Most Academics Miss This Tenure Shortcut

So now I'd like to talk about the concept of tenure. Tenure is still one of the strongest forms of job protection within academia, but fewer people are getting it and fewer schools are committed to keeping it. So the world is changing. In this video, I'll walk you through the 5 things you should know about tenure before you decide to pursue it. I'm Dr. Steve Tippins, Ph.D. I've spent 35 years in academia. I've earned tenure twice and helped hundreds of Ph.D.s build stable and fulfilling careers, both inside and outside of academia. So, what are the 5 things you should know about tenure? Well, first, let's talk about what tenure actually is and what it is not. Tenure was created to protect academic freedom, not job comfort. Historically, faculty could be fired for unpopular ideas, or perhaps going against the wishes of donors. Tenure protects speech and inquiry, not laziness and not misconduct. Here are some misconceptions: that tenure equals guaranteed lifetime employment—it doesn't. Tenure can't be revoked—it can. For example, serious misconduct can mean a revocation of tenure. Program closures can lead to tenure revocation. Financial strains on an institution can also lead to tenure revocation for some. If you think that tenure basically means you never have to worry again, you're limiting your career. You really need to think that tenure is a wonderful thing, but it's not something that you just retire on. Think of it this way: tenure is a protection mechanism. It's not a magic shield. Now let's talk about the— how the tenure system actually works. And the first thing you want to think about is the position that you're in or the position you're looking at. Is it even a tenure-track position? Is tenure a possibility? Because in many positions today, tenure is not an option. This can be a dangerous mistake if you're thinking tenure is an option and planning on tenure being an option, and then it isn't. When you're ready to apply for tenure, most people put together what's called a portfolio, which presents what they have done during the time period at the institution that warrants tenure. And the categories broadly are teaching, service, research, and then external letters from scholars, particularly scholars that you haven't published with, or scholars that don't share the same last name, or scholars that basically don't owe you something. So in your teaching portfolio, it's going to be teaching evaluations, maybe things you've done creatively, courses you have created in addition or made major changes to, all to show your investment as a teacher. Service— what they're looking for is an increasing level of service to the institution. Not that you served on the golf course committee, which I did in graduate school, and it never met for 2 years. So they want to see that you've served on committees and taken on responsible roles in committees over time. And then research. What type of publications have you gotten? What levels of journals have they been at? Increasingly, how many citations or who's citing your works all show the breadth and depth of your research that you've published. Once you have your portfolio together, now you go through the process, and typically it works something like this: there will be a departmental committee, and when you're going for tenure, all tenured faculty can vote in this departmental committee, and then you move to the college committee. Now, one of the things that can be interesting is you have to have enough people in each committee to be able to vote for you, and every school is going to have different numbers, but let's say you have 5 tenured people in your department and only 7 tenured people in your college, and you need 4 people to vote for you at each level. Well, if all 5 people of your department vote for you at the department level, typically they can't vote for you at the university level, So we have to think about, well, maybe one of those people should be on the university committee and not vote for you in the department so they can then vote for you at the college level. And this can happen at the next level too, where you, after your college, you typically go to a university level committee. Do you have enough people on your college committee or do they have to pull from outside of the university to do this? So these are all things that have to be thought about by you and your chair, hopefully. Once you make it through a university committee, then typically it goes to the provost or the president to make the final decision. At the university level and the provost level, they may not fully understand your field or what's required within your field, so you want to be as clear as possible showing what you've done and how you fit within your field. Tenure is not just about doing good work, but it's also being able to navigate that multi-layered system. If you're trying to determine whether taking a tenure-track position is good for your career, you don't want to rely on outdated advice. Join the free Scholar Career Network. It's where Ph.D.s get clear, honest guidance so that they can stop guessing and start planning. So, we've been through the checklist of tenure. What does it really take to get tenure? Most schools will have maybe an amorphous minimum requirement to get tenure. When you come in, you ask the question like, "What's it take to get tenure here?" "Oh, you get 3 publications and serve on committees and you're okay at teaching. You should be fine." Something like that, and that may be what the last person who got tenure did, but these targets for tenure seem to move over time. So what you've been told might have been the case, but it may not be the case moving forward. So what does that mean? Do more than was expected. Do more than what you were told. If they said 3 publications should do it for you, you might want to think about 5 or 6 as the minimum that you need in order to make the decision easy for everybody. You want to be talking about publications early with your chair and also your department to find out what they think qualifies as a publication. Most likely they're going to say, well, you wrote a letter to the editor, that doesn't count. Okay, you want something that goes through a peer-reviewed process at a journal that is quality, however they define quality. The recommendations of external reviewers which we've talked about, are important. Your committee's going to look at that because these are the people that have been chosen to evaluate your research, external to the school with no conflicts of interest. So the concept of playing it safe versus aiming high is really a juggling game because you can say, I want, you know, 3 top-tier publications, but each one might take a year or so to develop and publish, and if you don't get that, then you may not be able to recover fast enough on the other direction to have enough publications, so it's always something to be thinking about. In addition, relationships matter. Remember, every tenured person in your department gets to vote on the decision as to whether you get tenure, as well as every tenured person in your school. Or college. So alienating people is not a good idea. Personal grudges can influence outcomes. You don't need to be best friends with everybody, but at least keeping things professional and neutral is in your best interest. Ultimately, at almost every school, tenure decisions are made by people, not spreadsheets. I have heard of a few schools in the past that had some sort of numbering system. but most places don't use that anymore. It's based upon committee votes. So what ultimately changes after you get tenure? Look, you still teach, you still research, and you still serve or work on committees for the institution, but you have more freedom of speech, more freedom of research. You may have leverage in negotiations, especially with another school if you're leaving. You can say, well, I already have tenure and I don't want to give that up, so it can become a point of leverage if offered another job, and it can give some career stability, but remember, it's not perfect. Don't treat tenure like a finish line. You can get disappointed that way. Oh my gosh, I got tenure and I'm done. Oh, I'm not done. I'm still doing my job. It becomes a platform for you. Tenure gives you options. It is not a resting place. It's a foundation for leadership. Perhaps you want to be a department chair or even a dean. For intellectual risk-taking, you can now take more time to develop things. And for career pivots, if you'd like. Tenure changes your position, but really not your responsibilities. So now, ultimately, let's talk about the future of tenure and planning for that. Like I said at the beginning, there are fewer tenure-track jobs, making it easier for institutions to pivot. There are more contingent and contract-based roles— professor of practice, instructors, names that all basically break down to you're not tenure-track and you're gonna teach more and probably get paid less. Universities are responding more quickly now to changes in enrollment, funding changes, administrative changes or flexibility they're looking for. Tenure is still important, and academic freedom, the ability to speak, is very important within the school and within our society. Tenure still provides leverage and still provides a voice for people. Tenure may still be worth considering and pursuing, but only as part of a broader plan. The mistake isn't wanting tenure. The mistake is building your entire career plans around getting tenure and nothing else. If you want help building an academic career in today's market, whether it includes tenure or not, join the free Scholar Career Network. You'll get practical guidance from people who've been through it so that you can make confident decisions and move forward with clarity.