AsianScientist (Mar. 9, 2018) – What if you could get a job that was guaranteed for the rest of your life? One where you didn’t have to worry about annual reviews or being fired, where you have the freedom to pursue any project you like, and to hire the people you want? In the academic world, that “job” goes by another name—“getting tenure.”
Becoming a tenured professor is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that many researchers aspire to. It’s one of the many transitions undertaken on an academic journey, and the first that Beyond the Bench will explore in upcoming posts. This month, we offer up tips to those looking to make the progression from postdoc to professor.
1. Remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint
The path to tenure is a long one—many half-joke that it’s a job interview which lasts anywhere between five to seven years. The best time start thinking about tenure is “when you start your day one as a professor,” says Sierin Lim, an associate professor of bioengineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
Figure out what your institution’s tenure criteria is. Most commonly, the three metrics used for evaluation are teaching, research and service. How much emphasis is placed on each of these? Where should you focus your efforts? For instance, “at NTU it’s five teaching, five research, two service,” says Lim. Remember that you’re no longer “just” a post-doc whose main role is to be a researcher—a professor has to wear many hats in addition to that: teacher, mentor, advocate, fund-raiser, and manager, among others.
Then it’s time to get organized. Keep folders documenting your work in the three main areas—for example, place peer and student evaluations together with course syllabi, etc. in your “teaching” folder, peer-reviewed articles and book chapters you’ve written in the “research” folder, and commendation letters in the “service” folder. This will make your life easier when the time comes to putting a tenure portfolio together.
2. Be inspired by your idea
Often you’re looking at the benefits a tenure track position can bring—job security, academic freedom and the time to pursue ideas relatively pressure-free. On the flip side, a university is asking: What can this faculty member do for us? They look to the potential you have to contribute to your field, and the impact you might make.
Research output in terms of number of papers and citations, your h-index, and so on are important to a certain extent, but it’s your research idea that is more important, says Ali Miserez, an associate professor at NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering.
“Is it original? Is it something that you started and is your very own? I think that’s really key and what reviewers look at,” he says.
So it’s important to choose the right topic for you. Do something that you’re interested in and that you really enjoy, rather than what other people think you should do or what seems trendy at the moment.
Miserez recalls one of the best advice he’s ever gotten, from his post-doc supervisor: “He said that in science, you can be surfing on the wave, on the success of the day, with a research topic that seems interesting. Or you can be a diver and take your time to go deeper. Just don’t drown!”
3. Make a name for yourself
Doing impactful research and authoring papers is one thing, but you also want to generate waves with your work. That’s because part of the tenure process involves your department collecting reference letters from prominent people in your field, and when that happens you don’t want them drawing a blank on your name.
“It’s very important to get your work known,” says Lim. “For example, go to conferences and tell people how cool your work is. That’s where you might meet your reviewers.”
Make the effort to step up to the microphone and ask questions at the end of a presentation, or go up to a speaker afterwards and introduce yourself.
Seminar series are useful events—seize the opportunity to get involved in your department’s and invite leaders in your field to come speak. This will give them a chance to know who are on both a professional and more personal level. At the same time, seek out opportunities to give talks at other universities, accept invitations to present at conferences, and so on. Self-promotion can be hard, but it’s a necessary discomfort.
4. Show up and be a good citizen
“The tenure process is not just about your science, but also whether you’re a good citizen,” says Miserez.
Show up for faculty meetings and departmental events. Show a genuine interest in your colleagues. Volunteer your service in the name of your department and university, such as offering to chair a conference or help with student admissions. Be a team player.
Your colleagues have a say in your promotion and tenure process, and they will ask, “Do we really want this person in our department for the next 20 years?” says Miserez. “Even if you have the most brilliant person but that person turns out to be a complete maniac, is unpleasant, mistreats his students… all this behavior is probably a big reason why someone doesn’t get tenure.”
And even if for some reason, God forbid, you’re not offered a tenured position, at least you’d have “built up good working relationships with your colleagues here and around the world, so something else will come up,” says Miserez.
“It’s important to remember not to get too stressed about it.”
This article is from a monthly column called Beyond The Bench. Click here to see the other articles in this series.
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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photo: Shutterstock.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
