How Do You Measure the Health of Your Faculty Career?

Peter Weddle's case for and method of evaluating the health of your career are excellent. However, there are many different career paths faculty members take. These paths often vary based on discipline, institution and desires. Most uniquely, faculty may have tenure as a part of their employment. As I read through Work Strong, I found myself wondering how many different ways faculty measure their career fitness, and particularly how the changing nature of the profession, and tenure, make those career vital signs different. In order to do an honest evaluation of a faculty member's career fitness, I would suggest that you need to consider the following:

Natural Passion, Calling, Avocation: As with any profession (and measured well in Work Strong's fitness test), it is important to love what you do in order to be career fit. Many professors love their research, others love teaching and many love both. After years of education and obtaining professional experiences, professors don't often become faculty by accident. However, how do the realities of being a professor meet with the expectations you have formed over the years during or prior to entering academia?

Business of Higher Education: It is easy to recognize that decreases in endowment values and state funding have changed the way positions are funded and retained. Online education has changed the delivery of education. More positions are non-tenure track, part-time, adjunct, independent contract, or a combination of these. How does the budget and delivery of higher education change your views on how being a faculty member fulfills your career ambitions?

Tenure: In the thirty years ending in 2005, the percentage of tenure track positions decreased from 56.8 to 31.9%, but the overall aggregate number of tenure track positions actually increased. This topic is not offered to describe the changes in tenure or to debate its merits, but rather as the rare species it is in the world of work. In theory, it has the effects of being a federally appointed judge -- job security for life. In addition to the academic reasons for it, tenure had both status and benefits. It may have represented movement on the corporate ladder. Does tenure motivate faculty careers today and how have the changes in tenure changed your views on what it means in an academic career?

THE Opportunity: I have a certificate hanging in my office from a one day "child raising" course my wife and I completed prior to the birth of our first daughter. Often when I look at it, I think that I spent nine years in post-secondary education and one day on how to raise a child. When I was reading the first diary entries of the career activist in Peter's book, I was struck with the exact same feeling, but realized that faculty members have the unique chance to lead by example and help young people at one of the most critical times in their career development process. Should faculty help students start forming the origins of their career desires?

Peering into the Looking Glass

I've been "in transition" several times in my career, so I understand just how lonely, frustrating and... well, demeaning that experience can be. And yes, today's difficult economy is certainly a cause for the difficulties many people are now confronting. That said, however, I think it's also true that a significant number of people who are unemployed today are suffering from career illnesses of which they are unaware or, worse, are ignoring.

Here's the sobering truth of the modern American workplace: a career can be sick-even fatally ill-and a person will never know it until they suffer career cardiac arrest or what most of us call unemployment. If there's anything the Great Recession has made clear it's that what we know about our health is also true about our careers:

• It's up to each individual to care for the fitness of their career-not their academic department, their mentor, their boss, their employer or their parents.
• We have to work on reinforcing the fitness of our career every single day-not once a year during our annual performance appraisal and salary review.

No less important, pursuing "career fitness"-or might formally be described as career self-management-is not the same as developing one's expertise in a field of study or occupation. That expertise is obviously a necessary component of career health, but it is not sufficient to ensure sustained employment and a satisfying work experience. What must also be acquired is a commensurate level of expertise in the body of knowledge and skills required to achieve and sustain the strength, reach and endurance of one's career.

My book Work Strong introduces a system-the Career Fitness Regimen-for acquiring that expertise. As with a physical fitness program, it is designed to help you understand the principles of safe and effective career building and the practices that will enable you to implement those principles effectively, day-in day-out.

It all begins, of course, with an accurate assessment of just how healthy your career actually is right now. You can perform such an assessment by looking candidly at how prepared you are to deal with the new constant in the American workplace: change. It's the one thing we humans most hate to do, and it's the one factor we must learn to accommodate in order to lead healthy careers going forward. In the 21st Century world of work, there will be continuous changes in assignments, in schedules, in jobs, in employers and yes, occasionally even in occupations.

So, ask yourself this: is your career healthy enough that you are the master of those changes rather than their victim? (If you're having a difficult time making that judgment, use the Career Fitness Checkup on page 51 of my book.)

Thanks for reading,
Peter

Perhaps the Grass is Greener in Academe

Peter Weddle paints a pretty grim picture of the 21st century employer in his book, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System. While I agree many corporate employers engage in inhumane activities that show little regard for their employees, I believe most colleges and universities are more compassionate toward their employees. For many higher education professionals, this is part of the attraction to working in academe in the first place. With few exceptions, higher education employees make less money in academe than they could in the corporate world. But, as part of the tradeoff, they usually enjoy a more humane, intellectual workplace, and the satisfaction of making a difference in the lives of others through teaching and research.

For one thing, compared to the corporate world, layoffs are rare in academe. Hiring freezes and furloughs may be common in higher education when times get tough, but layoffs are usually a last resort. During my own experience in higher education, I can't recall any layoffs at my employer, and firings (even if they were arguably warranted) almost never happened.

And, despite the current economic downturn, the number of jobs in higher education was actually up 1.3 percent during the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to 2008. And, since 2005, fourth quarter growth in the number of higher education jobs has averaged annual growth of 1.8 percent. (For more information, see the HigherEdJobs.com Higher Education Employment Report.)

Now, I don't want to sound naive and say academe is perfect. You may have a co-worker or supervisor who frustrates you to no end, political issues may affect your ability to get promoted or receive tenure, or you may simply be burned out on your career. These are serious issues that can be intensely frustrating. Furthermore, if you have been personally laid off or are having trouble finding a new job in higher education, it doesn't matter what the national trends are. Your experience is the only one that matters.

My point is, no matter how frustrated you may get with your career in academe, keep in mind that life could be, and often is, worse in other industries. More importantly, to paraphrase Weddle, take charge of your "career fitness" as an academic professional. You can't assume your institution, department, or supervisor is interested or even capable of looking after your best interests. At the end of the day, no one cares for you like you.

So, don't assume your current employer has to be your last. Hopefully, you love where you are at. If not, keep in mind there are over 4,000 accredited colleges and universities in the U.S. alone.

And, take charge of your own career growth. Ideally, you have a great supervisor who serves as a great mentor and who genuinely wants to see you succeed. If not, do whatever it takes to be the best at what you do. Use your network to find another mentor. Get involved with your association.

Be passionate about what you do and take your career seriously. It may sound like obvious advice, but look at your co-workers. How many of them are truly passionate or take their career seriously. There are no guarantees, but if you are passionate and take your career seriously, you'll increase your odds of rising through the ranks. And, even if you don't, you'll be more satisfied with yourself and have an easier time changing jobs.

If you have a moment to comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts on working in academe. Do you agree working in academe, on balance, is a better environment than corporate? Or, is it just the same? More importantly, how have you taken charge of your "career fitness" in academe?

Re-imagining Ourselves as Career Athletes

The first chapter of Work Strong, "How to Keep (Bad) Employers from Kicking Sand in Your Face," discusses the bullying nature of the modern American workplace. Peter engages the reader in a discussion about how best to work with or around these bully employers. Peter challenges the modern American worker to stand up for themselves and realize that nobody is going to be a better advocate for you and your career than yourself.

There is something similar going on in colleges and universities all across the country. When I was reading this chapter, I was immediately reminded of a conversation regarding the career of adjunct faculty that happened recently in the LinkedIn group moderated by HigherEdJobs.

The questions I had posed were:

Why did you choose to be an adjunct faculty member?

What was a major draw to the position?

What are the advantages of being an adjunct faculty member?

Do you find there are challenges in this role?

Were they unforeseeable challenges?

I was surprised at the response we received from our group members. In a couple of short days we had over 60 comments from adjunct faculty, past and present, who presented a variety of issues to the group.

Some notable quotes that really speak to the heart of what Peter writes about in Work Strong were:

"They are underpaid. They are treated as independent contractors and do not get benefits."

+++

"I worked for years as an adjunct, but am now full -time. At first, I wanted to teach as an adjunct because I was also running a non-profit agency. So, it met my needs at the time. The downside, however, was I went without proper medical care for over ten years because working as an adjunct meant I had no benefits. I think many schools take advantage of adjuncts. Why pay full-time wages and benefits to an instructor if you can get two part-time adjuncts to teach the same number of classes?"

+++

"My feelings about being an adjunct vacillate between loving the freedom and terror of never finding enough work in any given semester to support myself. I guess you could say I have a love/hate relationship with academia and the "adjunct world."
-Celeste Walker

These people, along with several others, echo what Peter is getting at in the beginning of his book. Those of us in higher education would benefit from re-imagining ourselves as Career Athletes. As employees we need to take on the traits we admire most about our athlete heroes. Professors, no matter if they be an adjunct or associate, part-time or full-time, need to become more independent, passionate, continuously evolving, and bold about their careers. How will you tackle these challenges to obtaining a healthier career?

Today's Job Report

The continuing loss of jobs in the U.S. economy-20,000 in January and over 8 million since the recession began--suggests that this recovery will be unlike any we've ever seen. We thought the 1991 and 2001 recessions were strange because they led to "job less" recoveries. Well, this recovery will be ca candidate for "Ripley's Believe It or Not".

If you add up all of the job cuts already announced by employers (including those in academia) for 2010, they exceed the number of jobs most economists are predicting we'll create during the entire year. In other words, this Great Recession isn't going to morph into a "job less" recovery; it's going to stick us with a "less jobs" recovery. Even as employers see business start to grow again, we'll see jobs continue to be cut.

What does that mean for anyone in transition or contemplating a job change?

The come-as-you-are job market is over. In that job market, the key to success was to look complete. If at all possible, for example, you wanted to have a terminal degree in your field. The more complete you were, the stronger your credentials as a candidate.

Today, exactly the opposite is true. You want to look incomplete, or better yet, as if you are a work-in-progress.

Why? Because that position signals that you have two important characteristics that all employers respect: It tells them that you understand the importance of staying current in your field and that you take personal responsibility for doing so. Said another way, being proudly unfinished is a surrogate for a commitment to self-improvement, and continuous self-improvement is the only way to sustain one's worth in today's rapidly evolving world of work.

So, here's the challenge: what steps might you take to brand yourself as a work-in-progress?

Peter

Publish, Perish or Ponder: What will Faculty look like in 2017?

I found myself pondering a lot about faculty while reading this month's Work Strong section. I thought about our interview with Professor John Thelin and his advice about working in Academia. He said "Consider your work in higher education as a calling -- a true vocation in the best, full sense of the term." I suspect that most faculty feel like Dr. Thelin, but in the changing world of academia, is this feeling enough to make a career choice to be a faculty member?

The Work Strong readings make it clear that employers have many pressures on them to succeed and meeting their needs does not necessarily coincide with meeting the needs of your career. Identifying the bullying behaviors of bad employers is an essential part of your career due diligence. However, should the due diligence stop at looking out for bad employer (see page 32)?

To me, an analysis of the fitness of your career starts with the fitness of our industry. Here are some positive thoughts about being a faculty member in higher ed:

• Faculty a Large Part of College Jobs: According to the Digest of Education Statistics, faculty make up about 1.4 million of the 3.6 million employees at colleges and universities.
• Increased Enrollment Growth: The National Center on Education Statistics (NCES) indicates enrollment at colleges and universities increased nearly twice as much in the decade ending in 2007 (26%) as it did in the previous decade ending in 1997 (14%).
• Public Values Higher Ed: A survey in 2006 from the American Council on Education reveals that 84% of registered voters surveyed believe that higher education will be critical to solving the problems of the world in the future.
• Future Enrollment Growth: NCES is predicting that there will be 10% growth in students less than 25 years of age and 19% growth in students over 25 years old for the decade ending in 2017.

The last bullet point reveals an agent of change - the age of our students. The growth in older students is anticipated to be twice as much as younger students. When thinking about change in higher education, please consider these thoughts:

• Demographics of the Work Force are Changing: The HigherEdJobs.com Employment Report indicates that part-time position postings increased 33% from 2004 through the first nine months of 2009 (8.2% to 10.9% of the jobs).
• Costs and Compensation are Disconnected: The College Board reported that tuition and fees increased by 4.4% for private institutions and 6.5% for public ones (4-year, in-state). On the other hand, the most recent CUPA-HR salary survey had salary increases for Associate Deans at 4.2% for private institutions and 3.5% for public ones.

The latter part of the Work Strong reading lays out the two basic principles for good career fitness - we are each responsible for our own career fitness and we need to work at strengthening our careers every day. I am interested in knowing what faculty members think - if we are responsible for our own career fitness, how does the inherent demand for and changing nature of higher education affect your career?