So, we have a friend who is stuck in adjunct-professor hell (journalism, so your mileage may vary) -- he's about 60 and is pretty obviously never going to get tenure anywhere. Professoring seems to be as much of a tournament occupation as lawyering if not more so. Why switch?
There's a couple of things going on there. I didn't switch directly from law to academia; I spent some time in business first. Then I needed to find something to do. Since the daily ration of crap professors face is barely measurable compared to that served to lawyers, it's a clear upgrade.
Then there's what you teach. Journalism, like law, doesn't generally require a PhD of its faculty, so your competition includes any lawyer or any journalist who's looking for a change. Business schools, unlike the other professional schools, made a point of becoming academic -- the first and second tier schools want PhDs. So not just anyone can wander in and apply for a job, increasing competition and putting downward pressure on salaries.
Another key is that I am getting my PhD in a field where there are about as many graduates as jobs in most years (the state budget collapse in 08 put a crimp in that, but it seems to be working its way through the system). In my program, people might be waiting a year or two longer to get a job, but everyone so far has been able to get a tenure track job. (Getting tenure is a different issue.)
In English, and in lots of the Humanities, there are way more graduates than jobs; thus adjunct hell.
Strategy, which I'm studying, also has a very defined role in business school -- we teach the "capstone" course that tries to tie all the different disciplines together and give students a top management view of the business. Although there are some different models, accreditation and legitimacy basically make it expected that every business undergrad and MBA student will take strategy -- which makes for a constant and very predictable demand. Also, the American business school model (and instruction in English) is becoming standardized around the world, meaning that lots of European and Asian schools are also interested in hiring American PhDs.
Management, though, is nothing compared to accounting. Schools just can't keep accounting PhDs, and new graduates get snapped up. They also get headhunted like crazy. New accounting prof. average about $113k, almost $20k more than new management profs.
7 comments:
Wow, thesis formatting requirements have really loosened up.
Heh.
Well, it is management.
It's brilliant, and I agree with it completely. Except maybe that bit about Floyd.
So, we have a friend who is stuck in adjunct-professor hell (journalism, so your mileage may vary) -- he's about 60 and is pretty obviously never going to get tenure anywhere. Professoring seems to be as much of a tournament occupation as lawyering if not more so. Why switch?
Hi Joe:
There's a couple of things going on there. I didn't switch directly from law to academia; I spent some time in business first. Then I needed to find something to do. Since the daily ration of crap professors face is barely measurable compared to that served to lawyers, it's a clear upgrade.
Then there's what you teach. Journalism, like law, doesn't generally require a PhD of its faculty, so your competition includes any lawyer or any journalist who's looking for a change. Business schools, unlike the other professional schools, made a point of becoming academic -- the first and second tier schools want PhDs. So not just anyone can wander in and apply for a job, increasing competition and putting downward pressure on salaries.
Another key is that I am getting my PhD in a field where there are about as many graduates as jobs in most years (the state budget collapse in 08 put a crimp in that, but it seems to be working its way through the system). In my program, people might be waiting a year or two longer to get a job, but everyone so far has been able to get a tenure track job. (Getting tenure is a different issue.)
In English, and in lots of the Humanities, there are way more graduates than jobs; thus adjunct hell.
Strategy, which I'm studying, also has a very defined role in business school -- we teach the "capstone" course that tries to tie all the different disciplines together and give students a top management view of the business. Although there are some different models, accreditation and legitimacy basically make it expected that every business undergrad and MBA student will take strategy -- which makes for a constant and very predictable demand. Also, the American business school model (and instruction in English) is becoming standardized around the world, meaning that lots of European and Asian schools are also interested in hiring American PhDs.
Management, though, is nothing compared to accounting. Schools just can't keep accounting PhDs, and new graduates get snapped up. They also get headhunted like crazy. New accounting prof. average about $113k, almost $20k more than new management profs.
Peter:
Floyd is brilliant; a good guy; invented the field I'm working in; and is on my committee.
Oh, that Floyd. I thought it was one of these.
Smart career move putting a committee member in your word cloud. I suggest you follow up by bringing a shiny fresh apple to your defence.
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