Re: Is This Living? A Survey on Life Before Tenure

[Deborah Martinson <dmartin@oxy.edu>]

Anne Thorpe wrote:
> 
> Is This Living?  A Survey on Life Before Tenure
> 
> * A first-year graduate student was counseled by the department's graduate
> adviser that in order to survive a rigorous Ph.D. program she would need to
> "be a nun for the next four years."
> 
> * A lecturer (married, with two young children) teaching composition on a
> temporary but renewable appointment at a university in Los Angeles was
> counseled by the chair of the department to buy a futon and live in his
> office until he finished his dissertation.
> 
> * When a Ph.D. candidate informed one of her professors that she and her
> husband were planning to have a second child in the coming year, the
> professor responded derisively:  "You want to have another one?"
> 
> * One graduate student who took a leave of absence to travel around the
> world was advised by a professor to claim that she was making the trip in
> order to research at several libraries in Europe.
> 
> These statements and others I've collected from graduate students and
> untenured faculty members in the Los Angeles area seem to suggest that
> academics must become (or pose as) workaholics if they are to succeed
> professionally.  Some of the people I surveyed wondered if perhaps they
> weren't suited for academic life, or at least not if they must postpone
> personal fulfillment until they've their finished their dissertations,
> gotten jobs, and been awarded tenure (in all, often a ten-year process at
> minimum). These reports indicate a prevailing climate of self-denial which
> may or may not reflect the real or necessary demands of academia.
> 
> I'm hoping to broaden the scope of this survey for a presentation I'll be
> making at the CCCC next month.  As I mentioned, the survey so far has been
> limited to graduate students and untenured faculty members in Southern
> California.  I'd like to find out if these statements are representative of
> the experiences of graduate students, teachers and professors around the
> country.  Have most of you also been told that such single-mindedness is
> necessary in this profession?  In your experience, has this really been
> necessary?  Have you found ways to balance a personal life with a
> professional one?  If so, how?  I'm hoping that this survey will help
> assess the quality of academic life today--and, if necessary, point out
> ways to improve it.
> 
> The survey follows.  I would greatly appreciate your participation in this
> study.  And, because I can't afford mass-mailing, I would appreciate your
> passing this survey on to anyone who considers themselves to be part of the
> "profession"--which I'm defining as those who teach English (composition or
> literature), run writing programs or writing centers at the post-secondary
> level.  I won't be using your name or e-mail address, but I would encourage
> you to take whatever steps you feel are necessary to ensure anonymity.
> Please return completed surveys to me at:
> 
> thorpe@scf.usc.edu          or
> 
> Anne Thorpe
> Department of English, MC-0354
> University of Southern California
> University Park
> Los Angeles, CA  90089-0354
> 
> SURVEY
> 
> 1. Number of years in this profession (including graduate school):12
> 2. Age:50
> 3. Sex:F
> 4. Current Position:Asst. Prof. English Writing/Women's studies
> 5. Please describe the position (e.g., is it full-time? tenured? staff or
> faculty? are you a graduate student? what courses do you teach? how many do
> you teach each year? how many years have you been employed in this
> position?):
> 
> 6. Name of college/university/organization and location:
> Briefly describe the college/university/organization (e.g., large community
> college in an urban setting, small liberal arts college, research
> university in a mid-sized city) and the sort of student it generally
> attracts:  Full time; Continued Appt. not tenured; promotable; (small 1600 pop. private liberal arts college; multicultural emphasis; bright 
students (1200 ave. SAT--which doesn't say it all , of course)
> 
> 7. Highest degree attained and year completed (or anticipated date of
> completion): Phd; 1991
> 
> 8. Are you single/married/divorced/living with someone?  Number of years? Married 26 yrs
> 
> 9. Do you have any children?  If so, how many?  What are their ages?  Did Two children;college age; still living at home--on way out I hope
> you have them before, during or after graduate school?  If you don't have  They were10 and 12 approx. when I began grad school
> children, do you plan to?  When?
> 
> 10. Do you believe that a successful academic career requires excessive
> sacrifice?  Please explain why or why not.  If yes, what kinds of
> sacrifices must be made?  Yes. Graduate school demands academic focus; being a professor--at least where I am --demands hours of service to the 
college --committee work and lots of other--and publications; conferences
> 
> 11. Would you say that most of your colleagues or superiors share this
> belief?  Please explain why or why not.  Yes. I think we are all workaholics and obsessed to some degree. I don't know anyone who is not, 
except those rare few who don't do much and are either riddled by guilt, 
or dismissed by the faculty
> 
> 12. Have you received any advice about the lifestyle this profession
> requires?  If yes, please paraphrase the comment below.  Describe the
> context in which this advice was given (was it solicited? who gave it to
> you? when?)While at USC, I was told this was a rigorous course of study and  if and when I got a job it would be even more time consuming (and 
exhilerating); several prof's told me this--in English dept.--and they 
were right.  No one suggested I become a nun, but all definitely saw who 
would go the distance, and who could not or would not
> 
> 13. What effect, if any, did this advice have on you?
>   I was determined--absolutely in love with literature, rhetoric,theory
> 14. Have you encountered any negative reactions from colleagues or
> superiors to any personal decisions you've made?  Please detail both the
> decision(s) and the reactions that you received.
>While in grad school, a young woman also in grad school told someone in my hearing that "wealthy" older women (40) had no place there--I was not 
wealthy, did not consider 40 older--and worked like hell. I was furious. 
Most of the professors knew, after the first year, who would keep at it. 
One junior prof told me i reminded her of her mother--and must have spent 
hours at the Lancome counter. I hadn't thought about such stuff in years. 
She also told me I was too outgoing and "fun" to make it in academia. She 
was right in part. I have made moves to adapt to the culture of the 
college, but I have maintained personality (as if I had a choice). 
> 15. Have you altered your career plans at all because of the sacrifices
> some positions seem to demand?  Please explain.
>  I made more as a high school teacher than as asst. prof. I did not plan on teaching writing and literature; I did not plan on being 
"untenured." But overall I count myself lucky--good job; well-respected; 
fairly secure; will have tenure someday, perhaps. Have all the rights and 
privileges of the tenured--we are even getting sabbaticals soon--but of 
course every budget cut makes us more vulnerable. (There are two of us in 
this anomalous position).
> 16. Any additional comments?
>  You have to love it. I can't imagine making it with little children--perhaps one if you have money--; it is unfortunate that 
husbands feel they occasionally need attention. If not married, marry a 
saint, or someone in the profession [mutally exclusive?] I sometimes am 
so tired I can't move; at other times--most times--I do not regret a 
minute.  This profession is not for the faint of heart.
> Anne Thorpe
> Department of English, MC-0354
> University of Southern California
> Los Angeles, CA  90089