Becoming a professor - questions

[Deleted]

I know that there are some professors on here. I would like to be one some day probably just an adjunct. When I finish this school year I will have two masters one in counseling and one in educational leadership and I have a BA in special education.

Do you like being a professor? Is it a lot of work? Does it pay well? Anything else you can add?

[Deleted]

Sept 9, 2012 15:28:00 GMT -5 @booby said:

Sept 9, 2012 15:26:56 GMT -5 @88mangoes said:

You should page booby's MIL- it's as easy as being admitted to grad school! YWIA.

lol. yes, according to my MIL, you *are* a professor. so, congrats!

Oh I am!! I don't need any more info!! Lol

[cahabalily]

I'm going to be but am an instructor now (a non-adjunct option, since adjuncts make next to nothing).

I love teaching, it's why I'm going after my doctorate. It is a lot of work, especially balancing teaching and research responsibilities, but I think this varies widely depending on field.

When I start tenure-track, my salary will range from $80-$95, depending on the region I end up in, and once I reach tenure will be over $110k. I don't know if that's 'much', but definitely enough to be comfortable.

Know that different departments can be very political. And another perk of being an instructor- you may be eligible to teach study abroad courses, which is exciting for obvious reasons.

[papie]

I'm an accounting professor, and I'm finishing my PhD at the same time (one more year). I love it, and was lucky enough to find a position that would count my PhD as my research component until I graduate. I have no idea how it works where you are, but here the pay is not very good. I mean, it depends on the school and the number of years of experience and the like, but let's just say it varies between 60-120K (once you have a PhD and lots of experience). I make significantly less than my CPA friends who continuied working at firms when I went back to school and even than some that went to industry.

It is a lot of work, but some people (especially once tenured) do take a slacker route and piss everyone off. But obviously, I don't want to be one of those people. My favorite thing is how flexible it is. I have to teach 4 (3 credit/45 hours) classes per year, but I pick which ones I want and when, and then the rest of my work is research and community service (committees internal and external, boards, etc). Some semesters I have to work crazy hours, evenings and weekends, and then some it is pretty slack. I've only been at my job since 2009 and took a one year maternity leave during that time though. But I had taught as a lecturer before.

There is honestly no other job I'd rather do. BUT I am happy my DH is able to bring in more $$ than me, because for a CPA, considering all tghe extra schooling, it really pays like shit, lol.

[Deleted]

I don't think I will go back for my PhD right know I would like to but I have been in school for 5 years straight while working full time to complete both masters. The school I also go to does not have a PhD program yet. Hopefully soon!!

[papie]

Hmmm, well, it may depend on the field, but here you can't be a professor without a PhD, or at least mostly completed and working on your dissertation. A masters only gets you a lecturer position, which doesn't pay much unless you teach one million classes per year.

[5thofjuly]

I'm happy to answer your questions. This is my fourth year as a tenure-track professor. I absolutely love what I do. Love it. It's a ton of work, but the work is composed of things I love to do, so it's absolutely worth it. My field (social science) definitely does NOT pay well (my DH, a nurse, outearns me.) Some professors in fields like the hard sciences and math earn more. Others in the Humanities and Arts earn less. In your areas plan on about $40-$60k/year depending on if you're at a mostly teaching or mostly research school.

Most fields today require a PhD (or other terminal degree) to be on tenure track. Generally, you have to be ok with being pretty nomadic as a move is par for the course both for your PhD program and for your first job. I got really, really lucky. I'm back in my home state (and in a city I really want to be in) for the first time in 9 years. Now the pressure is on me to get tenure so we can stay here.

That said, being a tenure track professor and being an adjunct are two different things. Adjuncts normally "fill in" courses when there aren't TT profs. available, so you sort of get stuck with the leftover courses, and some semesters there aren't any courses to teach. They usually get no benefits, and, depending on the university, the pay is pretty sucky. I adjuncted during grad school and earned somewhere between $1800 and $3200 per class per semester.

If you do decide to get a PhD and want a tenure track job, go to the very best school you can get into (and not just one that's close.) Tenure track positions are so competative right now that you'll want the edge in order to get a job.

[papie]

Oooh, nevermind my last post. So an adjunct is like a lecturer? I work in french, and get all confused about all the terms you guys use. Yes, you can do that with your maters, but like PP said, it really doesn't pay much and is very unstable.

[5thofjuly]

Sept 9, 2012 15:43:53 GMT -5 papie said:

Oooh, nevermind my last post. So an adjunct is like a lecturer? I work in french, and get all confused about all the terms you guys use. Yes, you can do that with your maters, but like PP said, it really doesn't pay much and is very unstable.

It usually depends on the school. A lecturer can be an adjunct (so, someone who is contracted to teach individual classes) or an instructor (usually someone who teaches a full slate of classes, but has few to no research or service expectations.) A terminal degree hasn't been required to do either at the universities I've been at.

[cahabalily]

I'm in the hard sciences, and adjucts for us are exactly the way 5thofJuly explained - paid crap per class, per semester, and you have no control over what you're teaching. You usually will have another full-time job and won't know you're teaching until days before the semester begins.

I think what I referred to as 'instructor' is the same as a 'lecturer' - you're full time on staff, and are salaried with benefits. You don't make as much vs. TT with PhD, but in my field only need a Master's degree to do it. So you could try for an instructorship to see how you like it, and if you do try for the PhD. AND - if that were to happen, the university would probably waive your tuition since you'd be on payroll already so you could do as papie and work while earning the degree. But all that's hypothetical.

[Deleted]

I would most likely want to teach teacher education classes. I eventually want to work as a principal and teach on the side so adjunct would probably be the way to go for me. There are a lot of schools that offer a PhD in education around me so that may not be a problem.

[smock]

It is really hard to get a job in academia, even non-tenure track. The pay tends to be ridiculously low for the educational requirements, and adjuncting is especially tough because of often unpredictable schedules and sometimes bad hours. And I don't know who said starting salary can be $80-95k a year; my first tenure track offer was barely half that, and required moving to a shitty location. We pay adjuncts under $3k per class, and expect term faculty to take on a 4-4 load for $30k-ish a year.

If you have two masters degrees now you're also potentially looking at 3-5 more years of school to complete a Ph.D.

That said, I love my job and feel lucky to have it.

[cahabalily]

That was me. I'll end up working at a land-grant university (hard science, but my field is fairly specific to land grants), so I can pull salaries from all over the nation because they're public record. I've been monitoring them since I started the MS, so I know it's correct.

I have to say, though, starting salaries vary with field - my humanities friends start out in the sixties, which is what we pay our MS-holding instructors. It's all very varied.

[smock]

Damn, clearly I should have gone into the hard sciences! I'm in history, and I don't know of anyone with an offer if over $55k for a TT job. I'm at a public university so it's even lower here. And because of salary freezes, I've been here one year and make more than people who've been here five.

[2boys2danes]

I finished my PhD in 1997 (I'm 45) and taught at my state University as a GA while I was in my program until now. My degree is in Org Behavior and Social Psych. I went another way than my classmates and I work in industry (as a Director of Learning and Organization Development). I make in the low six figures at my "day job".

I also continue to teach for the state university where I got my PhD and since I've been with them for 20 years, I actually get paid fairly well for the courses I teach and I get to name the night and classes and location that I want to teach.... which has me pretty spoiled.

I also write MBA/HR courses for an online MBA college at another local university. I teach those online as well (have only been doing that piece for about a year but I've also taught adjunct at this university since 1996 as well)

Its all about building your relationships if you want to stay local. I agree with PPs if you want a tenure track full time prof job, you gotta be willing to go wherever and the money isnt always as great as you hope it will be.

One other thing that works for me is that several times a year I consult with other local companies and do sessions for their employees. Its name my own price on those and its nice money for not too terrible much work.

Sorry to be so long winded, didnt know I had so much to say!

Good luck!

[-Moe-]

Fuck it.

it's really a labour of love and psychosis.

You go in knowing that you 1) probably won't make comparable money to what your skill would bring had you taken other alternatives and 2) you're going to deal with a lot of bullshit that'll make you crazy.

But it brings great enjoyment/satisfaction to those who truly derive joy and are passionate about it.

[papie]

Sept 9, 2012 16:22:24 GMT -5 smock said:

Damn, clearly I should have gone into the hard sciences! I'm in history, and I don't know of anyone with an offer if over $55k for a TT job. I'm at a public university so it's even lower here. And because of salary freezes, I've been here one year and make more than people who've been here five.

Or accounting, my friend started at 120k for TT. Not the same university as me.

[BunnyMacDougal]

Sept 9, 2012 17:57:01 GMT -5 -Moe- said:

Fuck it.

it's really a labour of love and psychosis.

You go in knowing that you 1) probably won't make comparable money to what your skill would bring had you taken other alternatives and 2) you're going to deal with a lot of bullshit that'll make you crazy.

But it brings great enjoyment/satisfaction to those who truly derive joy and are passionate about it.

I actually super-love it. I'm adjunct and get paid peanuts, but it works so well with being an otherwise sahm. I teach 3 lectures and 1 lab per week. Grade, lesson plan at night or while kiddo is hiding bathroom soap (see post below).

I knew I loved it when I volunteered to open the lab and order supplies to go over material a student would miss while travelling to germany as part of his army training. If you love researching and philosophizing (technical term) your field and if you get jazzed about making others understand it - I say go for it. I'm a physiology instructor and I wouldn't go into industry pushing pencils and micropipettes for 10 x the pay.

It is a luxury, though, as I've pretty much said. Without H's higher profile job and the in-laws to watch dd sometimes, it would be a sinking venture.

[smock]

Sept 9, 2012 18:04:35 GMT -5 papie said:

Sept 9, 2012 16:22:24 GMT -5 smock said:

Damn, clearly I should have gone into the hard sciences! I'm in history, and I don't know of anyone with an offer if over $55k for a TT job. I'm at a public university so it's even lower here. And because of salary freezes, I've been here one year and make more than people who've been here five.

Or accounting, my friend started at 120k for TT. Not the same university as me.

Papie, why you gotta break my heart like this?!?

[-Moe-]

I meant fuck it in that I had a long schpiel about it then I dd! Not that teaching should be fucked.

LOL..

sorry!

[papie]

Sept 9, 2012 18:20:35 GMT -5 smock said:

Sept 9, 2012 18:04:35 GMT -5 papie said:

Or accounting, my friend started at 120k for TT. Not the same university as me.

Papie, why you gotta break my heart like this?!?

Lol if it helps it will be a looooooong time before I make that

[MWOS]

Sept 9, 2012 17:57:01 GMT -5 -Moe- said:

it's really a labour of love and psychosis.

This very eloquently sums up my life.