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TRANSCRIPT
The Job Market in Rhetoric and Composi6on
Tell It Like It Is— But How Is It?
Carrie Leverenz [email protected]
“Why Haven't Humani6es Ph.D. Programs Collapsed?” The Atlan*c. Sept. 16, 2013
“Overeducated, Underemployed: How to Fix Humani6es Grad School” William Pannapacker, Slate, July 27, 2011
“The Disposable Academic: Why Doing a PhD Is O[en a Waste of Time” Dec 16th 2010. The Economist
“Graduate School in the Humani6es—Just Don’t Go” Thomas Benton, Chroniclel of Higher Educa*on, Jan. 30, 2009
h_ps://www.amacad.org/content/research/dataForumEssay.aspx?i=21673
h_p://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/files/AAUP-‐InstrStaff2011-‐April2014.pdf
Adjuncts who teach English, for example, reported earning an average of $2,727 per course. That compares with an average of $4,789 per course reported by adjuncts who teach engineering. But reported pay varied widely within disciplines, too. Jan 4, 2013 Adjunct Project Shows Wide Range in Pay and Working ... chronicle.com/.../Adjunct_Pay.../13643...The Chronicle of Higher Educa6on
h_p://cdn.theatlan6c.com/assets/media/img/posts/2014/01/ NSF_Grad_School_Debt_Per_Discipline/312l8640.png
Barry U English & For Langs, 11300 NE Second Av Miami Shores FL 33161 h_p://www.barry.edu/jobs Assistant Professor of English (Composi*on/Rhetoric) 20367 h_ps://apply.interfolio.com/24039 The Department of English and Foreign Languages invites applicants for an Assistant Professor of English to contribute to the First-‐Year Wri6ng Program and other campus-‐wide wri6ng ini6a6ves. This posi6on’s primary du6es include teaching courses in composi6on/rhetoric and research and working closely with the Director of First-‐Year Wri6ng. The successful candidate will have previous administra6ve experience and be prepared to serve as Director of First-‐Year Wri6ng within 2–3 years of hire. A[er a period of 6me, it will also include contribu6ng to the literature Specializa6on within the English major through teaching exis6ng courses and designing new ones, preferably in Bri6sh literature and other campus-‐wide wri6ng ini6a6ves.
“Report of the MLA Task Force on Doctoral Study in Modern Language and Literature” 1. Pursue and maintain academic excellence. 2. Preserve accessibility. 3. Broaden career paths. 4. Focus on graduate students’ needs. h_p://www.mla.org/pdf/taskforcedocstudy2014.pdf
1. Redesign the doctoral program
2. Engage more deeply with technology
3. Reimagine the disserta6on
4. Reduce 6me to degree 5. Strengthen teaching
prepara6on
6. Expand professionaliza6on opportuni6es 7. Use the whole university community 8. Redefine the roles of faculty advisers 9. Validate diverse career outcomes 10. Rethink admissions prac6ces
MLA: How to Reform Doctoral Study
Tenure Track Assistant 108 Assistant/Associate 27 Associate 6 Associate/Full 3 Rank Open 6 Non Tenure Track Renewable Term 40
Non-‐renewable 4
Tenure track: 150 (77%) Non-‐tenure track: 44 (22.68%) Total ads: 194
2013-‐14 JIL RC Job Ads by Tenure-‐track Status
h_p://www.mla.org/pdf/rpt_jil_1314web.pdf
The word “digital” appears in 57 of 194 ads (about 29%)
Administra5ve Posi5ons Assist 31 Assist/Assoc 17 Assoc 2 Assoc/Full 3 Rank Open 6 Non tenure-‐track 7
2013-‐14 JIL RC Ads Involving Administra6on
What surprised you? “The extent to which some departments were looking for a problem solver” “The number of administra6ve jobs for which I was qualified-‐-‐I was under the impression that most jobs would be research-‐oriented, and they were not.”
Carnegie Class.
Assist Assist/ Assoc
Assoc Assoc/Full
Open Total
RU/VH 12 8 1 1 22
RU/H 17 6 1 1 25
DRU 11 2 3 16
M-‐L 32 6 2 1 1 42
M-‐M 11 1 1 13
M-‐S 6 6
Bac 14 3 2 19
Assoc 4 1 1 6
Spec 1 1
2013-‐14 JIL RC Tenure-‐Track Job Ads by Carnegie Classifica6on
Carnegie Class.
Assist Assist/ Assoc
Assoc Assoc/Full Open
RU/VH (36%) 12 (1) 8 (5) 1 (1) 1 (1)
RU/H (45%) 17 (4) 6 (5) 1 (1) 1 (1)
DRU (43%) 11 (6) 2 3 (1)
M-‐L (38%) 32 (8) 6 (5) 2 1 (1) 1 (1)
M-‐M (27%) 11 (2) 1 (1) 1
M-‐S (40%) 6 (2)
Bac (53%) 14 (7) 3 (1) 2 (2)
Assoc (20%) 4 (1) 1 1
Spec 1
2013-‐14 JIL RC TT Admin Job Ads by Carnegie Classifica6on
94 responses from job seekers 73.12% (68/94) first year search 18.28% (17/94) second year search 6.45% (6/94) third year search 2.15% (2/94) more than three years
An6cipated disserta6on comple6on date at the 6me of the survey (April 2014): • 38 of 94 (40.43%) already completed • 25 of 94 (26.60%) spring 2014 • 24 of 94 (25.53%) summer 2014 • 7 of 94 (7.45%) fall 2014
I applied for any job I was at all qualified for. 47.83% (44) I applied only for jobs in my specializa6on(s). 7.61% (7) I applied only for jobs that I was interested in. 27.17% (25) Other factors, beyond my specializa6on, affected which jobs I applied for.
17.39% (16)
Select the statement below that best describes how you chose which academic jobs to apply for:
How many jobs did you apply for?
Number of Jobs Number (%) of Respondents
1-‐10 20 (21.51%)
11-‐20 7 (7.53%)
21-‐30 5 (5.38%)
31-‐40 9 (9.68%)
41-‐50 10 (10.75%)
51-‐60 11 (11.83%)
61-‐70 7 (7.53%)
71-‐80 3 (3.23%)
More than 80 21 (22.58%)
Where did preliminary interviews take place? 75.53% (71/94) video conferences or phone interviews Only 11.70% (11/94) MLA interviews
A tenure-‐track job!
By the 6me of the survey: 72 of 94 (75.79%) accepted full-‐6me academic
posi6ons 55 of 72 (76%) accepted were tenure-‐track posi6ons 55 of 94 (59%) landed a tenure-‐track posi6on
(107-‐135 possible at Assist or Assist/Assoc rank)
Composi5on/Rhetoric Total job ads: 201
Bri5sh Literature Total job ads: 181
America Literature Total job ads: 129
JIL2013-‐2014
h_ps://mlaresearch.commons.mla.org/files/2015/02/Where.Figure1.jpg
Some Hypotheses: • Not enough tenure-‐track jobs for the R/C students who desire them? • Mismatch between jobs available and students’ training/expecta6ons? • Not enough students trained in administra6on? • Be_er training for teaching posi6ons?
Q What has been your biggest surprise ? • The 6me, and expense of the process [16] • Disappointment at types of jobs available [15] • It went be_er than expected/no surprises [12] • The disorganized and discourteous process [11] • Search commi_ees’ choices seemed illogical [6] • The process was not what I was told to expect [5] • How compe66ve the job market is [4] • The complicated 6melines for decisions [4] • How mentally/psychologically draining it was [4]
Q Offer one piece of advice to your graduate program for improving job prepara5on [80 responses] • Provide more info/job search prep [26] • Prepare us for jobs other than R1 [17] • Change the program, provide more useful prepara6on [13]
• Encourage and support publica6on [7] • My program does an excellent job [4] • Reduce admissions [3]