Part II
First of all, the stress methodology created by Careercast.com is goofy. I do not have an inclination for numbers; my academic training did not force me to learn the complex measuring tools used in stats and my job has only required me to understand the basics, but I cannot figure out the logic of Careercast’s methodology. As stated in Part I, each job demand has a different scale ranging from 0 (zero) to 5 to 0 to 15. In addition, Careercast does not reveal how each job demand number is realized. Even with these gaping holes, the following is how I would rate the job of university professor using Careercast’s stress methodology:
Travel, amount of: 5 out of 10
Most university professors have to travel, but it is not a deal breaker. Certain scientists have to travel extensively and sometimes spend months away from home. This would cause a great deal of stress in one’s personal life but extensive travel is not universal amongst university professors.
Growth Potential: N/A
Growth potential as a university professor is not a positive or negative and the only real way to make money is to get a tenured position at an elite school or teach at the same institution for thirty years. Big money affects the top 1% (maybe 10% depending on what you perceive as big money) as highlighted by all the articles that talk about professor salaries and always mention how much Harvard or University of Chicago professors make. Careercast’s methodology states that the rating for growth potential is the salary divided by 100. I am not sure how this contributes a worthwhile number to the methodology so I am not including this in my rating
Deadlines: 7 out of 9
Deadlines are important and there are many deadlines in academia, but university professors are notorious for being late with just about everything. Missing deadlines, such as submitting an article, finishing a review, grant deadlines, or turning in chapters hurts your long-term career prospects and is often because of poor time management. Teaching deadlines on the other hand do cause a great deal of stress depending on how many classes are taught per semester and how many students are in each class. Teaching stress also varies depending on the individual and if they like to teach or not (does the individual make enough time for teaching or is it an afterthought). Other deadlines such as committee deadlines, students advisory deadlines, and other things associated with the job are similar to other jobs and the deadlines that they have to abide by and should not be factored in.
Working in the public eye: 4 out of 5
Working as a university professor is a public position and can add a great deal of stress to the individual. Certain high profile positions have more contact with the public while the average professorship has minimal. Today, you can find the full CV of most university professors online and access their writings instantly. In addition, student evaluations can be found at various rating websites making student opinions of teaching ability, both kind and wildly outrageous, available for anyone to see. Finally, with so much attention being placed on higher education funding, university professors are constantly in the ‘public eye’ because of the need to justify public and private funding.
Competitiveness: 15 out of 15
The competitiveness of getting a tenured track position is brutal for all of the reasons that have been stated a million of times.
Physical demands: 1 out of 14
There are no physical demands associated with being a university professor. If there are physical demands they are minimal and usually include moving your extensive book collection around your office. If you work over 40 hours per week that is not considered a physical demand of the job, it just means that you work long hours (many of other jobs work over 40 hours per week).
Environmental conditions: 1 out of 13
There are no environmental conditions associated with being a university professor.
Hazards encountered: 1 out of 5
There are no hazards encountered with being a university professor. Some research scientists might encounter hazards on a daily basis, but this would be a minority compared to the whole.
Own life at risk: 1 out of 8
One’s own life is never at risk being a university professor.
Life of another at risk: 1 out of 10
As a university professor you never put another’s life at risk.
Meeting the public: 4 out of 8
University professors often have to meet the public which can be stressful and at time contentious. This can vary greatly from a music professor who has to perform regularly to a research scientist who has to give a presentation to the public every once in awhile.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
University professor...least stressful job of 2013!
Part I
Every year, since 2009, Careercast.com publishes a list of the most stressful and least stressful jobs in the United States and the least stressful job of 2013 is...university professor! Needless to say once this list was published university professors have cried foul with numerous comments and follow-up articles from Inside Higher Ed, Forbs, and even the Huffington Post.
To create this list, Careercast uses a methodology that takes into account a number of job demands that includes amount of travel, deadlines, and if one’s own life at risk (to just name a few). Each job demand has a rating scale but Careercast does not reveal if the job demand numbers are rated based on surveying workers, surveying supervisors, why each job demand has a different range, how the numbers are crunched, or if staff members at Careercast just rate the job themselves. Some of the most entertaining reader comments come from what can be assumed are university professors, who often have a proclivity for stats, on the methodology. Finally there is a link to an Infograph; this ‘graph’ has the ten most stressful jobs next to the ten least stressful jobs with the median annual income and an image representing each job.
Part of the reason why university professor is such an interesting job for Careercast.com are the numbers. As stated in the article; more adults need college degrees, top university professors make a lot of money, student to faculty ratio is (relatively) low, and the field needs 300,000 more university professors by 2020. This all sounds good...but...the reality is different (it is always different). It is true that more adults need degrees for the jobs of the present and future; it is true that for the most part, student to teacher ratios are relatively low (compared to the average high school class); and it is true that colleges and universities need more instructors. But the reality of contemporary higher education is more difficult and more complex than just good pay and three months off during the summer. Budget cuts, governmental oversight, constant political intrusion, private versus public, academic versus business interests, constantly changing technology, and what I would describe as a street rep that is far from positive are all part of being a university professor.
With that said, I do not fault Careercast for writing this article because it presents jobs one-dimensionally; salary, demand, attainability, and risk. This is an article on a careers website that talks about jobs; nothing more, nothing less. I do fault the commentators who have responded to this article in a piss-poor manner; they all seem to be university professors crying foul about how stressful their jobs are!
Full disclosure: I have been a ‘university’ professor in some form or the other ever since I was in the second year of my doctorate. I love teaching, I love higher education, and I love being part of the process that helps adults learn how to think critically and attain the skills needed in their jobs and personal lives. I am an advocate for university professors, higher education, a liberal arts education, and music to anyone who will listen. But when an article like this comes out university professors look bad; not because of the job but because of how they react; they stomp their feet, they bemoan how stressful they always are, and make comparisons to other jobs while putting those other jobs down.
In part two of this article, instead of writing about how university professors can help themselves with better PR, stress management, a positive outlook, or self-empowerment, I will look at the stress methodology designed by Careercast.com and rate the job, university professor.
Every year, since 2009, Careercast.com publishes a list of the most stressful and least stressful jobs in the United States and the least stressful job of 2013 is...university professor! Needless to say once this list was published university professors have cried foul with numerous comments and follow-up articles from Inside Higher Ed, Forbs, and even the Huffington Post.
To create this list, Careercast uses a methodology that takes into account a number of job demands that includes amount of travel, deadlines, and if one’s own life at risk (to just name a few). Each job demand has a rating scale but Careercast does not reveal if the job demand numbers are rated based on surveying workers, surveying supervisors, why each job demand has a different range, how the numbers are crunched, or if staff members at Careercast just rate the job themselves. Some of the most entertaining reader comments come from what can be assumed are university professors, who often have a proclivity for stats, on the methodology. Finally there is a link to an Infograph; this ‘graph’ has the ten most stressful jobs next to the ten least stressful jobs with the median annual income and an image representing each job.
Part of the reason why university professor is such an interesting job for Careercast.com are the numbers. As stated in the article; more adults need college degrees, top university professors make a lot of money, student to faculty ratio is (relatively) low, and the field needs 300,000 more university professors by 2020. This all sounds good...but...the reality is different (it is always different). It is true that more adults need degrees for the jobs of the present and future; it is true that for the most part, student to teacher ratios are relatively low (compared to the average high school class); and it is true that colleges and universities need more instructors. But the reality of contemporary higher education is more difficult and more complex than just good pay and three months off during the summer. Budget cuts, governmental oversight, constant political intrusion, private versus public, academic versus business interests, constantly changing technology, and what I would describe as a street rep that is far from positive are all part of being a university professor.
With that said, I do not fault Careercast for writing this article because it presents jobs one-dimensionally; salary, demand, attainability, and risk. This is an article on a careers website that talks about jobs; nothing more, nothing less. I do fault the commentators who have responded to this article in a piss-poor manner; they all seem to be university professors crying foul about how stressful their jobs are!
Full disclosure: I have been a ‘university’ professor in some form or the other ever since I was in the second year of my doctorate. I love teaching, I love higher education, and I love being part of the process that helps adults learn how to think critically and attain the skills needed in their jobs and personal lives. I am an advocate for university professors, higher education, a liberal arts education, and music to anyone who will listen. But when an article like this comes out university professors look bad; not because of the job but because of how they react; they stomp their feet, they bemoan how stressful they always are, and make comparisons to other jobs while putting those other jobs down.
In part two of this article, instead of writing about how university professors can help themselves with better PR, stress management, a positive outlook, or self-empowerment, I will look at the stress methodology designed by Careercast.com and rate the job, university professor.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Predicting the Future: An Introduction
I have never been in the business of predicting the future. Those who predict future events, even if they have solid research and years of first hand experience, get it wrong half the time. In my mind people who try to predict the future are soothsayers, alarmists, or hobbyists.
On television, soothsayers are often introduced as experts. This is handy because when talking-heads ask soothsayers to give their opinion the words they utter are held in high regard. Their legitimacy can vary from having a basket of degrees and decades of experience, to having made a name for themselves somehow. The predictions soothsayers make vary from who will win this weekend's football games to the outcome of the Syrian Civil War.
Next are alarmists. Alarmists want others to feel and believe the way they feel, fear what they fear, and act as they would act. Like soothsayers, alarmists’ legitimacy can be impressive and varied but they rarely have any subtlety, listen to other opinions, and most of the time go for shock and awe.
Finally are hobbyists. Hobbyists dedicate themselves to a given subject but instead of making predictions their full-time gig, it is their full-time hobby. Like the soothsayer or alarmist, they might have a great deal of experience but at the end of the day, hobbyists have other things to do.
Of the three above I am most like the hobbyist. I have never claimed to be an expert at anything so I cannot be a soothsayer and it takes way too much energy to be an alarmist. This leads me to my predictions as a fun loving hobbyist. Over the next few months and years I will make a variety of predictions about the future of higher education. Some of my predictions I truly think will come true while others...not so much.
Respice, adspice, prospice; coat of arms of Bootle, England, and the motto of the City College of New York.
On television, soothsayers are often introduced as experts. This is handy because when talking-heads ask soothsayers to give their opinion the words they utter are held in high regard. Their legitimacy can vary from having a basket of degrees and decades of experience, to having made a name for themselves somehow. The predictions soothsayers make vary from who will win this weekend's football games to the outcome of the Syrian Civil War.
Next are alarmists. Alarmists want others to feel and believe the way they feel, fear what they fear, and act as they would act. Like soothsayers, alarmists’ legitimacy can be impressive and varied but they rarely have any subtlety, listen to other opinions, and most of the time go for shock and awe.
Finally are hobbyists. Hobbyists dedicate themselves to a given subject but instead of making predictions their full-time gig, it is their full-time hobby. Like the soothsayer or alarmist, they might have a great deal of experience but at the end of the day, hobbyists have other things to do.
Of the three above I am most like the hobbyist. I have never claimed to be an expert at anything so I cannot be a soothsayer and it takes way too much energy to be an alarmist. This leads me to my predictions as a fun loving hobbyist. Over the next few months and years I will make a variety of predictions about the future of higher education. Some of my predictions I truly think will come true while others...not so much.
Respice, adspice, prospice; coat of arms of Bootle, England, and the motto of the City College of New York.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
My Complete Failure
One of my favorite things to do in the morning is read articles from around the web; the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Chronicle, and Inside Higher Ed. In addition to those wonderful publications, I recently read through the summer edition of Faculty Matters, published by University of Phoenix. The theme of the issue was failure and how to overcome failure in your personal and professional life. With failure fresh in the air and with so much supposed failure in higher education these days (you can interpret that as you wish), I decided to reflect on my own failures.
Failure can be many things. In my own life, I have failed many times but the ‘big two’ were my first marriage and not being able to attain a professorship. The story behind my first marriage is old news; overly dramatic, and firmly in the past. Too many people have similar stories and there is no need to bore anyone with dull, tired details. My other big failure was my inability to get a professorship.
As a musician, my training was...humble. I went to a nice directional school for undergrad and a nicer school for my graduate work. I never attended an elite institution nor did I go to any summer music festivals that I now know are important for personal growth and networking. The first eight years of my musical training (four undergrad, two masters, first two years of doctorate) did not set me up for success or failure. My personal work habits and innate talent did not lead me to success or failure. I was just there. But then something happened, my doctorate took another ten years to finish.
Recently, a frustrated Ph.D. student talked about the pain of trying to complete his degree in the article “Too Far Along”. This article spoke to me because throughout the twelve years of my doctorate, I wanted to quit every other day. When I was in the throes of trying to complete my degree I was unhappy and obsessed; I was taking too long to finish, I was wasting money, I was getting older, the economy was getting worse, I had no retirement, higher education was struggling, music programs were getting cut, and most importantly, I should have done/completed [Enter Achievement Here] by my age. Living with so much angst was exhausting, counter-productive, and self-destructive. Slowly, very slowly, I came to realize the only thing that was standing in the way of finishing my degree was...me. If I wanted to finish my doctorate, I had to finish it; I could only blame myself.
After I had this realization came new found direction; I finished my penultimate recital and kept writing my dissertation while making the recommended corrections from my committee. On a side note, there are four recitals that are part of the Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Arizona and I had completed three of the four with only the Lecture Recital left (small dissertation). Part of my problem as an aspiring academic doctor was I did not know how to act, write, or be a doctor yet. Even though I had finally taken the responsibility to complete the degree on myself I still struggled, but I slowly started acting the part and finally finally in the twelfth year, after taking my comps over (they had expired), I finished my degree.
With doctorate finally in hand, I had another realization, I, along with my life, had changed.
This led me to my second failure, my inability to get a professorship. I should rephrase this, my unwillingness to go down that career path anymore. To get a professorship, I would have to come home everyday from work and practice a minimum of two hours for up to two years to get my chops back up and be truly competitive. Even if I did this there is no guarantee that I would get a professorship and even if I did, I would have to move my family to the job, somewhere in this great expanse of a country. I could not and still cannot do it anymore. I realized my degree journey had changed me so much that getting a professorship did not fit my life or career goals anymore. Now this change was subtle, slow, and at the same time it was so unexpected it hit me like a ten-ton truck. Part of my change came from the job I got at the University of Phoenix during the latter half of my doctorate. To be honest, working at University of Phoenix was about the last place...the last place I ever thought I would end up. Living in Arizona was unexpected; working as a staffer at a for-profit...unimaginable! This job was to get me through a difficult time in my life but years later with doctorate in hand I am still working in Online Academic Affairs; enjoying the work and living what I would call a lucky and blessed life.
Failure is not the end, it is a beginning. The failure of my first marriage forced me to grow and open up my mind to new ideas and people. The failure of not getting a professorship forced me to realize that my career path evolved into something different than I had originally envisioned. If you are lucky enough to get a professorship at a cute college or massive university, you have to find happiness or else you will spend twenty years being miserable not because of the job or the people, but because of yourself.
Failure can be many things. In my own life, I have failed many times but the ‘big two’ were my first marriage and not being able to attain a professorship. The story behind my first marriage is old news; overly dramatic, and firmly in the past. Too many people have similar stories and there is no need to bore anyone with dull, tired details. My other big failure was my inability to get a professorship.
As a musician, my training was...humble. I went to a nice directional school for undergrad and a nicer school for my graduate work. I never attended an elite institution nor did I go to any summer music festivals that I now know are important for personal growth and networking. The first eight years of my musical training (four undergrad, two masters, first two years of doctorate) did not set me up for success or failure. My personal work habits and innate talent did not lead me to success or failure. I was just there. But then something happened, my doctorate took another ten years to finish.
Recently, a frustrated Ph.D. student talked about the pain of trying to complete his degree in the article “Too Far Along”. This article spoke to me because throughout the twelve years of my doctorate, I wanted to quit every other day. When I was in the throes of trying to complete my degree I was unhappy and obsessed; I was taking too long to finish, I was wasting money, I was getting older, the economy was getting worse, I had no retirement, higher education was struggling, music programs were getting cut, and most importantly, I should have done/completed [Enter Achievement Here] by my age. Living with so much angst was exhausting, counter-productive, and self-destructive. Slowly, very slowly, I came to realize the only thing that was standing in the way of finishing my degree was...me. If I wanted to finish my doctorate, I had to finish it; I could only blame myself.
After I had this realization came new found direction; I finished my penultimate recital and kept writing my dissertation while making the recommended corrections from my committee. On a side note, there are four recitals that are part of the Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Arizona and I had completed three of the four with only the Lecture Recital left (small dissertation). Part of my problem as an aspiring academic doctor was I did not know how to act, write, or be a doctor yet. Even though I had finally taken the responsibility to complete the degree on myself I still struggled, but I slowly started acting the part and finally finally in the twelfth year, after taking my comps over (they had expired), I finished my degree.
With doctorate finally in hand, I had another realization, I, along with my life, had changed.
This led me to my second failure, my inability to get a professorship. I should rephrase this, my unwillingness to go down that career path anymore. To get a professorship, I would have to come home everyday from work and practice a minimum of two hours for up to two years to get my chops back up and be truly competitive. Even if I did this there is no guarantee that I would get a professorship and even if I did, I would have to move my family to the job, somewhere in this great expanse of a country. I could not and still cannot do it anymore. I realized my degree journey had changed me so much that getting a professorship did not fit my life or career goals anymore. Now this change was subtle, slow, and at the same time it was so unexpected it hit me like a ten-ton truck. Part of my change came from the job I got at the University of Phoenix during the latter half of my doctorate. To be honest, working at University of Phoenix was about the last place...the last place I ever thought I would end up. Living in Arizona was unexpected; working as a staffer at a for-profit...unimaginable! This job was to get me through a difficult time in my life but years later with doctorate in hand I am still working in Online Academic Affairs; enjoying the work and living what I would call a lucky and blessed life.
Failure is not the end, it is a beginning. The failure of my first marriage forced me to grow and open up my mind to new ideas and people. The failure of not getting a professorship forced me to realize that my career path evolved into something different than I had originally envisioned. If you are lucky enough to get a professorship at a cute college or massive university, you have to find happiness or else you will spend twenty years being miserable not because of the job or the people, but because of yourself.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Developing Young Leaders in Higher Education
Higher education is filled with jobs: staff, faculty, supervisors, directors, deans, and executives to name just a few. Amongst these countless positions are leaders that come in every shape and size who are constantly trying to lead their departments, their institutions, and higher education in general. But these jobs exist at institutions where many forces in conflict and the unfortunate reality is that leaders at every level often lack a clear vision for the future. Because of the current state of higher education and the changes that will occur over the next two decades, stronger leadership, especially developing young leaders, is needed now more than ever.
In the article “How to Develop Young Leaders,” Brent Gleeson, whose leadership training was at the behest of the Navy Seals, presents four simple ways to develop young leaders: showcase their talent; manage them, not their work; let them fail; and link their effort to tangible results. In this dialogue, I will look at the first way to develop young leaders: showcase their talent and specifically, developing their writing.
The best way to develop the leadership skills of young leaders, in my opinion, is through writing. Being able to put thoughts and ideas on paper in an organized manner that can be easily understood by a diverse audience is needed by every leader. Having the ability to research a topic, investigate it from multiple angles while thinking critically, logically, and dedicating enough time to be alone with your thoughts allows one to speak with authority and be open to new ideas and disagreements. Whether writing an email, a memo, a report, a performance review, a proposal, or an article, writing prose that is academic yet accessible to a wide audience is universally needed.
This brings me to the most important item; when there is a person in your organization whose career trajectory is moving towards a leadership position, be their writing mentor. Provide writing guidance no matter what their skill level. If they are too verbose, help them choose their words carefully; if they have good ideas that are scattered, help them be organized; or if their writing is inflexible, help them adjust to the audience and situation. By being a mentor and constantly encouraging them to write, the young leader will become accustomed to writing and freely contribute to the institution's or industry publications rather than being self-critical and hesitant to share their talent.
Having solid leaders at every level of higher education, America will be able to fulfill the weighty burden of educating America’s adult population. Today’s crop of young leaders need to constantly develop their writing skills by working with a thoughtful and engaged mentor that will enable them to collaborate with other departments and job titles, understand how to work with and transition systems they inherit, adapt to ever changing internal and external forces, and inspire the employees they lead and those that observe.
In the article “How to Develop Young Leaders,” Brent Gleeson, whose leadership training was at the behest of the Navy Seals, presents four simple ways to develop young leaders: showcase their talent; manage them, not their work; let them fail; and link their effort to tangible results. In this dialogue, I will look at the first way to develop young leaders: showcase their talent and specifically, developing their writing.
The best way to develop the leadership skills of young leaders, in my opinion, is through writing. Being able to put thoughts and ideas on paper in an organized manner that can be easily understood by a diverse audience is needed by every leader. Having the ability to research a topic, investigate it from multiple angles while thinking critically, logically, and dedicating enough time to be alone with your thoughts allows one to speak with authority and be open to new ideas and disagreements. Whether writing an email, a memo, a report, a performance review, a proposal, or an article, writing prose that is academic yet accessible to a wide audience is universally needed.
This brings me to the most important item; when there is a person in your organization whose career trajectory is moving towards a leadership position, be their writing mentor. Provide writing guidance no matter what their skill level. If they are too verbose, help them choose their words carefully; if they have good ideas that are scattered, help them be organized; or if their writing is inflexible, help them adjust to the audience and situation. By being a mentor and constantly encouraging them to write, the young leader will become accustomed to writing and freely contribute to the institution's or industry publications rather than being self-critical and hesitant to share their talent.
Having solid leaders at every level of higher education, America will be able to fulfill the weighty burden of educating America’s adult population. Today’s crop of young leaders need to constantly develop their writing skills by working with a thoughtful and engaged mentor that will enable them to collaborate with other departments and job titles, understand how to work with and transition systems they inherit, adapt to ever changing internal and external forces, and inspire the employees they lead and those that observe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)