i’m on my department committee to rewrite our 1990s guidelines for rank and promotion, and our dean is pushing us to keep it ambiguous. other departments across campus do quantify article output and even allowable journals. but my dean’s argument is that ambiguity gives our faculty freedom to explore new avenues of emerging scholarship and also grace for bumps along the journey. i think an ambiguous model relies on a healthy working environment where your colleagues actually respect and support you, which is all too rare….
Yes, when I was on the tenure track that was exactly the rationale for the ambiguity. It sounds good in theory, but I’m skeptical of how well it works in practice. Let’s say you want to focus your efforts on public scholarship and are doing innovative community work. If the T&P committee decides that isn’t actually scholarship then your tenure case is in jeopardy. I’ve seen too many cases of institutions saying they value innovation when in reality they often just stick to the status quo.
I think some of the pressure to perform also comes from who you are surrounded by to a certain extent - I wonder now if I've always just been an overachiever or if I feel like I need to always be going, going, going and signing up for all of the things because other faculty in my department are doing it (somehow balancing overloaded teaching schedules and multiple major committees and other service commitments both on and off campus), too.
Absolutely! This was my experience too. I think this mentality steeps in at the tenure track phase and it becomes embedded into the culture of departments so that everyone contributes to it. I feel like I have to do everything because all my colleagues seem to reinforce this and vice versa.
Thanks for sharing. Very insightful. As a colored pre tenure woman faculty myself, I relate a lot. I also felt gender and age were often implicitly judged than race itself. I had the exact convo with my chair. At one point he said being in the office more with my door open to welcome impromptu conversation will greatly help my tenure case.
Precisely! I've witnessed women of color being judged more harshly for "not being available" or for not doing extra service work. Their male counterparts may not be in the office either, but no one brings it up as evidence they aren't being good colleagues. How is one to possibly judge how often being in the office with their door open is "enough" to be read favorably? It's such bullshit.
Thank you for this very insightful article. Honestly, I did not know the original meaning or use for tenure. Says a lot about institutional indoctrination!
Oh I definitely think there are parallels in PhD education. What's required to graduate is not always transparent and in many cases, it's dependent on the supervisor, who may not facilitate a smooth process through the program. The finish line is often invisible in these cases as well.
i’m on my department committee to rewrite our 1990s guidelines for rank and promotion, and our dean is pushing us to keep it ambiguous. other departments across campus do quantify article output and even allowable journals. but my dean’s argument is that ambiguity gives our faculty freedom to explore new avenues of emerging scholarship and also grace for bumps along the journey. i think an ambiguous model relies on a healthy working environment where your colleagues actually respect and support you, which is all too rare….
Yes, when I was on the tenure track that was exactly the rationale for the ambiguity. It sounds good in theory, but I’m skeptical of how well it works in practice. Let’s say you want to focus your efforts on public scholarship and are doing innovative community work. If the T&P committee decides that isn’t actually scholarship then your tenure case is in jeopardy. I’ve seen too many cases of institutions saying they value innovation when in reality they often just stick to the status quo.
I think some of the pressure to perform also comes from who you are surrounded by to a certain extent - I wonder now if I've always just been an overachiever or if I feel like I need to always be going, going, going and signing up for all of the things because other faculty in my department are doing it (somehow balancing overloaded teaching schedules and multiple major committees and other service commitments both on and off campus), too.
Absolutely! This was my experience too. I think this mentality steeps in at the tenure track phase and it becomes embedded into the culture of departments so that everyone contributes to it. I feel like I have to do everything because all my colleagues seem to reinforce this and vice versa.
Thanks for sharing. Very insightful. As a colored pre tenure woman faculty myself, I relate a lot. I also felt gender and age were often implicitly judged than race itself. I had the exact convo with my chair. At one point he said being in the office more with my door open to welcome impromptu conversation will greatly help my tenure case.
Precisely! I've witnessed women of color being judged more harshly for "not being available" or for not doing extra service work. Their male counterparts may not be in the office either, but no one brings it up as evidence they aren't being good colleagues. How is one to possibly judge how often being in the office with their door open is "enough" to be read favorably? It's such bullshit.
Haha that’s why I left!
Thank you for this very insightful article. Honestly, I did not know the original meaning or use for tenure. Says a lot about institutional indoctrination!
You are most welcome! And yes, it’s wild to think about the original intent of tenure vs. its application today.
You are right. I’m also thinking to what extent this change applies to the PhD degree thesis.
Would you say that there are parallels? I know of some institutions that demand publishing a paper vs others that have PhDs drag on for years 🎓
Oh I definitely think there are parallels in PhD education. What's required to graduate is not always transparent and in many cases, it's dependent on the supervisor, who may not facilitate a smooth process through the program. The finish line is often invisible in these cases as well.