality. Why are we not discussing this WHILE we're still in school, before we hit the market and find out how hard the market hits back?

"It amounts to this: Graduate school is professional school, but most Ph.D programs badly neglect graduate students' professional development. We spend years of their training ignoring that development, and then, only at the last moment when students are about to hit the job market, do we attend to their immediate professional needs. By neglecting their career goals, we allow their desires to coalesce from their immediate surroundings—the research university—and to harden over time. We teach graduate students to want the kinds of jobs that most of them won't ever get."

A potential solution is to develop professional development seminars as integrated requirements for a doctoral degree. They exist in some places:

"For example, the University of Michigan's "Introduction to Graduate Studies" requires that beginning graduate students in English and modern languages interview a senior professor in the department, thereby offering a look upward at a role model's career. But the course also requires an outward-looking "Alternative Careers Workshop."

Graduate students in a seminar offered by the geography department at the University of Minnesota are visited by a series of professors who discuss not only conferences, research, and publishing but also the choice of a career path, as well as gender and class issues that occur in some workplaces and family circumstances that affect students' progress to the degree and often past it."

These programs sound like a great idea and I would have jumped at the chance to take a seminar like this when I was a student just as new faculty I go to workshops on grant writing, teaching, tenure, and publishing tips whenever I can. However, I think graduate students need to empower themselves now, rather than wait for their departments or advisors to initiate this kind of change. You should research job prospects in your discipline, even if you are years from entering the market. Talk to senior students and postdocs and find out what they've experienced - how many jobs have they applied for? Do they know how many people applied for each job? Were they open to lots of different kinds of jobs or were only R1 slots "acceptable", and why? How and why did they rank positions in a certain way? You should interview your advisors to get their take on hiring trends over the years. If you have an active graduate association, you could organize a series of symposia with alums who have landed tenure-track and other teaching and administrative positions to find out how they did it. Contact local community colleges to find out if they have faculty in your research area and ask to visit them, or invite them to speak to the grad students in your department.*

As I've said on this blog and as I myself seem to learn over and over again, grad school does feel like it takes forever and the dissertation feels like the end-all, be-all, but you just might be at this academic thing the rest of your life. It is how you hope to earn your living. Preparing for a full career, not just doing research, is essential to your well-being.

*Full disclosure: I didn't do any of this, but I really wish I had. But now that I have a PhD and a job, I've earned the right to tell you to do as I say, not as I do. Hurray!

Making a dent

Thanks to Katie Hinde via Mike Jarcho (both from UC Davis) for sending me a simple pictorial guide for those trying to explain to their friends and family (and self?)what the hell is the point of a Ph.D.

Grad-DITS

So I know that post title doesn't make sense but it will. Gradshare looks like a fantastic online community for graduate students. You can find peer-answered questions like:
What is the adviser's responsibility in preparing their student for a preliminary exam? What did or do you expect from your adviser?

What kinds of things can I be doing in my first year as a Ph.D. student to get ahead rather than wasting time?

I am a full time mother to a 7 month old and a full time PhD student. I am so stressed I think I am going crazy. Does anyone have any tips on being a great mommy and a great student if you dont have $$$ for daycare?

I recently published a collaborative article (Yay!) but I'm not sure how to include it on my CV. What is the proper format to give credit to my co-authors on my CV?

See? It's BANDIT for Grads! Grad-DITS! See what I did there? Um, guys??

In addition to the forums, there are dailyish blog posts, one of which linked to Richard Lawler's guide to going to grad school here on our very own BANDIT blog!

Before committing yourself to the academic path be sure to ask yourself Can Being a Lowly Grad Student Kill You?

Guide for students considering grad school

High fives, fist bumps, etc. to Rich Lawler, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at James Madison University, who is generously sharing with BANDIT a fantastic guide he wrote up in response to the number of questions he's received over the years from students interested in going to graduate school. Here's a snippet:

"Here is the only good reason to go to grad school:
--I am intellectually curious about a particular academic topic; I enjoy reading, thinking, writing, and researching about this topic and my motivation for studying this topic comes entirely from within. I understand that in order to gain further expertise in my chosen topic I need to pursue a post-graduate degree. I hope to use this degree in order to land a job in an academic (e.g., University or museum) or applied (e.g., conservation organization or non-profit agency) environment that takes advantage of my educational expertise.

Here are some terrifically bad reasons to go to grad school:
--I don’t know what else to do with my life so I’ll just go to grad school
--I think it’d be really cool to have a Ph.D. in something
--My parents have high expectations for me and I don’t want to let them down.
--I think that I kinda like Anthropology I guess, so I’ll just apply to grad school
--I got mostly A’s in college and I got a great GRE score so therefore I’m smart. Since grad school is just like undergrad, I’m certain I’ll succeed in grad school." (hee hee, right?)

Thanks, Rich! I'm sure this will be very useful for those of us mentoring undergraduates who are considering this kind of commitment.