Advice to My Past Self: Third Year on the Tenure Track
January 2019 - San Francisco for a conference: Pretty concerned that Ellie is going to eat all of the ice cream
Last month I posted my goals for year three on the tenure track, along with whether or not I met them.
This month I’m following up with advice I’d give to myself if I had to do it all over again. If you want to check out my goals/advice for years 1 and 2, you can do that here:
My First Year on the Tenure Track + Advice to My Past Self: First Year Edition
My Second Year on the Tenure Track + Advice to My Past Self: Second Year Edition
Here are 8 lessons learned from my third year as an assistant professor…
If you can swing it, plan your work around your energy levels
If you’re on the tenure track, chances are that you’ve got teaching, research, and service to focus on... which means that it can often feel like you’ve got 3 different jobs. Each of which probably affect your energy levels differently. I like to start the year with the things that give me the most energy and end with the things that are the most draining. For me, research is the most energizing, followed by service, followed by teaching. One of the things that has really worked for me is starting off the year with lots of time for research and ending with most of my time being spent on teaching. During year 3 I didn’t teach during the fall, which allowed me to make progress on research while I was fresh from summer. By the time winter and spring rolled around and I was teaching 2 classes plus advising, I knew writing and super focused work would be difficult, so I eased up on research expectations for myself. Up to this point, service work hasn’t been particularly draining, so it’s at more of a constant level throughout the year, with the various expectations from each service commitment peaking during different quarters. For instance, my lead instructor role is more intense during fall, when most instructors are teaching human development, while my equity committee work usually ramps up during winter and early spring.
Funding is wonderful, particularly during milestone review years... and I wish it wasn’t necessary.
The reason I was able to start off the year with no teaching was because I received funding through a small grant program sponsored by my university. The funds allowed me to buy out of some of my teaching/advising responsibilities... which was wonderful for a) getting additional funding applications out and b) getting my 3rd year review in order. However, I still get super annoyed thinking about this setup. Why set work expectations that aren't feasible... either you're teaching a ton and push your research to summer/other downtime, or you're researching a bunch and not teaching, with service falling by the wayside. Or maybe you're doing all of these things but struggling to keep your head above water. Obviously these aren't the only scenarios but my point is that three years in I haven't figured out how to do all of these things well, at the same time. Which makes me wonder why we haven’t seriously re-considered what this structure could look like. My solution (as someone who prefers to be more research focused)? Get funding so that you can do research with more ease (because in the current setup, it all comes down to money…). And if you’re at a school that thinks you can do both things at a high level at the same time, prepare to feel some friction.
Cut down on the activities that involve a ton of logistical acrobatics
Yes, both research and teaching involve figuring out lots of logistics. If you’ve got other obligations that require even more of this type of work, consider seeing if you can reduce them or get rid of them. While I didn’t specifically request this, during year three I was asked to serve in a different advising role that removed the need to schedule 18 field visits during fall and spring terms from my to do list. Doing away with this travel component reduced so much stress. While most of my visits were usually 20-30 minutes away, sometimes they’d require an hour of travel time or more, each way. Trying to fit them in, especially when I was teaching two courses in the spring, was a lot. Not having that responsibility during year three freed up so much mental space that I didn’t even realize was there.
There is a delicate balance between nurturing current collaborative relationships and developing new ones
I don’t know that I have this piece figured out yet. I feel the need to continue to seek out and build new relationships in case other projects don’t work out. However, that also means it feels like I’ve got too many projects in the beginning stages that are going simultaneously. I think my capacity is leading two projects at a time. I’m happy to support others on additional projects, but leading more than two feels like a bit of a burden.
Most people don’t have it all figured out
My default mode is to assume other people know exactly what they’re doing and I’m the only one who is faking it until I make it. News flash... pretty much everyone else feels like this too, some people are just better at being overly confident than others. I’m trying to be better at admitting I don’t know or don’t have a definitive answer. And also acknowledging the complexity of life where most situations don’t have a right/wrong, yes/no answer.
Do what you want. Not what you think you should be doing
One of my biggest takeaways from year three on the tenure track was to involve myself in the things that I’m truly interested in, and not the things I thought I was supposed to be doing (in work, in life, everywhere). When you start doing things because they are genuinely interesting and meaningful to you, giving up that sense of obligation, that’s when the fun begins.
And, of course, there were a couple of insights from previous years that continued to be in the forefront of my mind. They were...
Remember, it is a j.o.b. And it’s not worth sacrificing your health/mental health in order to succeed.
Continue to experiment with what works for you at this particular moment in time
I’ll be back at the end of year four with more insights. Thanks for reading!
