academic career advice

[mayanorange]

So have we concluded they all suck in their own ways? I think the statement that academic jobs are few and far between is super true in both UK and US. DH is a Brit btw and we have friends on both sides of the pond in both academic and industry/govt jobs. Most of us scientists would relish a non-academic job because of the high stress to publish like a mad fool and make your students happy all to maybe not get tenure after 6 yrs of working your a$$ off. There are so many universities that intentionally hire 2-3 people for each potential tenure track. The results are bloody and horrible. But the freedom academia brings is wonderful, so if you can tough out those 6 yrs, you get to be the snob and can do what you please after that. We have friends struggling in both countries in that pre-stability position and it wreaks havoc on families. And unfortunately, UK funding is way worse than US and both are getting worse by the minute, especially for non-applied (and largely non-human) research. I'd love to be in pure science (biomechanics of gait and stability), but funding would never happen for my ideas unless I can make it work in humans, which isn't always feasible.

I hear ya on the gov't jobs too. I collaborate with NASA and it makes academic bureaucracy look like a cakewalk. They're constantly rearranging groups, can't make a decision to save their lives because too many committees have to review, etc. And as you were saying, it all depends who's president too! We'd love to milk the current state of W's let's go back to the moon thing, but at the pace NASA implements research, etc. it's going to be too late and we'll have a new pres who shifts the focus back off NASA. Ah well. I have fun while I can and our lab will move on to other applications, but it would be disappointing if our work didn't go to the moon as planned- because how cool would that be??

[Duck on Wheels]

I'm not in biology. You know that, of course, since I'm your mom. You also know that I've been in a contract research firm and now at a university. Pros of contract research were an immediate permanent contract (but lately we've been seeing that the word "permanent" doesn't count for much because if the funding runs dry they restructure and drop whoever they think won't bring in funding in the new field they've decided to focus on. Pro 2: the wages were higher. But that also meant we had to "underbid" ourseves to compete for projects and were always either doing quick-and-dirty work or unpaid overtime to make our deadlines within budget. Now that I have university tenure, I still have to chase grant money, but it's for my grad students and not so much for me. I only need to cover extra expenses, like field work costs and some "pocket money" to attend conferences and such. I also enjoy teaching, even though it has its down sides as well. And now that I've finally made full professor, I'm earning pretty well. Universities can be lousy at personnel management, though. I've been in one downright poisonous department a few years back. So what impression did you have of folks at the dep. that's offered you a job? In a sense, you were interviewing them as well as the other way around.

Bear in mind that I didn't choose my initial contract research job because I thought I'd like it better than teaching, or because I liked the department, or because I was happy with the contract details. I "chose" it because it was the one job offer I had in the same city as your Dad was working. When I started to feel burnt out, I changed jobs. By then I had enough publications and so on to compete for a 3-year grant or a tenured teaching job or ... whatever. In other words, you're not making a life-long choice; you're making a choice that will open up some options down the line, but maybe help less on others. I think the job offer involves lots of teaching but not much time for research ...? Then too, it's a 1-year job. Well, for 1 year you can afford to miss out on field work because you still have things you can publsh from your PhD, given a bit of writing time. So you're not likely to close off the research option, but you can strengthen your teaching option. A big question is -- When do you have to answer? I.e. Do you have to answer already before you know if BF is being offered a job in the same place? That does seem likely, right? And if so, it's a pretty rare situation, that two early career academics both find jobs on the same campus.

But you know all this. Talk it over with BF, and then go with your gut feeling. Whatever you decide, just don't look back. You'll have made the right decision for you. Have faith in your own judgement and keep looking forward.

[salsabike]

I think enough has been said on the pros and cons of academia and those points all make sense, so I won't add to them. I HAVE seen the west coast of Wales and it is absolutely stunningly gorgeous, just fyi.

[Aquila]

I teach English at a US regional university, so take what I have to say with a large block of salt.

The make or break for me would be teaching. I enjoy teaching a lot. If I didn't, I'd have left in grad school (because there's no point to getting a PhD in Shakespeare stuff if you don't like to teach, since Bill Gates doesn't seem to keep a staff full around) before the degree.

The pleasures of teaching are big for me, as is the flexibility. The committee work is only meaningful if you care about teaching and making the community work. The research is pleasureable sometimes, but always a struggle, especially for those of us rather in the boonies.

Good luck with your decision, and congrats on the job offer!!