So I was messing around with Google Analytics and realized that some people do still visit this blog, even though I haven't updated it in ages. Most of you seem to get here through searches for "tenure", so I thought I would say a little bit about professional life after tenure.
I think it is pretty normal to have a post-tenure depression or slump or blues or something. I really haven't.
In a lot of ways, things are pretty similar. I am teaching classes, doing research, some committee work, etc. Psychologically, things are way different mostly because the stakes feel so much lower. If I have a bad run in a class, ok. If I try something new and the students don't like it, ok. It was kind of amusing at my performance review this year because I had a new prep outside my field and the group-designed syllabus made the class kind of a disaster. It wasn't a horrible, but at my very teaching-focused institution, it wasn't great either. My chair was all concerned and acting like I should be too, but I really feel like I had to try it, I can learn from what didn't go well, and life goes on. Things are a lot more mellow with tenure.
I haven't had that same feeling about research yet. I like to go to the annual conference in my field, and I would feel like a loser to go and not present something so thus far I've been keeping the research productivity about the same.
But here's the neat thing: being over the hurdle of tenure means I get to think more about what I want to do, not what will get me the most tenure-important results the fastest. I just got a contract to work on a couple of edited books - a project that will take a couple of years, but that's ok. The area in which I am actually most interested in working can be kind of a process to get the data, but I feel like I have that time now.
I had heard that you get a lot more service when you get tenure, and I guess I am having a lot more stuff come up as possibilities, but if I think it will make me crazy, I just say no and so far that is working.
I am not planning on going up for full professor, and I think that takes a lot of the pressure off.
So all in all, things are pretty good. Thanks for checking in.
I think it is pretty normal to have a post-tenure depression or slump or blues or something. I really haven't.
In a lot of ways, things are pretty similar. I am teaching classes, doing research, some committee work, etc. Psychologically, things are way different mostly because the stakes feel so much lower. If I have a bad run in a class, ok. If I try something new and the students don't like it, ok. It was kind of amusing at my performance review this year because I had a new prep outside my field and the group-designed syllabus made the class kind of a disaster. It wasn't a horrible, but at my very teaching-focused institution, it wasn't great either. My chair was all concerned and acting like I should be too, but I really feel like I had to try it, I can learn from what didn't go well, and life goes on. Things are a lot more mellow with tenure.
I haven't had that same feeling about research yet. I like to go to the annual conference in my field, and I would feel like a loser to go and not present something so thus far I've been keeping the research productivity about the same.
But here's the neat thing: being over the hurdle of tenure means I get to think more about what I want to do, not what will get me the most tenure-important results the fastest. I just got a contract to work on a couple of edited books - a project that will take a couple of years, but that's ok. The area in which I am actually most interested in working can be kind of a process to get the data, but I feel like I have that time now.
I had heard that you get a lot more service when you get tenure, and I guess I am having a lot more stuff come up as possibilities, but if I think it will make me crazy, I just say no and so far that is working.
I am not planning on going up for full professor, and I think that takes a lot of the pressure off.
So all in all, things are pretty good. Thanks for checking in.
2 comments:
This is great news, I am so happy that you are doing so well! It gives me hope. I am submitting my tenure package this August, I hope to be like you by this time next year.
So glad to hear ... hope the family is doing well too!
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