Is Roy Hobbs the new Charles Kingsfield?

We have sure been blogging a lot about finding your natural this spring. It's easy to see why I have been having thoughts of Roy Hobbs, the iconic baseball figure played by Robert Redford in the 1980s movie, The Natural. Sports dramas are known for romanticized versions of careers (comedies often poke fun at the minor league experiences), but do movies about professors do the same? (Take a look at this Washington Post article or this Movie Mom's similar piece for ideas).

To me, John Houseman's character, Professor Charles Kingsfield, has always been The Natural of faculty members. He is smart, dedicated, honest, and unbiased. He taught the best students and was proud of it. Every first year law student for several generations knew this professor... and most avoided him. Does this professor still exist?

I couldn't agree more with the premise that a healthy career is one where you align your job with your natural (your calling), which is presented in the fourth syllabus section. The Career De-Stress Test that is outlined in this section is a great way for a faculty or staff member to think how well they are following their calling. Not only can this process help you re-evaluate your career fitness, I think it can also provide you some insight into an academic career path that is not as linear as it once was.

Whether being a faculty member was your first or subsequent career choice, it is important to test whether you are truly following your calling. The faculty career is not as ubiquitous as it was in Professor Kingsfield's heyday. In addition, cultural and familial priorities have changed. With the addition of online education and the growth of the non-traditional students, the needs of the academic community to deliver quality educational experiences has led to a variety of careers for our faculty members. The likelihood of coming from your graduate program into your one school academic career stop is very rare nowadays.

I suspect that the next generations of academic careers are going to look a bit more like Roy Hobbs' career than Charles Kingsfield's. You might recall that Hobbs' path to finding his natural was derailed a decade or more. Like Hobbs, future faculty members may be slower to realize their natural.

Tell us what you think...

Do faculty career paths look the same as they did 10 years ago?

Do you feel like you have realized your natural?

Is your job aligned with your calling?