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.