Unhappiness among mid-career faculty

[momsquad]

<p>First world problems…</p>

<p>[Why</a> Are Associate Professors Some of the Unhappiest People in Academe? - Faculty - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Are-Associate-Professors/132071/]Why”>http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Are-Associate-Professors/132071/)</p>

<p>

Ms. Trower attributes a large part of the dissatisfaction among midcareer faculty members to the gap between expectations and the cold reality of the job. People who enter academe were frequently the highest-performing students all the way through school. Their top grades and test scores earned them places in prestigious graduate programs, which eventually put them among an elite group of people with doctoral degrees. Beating the odds and landing a tenure-track job in an increasingly competitive academic job market sets professors up to feel even more special. But the work that scholars end up doing once they join academe is not always quite as special as they imagined, says Ms. Trower. And by extension, she notes, neither are they.</p>

<p>“A lot of people who get doctorates are idealistic, they want to change the world or study something where they think they can make a true difference,” says Ms. Trower. “Most of us teach at places, though, where students are after a credential, and where your colleagues—who you thought would be really smart—are people you don’t even like all that much. Plus, you feel underappreciated. The president of the college doesn’t even know your name.”</p>

<p>Brent Chesley, a professor of English at Aquinas College, understands the phenomenon. “We were all accepted into a grad program, completed degrees, got a position, and got tenure,” he says. “Then there is this point at which one realizes: Oh, I won’t ever earn a huge salary. I won’t ever get to live in New York City. But worst of all, I’ll never be interviewed by Terry Gross.”

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[annasdad]

<p>So tenured academics can have midlife crises, just like the rest of us? </p>

<p>Who knew?</p>