Considering an Academic CareerIn Science and Engineering

Future Faculty SeminarApril 17, 2007

CS 400Richard M. ReisReis@stanford.edu

Introduction and Brief Overview

• Why Tomorrow’s Professor?• The academic enterprise• The Three-Way Stretch preparation strategy

• Finding, and getting, the best possible academic position

• Work-life balance• Tomorrow’s Professor mailing list

Why Tomorrow’s Professor?

• Lack of understanding of the academic enterprise.

• Decisions for and against academic careers made for the wrong (as well as the right) reasons.

• More to preparing for an academic career than getting a Ph.D.

• More to succeeding in an academic career than teaching and research.

The Academic Enterprise What You Don't Know Can Surprise (and Bite)

You

• A Consequential decision• Unlike any other institution• Differences among institutions• Comparisons across the disciplines

The Academic Enterprise

A Consequential Decision

• Long-term commitment• Limited options within a given geographic region

• Dual-career considerations

The Academic Enterprise Unlike an Other Institution

• Individual autonomy• Accountability• Rewards and recognition • Tenure

The Academic Enterprise Differences Across

Institutions• Baccalaureate ~630• Master’s Granting ~530• Doctorate ~110• Research ~125

The Academic Enterprise Comparisons Across the

Disciplines

• Funding sources• Faculty offsets• Research costs• Size of research programs• Collaboration• Teaching commitments

The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy

• Why you need a strategy• Elements of a successful strategy• Applying the strategy

The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy

Elements of a Successful Strategy

• Breadth-on-top-of depth

• Next-stage

• Multiple option

The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy Breadth-on-Top-of-Depth

Places your developing expertise in a broad

context, allows you to see connections between

your work and that of others, to develop related

areas of depth, and to make a more compelling

case for your own contribution.

The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy Next -Stage

Enables you to think ahead, look ahead, and act

ahead of the stage you (and your futurecompetition) currently occupy and thus not only

demonstrate your willingness, but also your

readiness, to assume the position you are seeking.

The Three-Way Stretch Preparation Strategy Multiple Options

Allows you to prepare concurrently for careers in

academia, government, and industry.

Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position

• Identifying the possibilities• Applying for positions• What departments look for in new faculty

• Getting the results you want

Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position

Identifying the Possibilities

• Explore Now, Search Later• Deciding What You Want• Researching What’s Out There• Preparing for the Search

Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position

Applying for Positions

• Preparing Your Application Materials

• The Application Process

Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position

What Departments Look for in New Faculty

• Overall promise• General teaching ability,ability to

teach courses in need of staffing• Ability to do research, scholarship

in specific areas, a specific research orientation

• Compatibility with department and institution

• Potential for securing external research funding

Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position

Getting the Results You Want

• Your Negotiating Approach• Negotiating Principles• Dual-Career Couples• What if You Don’t Get the Job

You Want?

Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position

Your Negotiating Approach

• The shift from seeking an offer to having received an offer

• The department chair’s legacy• The department’s investment in

your success

Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position

Negotiating Principles

1. Make sure you have an offer.

2. Know what you want - and what you don’t want.

3. Clearly communicate what you want - but only to the right people.

Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position

Negotiating Principles

4. Always try to use your work quality or productivity as the rationale in your negotiations - align your goals with those of your employer.

5. Make requests in an informational manner rather than in a controlling manner.

Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position

Negotiating Principles

6. Negotiate hard on things that are "out of bounds," negotiate more gently on things that are "in bounds.”

7. Learn about the tenure process,but don't get hung up on it.

8. Start as high as you can in institutional prestige.

Finding and Getting the Best Possible Academic Position

Negotiating Principles9. Get as high a

starting salary as you can, but be realistic.

10. Create options and keep as many open for as long as you can

11. In making a decision, combine logic and emotion.

Seven – Not so Obvious - Keys to Surviving and Thriving in Academia

Work-Life Balance

The Academics Dilemma

“As a graduate student my prevailing thought was

'If I can just find a good problem,' or 'If I can just

find a way to prove this conjecture.' As an assistant

professor, my prevailing thought was, 'If I can just

find the time!’” Terri Lindquester, associateprofessor of mathematics, Rhodes College.

Work-Life Balance

Key #1

Learn how to say YES

as well as NO

It’s easier to say no to unwanted tasks if you’ve already committed to something you do want to do.

Work-Life Balance

Key #2

Establish your ABSENCE

as well as your PRESENCE

Set a schedule for being physically elsewhere and unavailable, and stick

to it.

Work-Life Balance

Key #3

Do aLITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

as well asALL OF ONE THING

Master the art of multitasking.

Work-Life Balance

Key #4

Determine your TASKS

as well as your PRIORITIES

Many activities, small and large, are the steps that lead to your

goal.

Work-Life Balance

Key #5

Work until your TIME IS UP

as well as until your TASK IS DONE

Approach every task with the goal of making progress during a specific amount of time, then move on to the

next task to maintain forward momentum.

Work-Life Balance

Key #6

Bring some of your HOME TO WORK

well as some of yourWORK TO HOME

You live in both worlds; look for ways to bring them together

Work-Life Balance

Key #7

Seek to INTEGRATE YOUR PROFESSIONAL AND

PERSONAL ACTIVITIES as well as to

SEPARATE WORK AND PLAYDoing so can maximize your effectiveness

and satisfaction in both spheres.

Work-Life Balance

Tomorrow’s Professor’s Mailing List

Tomorrow’s Professor Mailing List is sent bi- weekly to over 25,000 subscribers, mostly graduate students, postdocs and beginning faculty at over 650 colleges and universities in over 100 countries around the world.

Academia* New Faculty Reward Structures* Faculty Learning and Institutional Change

Tomorrow’s Professor’s Mailing List

Preparing for Academic Careers* The Academic Job Talk.* General Principles For Responding to Academic Job Offers

Managing Your Academic Career* Tenure Tips* Twelve Suggestions for Optimizing Academic

Career Success

Tomorrow’s Professor’s Mailing List

Teaching and Learning* Improving Student Learning While Saving Faculty Time

* How Students Learn, How Teachers Teach, and What Goes Wrong With the Process

Research* Elements Found in Most Successful Proposals

* How Graduate Students and Faculty Miss Communicate

Tomorrow’s Professor’s Mailing List

NOTE: Anyone can SUBSCRIBE to the Tomorrows-Professor Mailing List by going to:

https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/tomorrows-professor

Or send e-mail to:Reis@stanford.edu