tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post3773235032719708555..comments2024-03-14T04:16:20.472-07:00Comments on In Socrates' Wake: Do dedicated teachers have an easier time on the job market?Michael Cholbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02012523929044363216noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-61043906322628727432007-10-26T11:02:00.000-07:002007-10-26T11:02:00.000-07:00Hey Adam,Not heeding this advice some years ago is...Hey Adam,<BR/>Not heeding this advice some years ago is probably part of the reason I am sending out applicaions for the third year in a row.<BR/><BR/>But, as always with the job market, it is hard to give good general advice, For people outside the top 40 depts, this is great advice. I really don't know what it is like to come from a top 20 place, but I suspect this strategy would not be supported by many such departments.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03242468639240988664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-6014161935064444512007-10-24T11:29:00.000-07:002007-10-24T11:29:00.000-07:00I have anecdotal evidence as well that those who h...I have anecdotal evidence as well that those who have developed their teaching and seek jobs where teaching is emphasized have a generally easier time on the market (where easy means pretty miserable rather than excruciating).<BR/><BR/>Some practical advice that relates to this has to do with how a job candidate prepares for interviews. The rule, though there were exceptions, to most of the interviews I've had for jobs emphasizing teaching has been that the vast majority of discussion relates to teaching, rather than one's dissertation. If a job-seeker is prepared to defend his or her disseratation for most or all of an interview, but fails to prepare for a discussion of teaching (How would you teach this course?), problems obviously arise. Also, if you want job that does emphasize teaching, it would be wise to have your advisor or a faculty member address your teaching and your goals in their recommendation letters.Mike Austinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02489700864050607425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-57000892862208354112007-10-24T09:50:00.000-07:002007-10-24T09:50:00.000-07:00Adam, your post reminded me of Leiter's remarks ab...Adam, your post reminded me of Leiter's remarks about applying to grad school in the Gourmet Report:<BR/><BR/><I>Students should also keep in mind that many, perhaps most, of the academic positions in philosophy in the United States are at institutions of higher learning that have as their primary function general education, rather than intensive training in philosophy. There is, moreover, a growing culture gap between what is taught at the leading graduate programs (moral realism, naturalistic theories of mental content, theories of truth) and what sorts of jobs are available (openings for specialists in African-American philosophy, environmental ethics, history of modern philosophy with an emphasis on race and gender issues).</I><BR/> <BR/>I think he's right about this culture gap but it extends even further: There is a significant gap, concerning the relative value or importance of teaching and research, between the R-1 schools where most people do their graduate work and the teaching-oriented institutions where most people find employment. It's been widely noted that research expectations have risen across the discipline such that it's very nearly impossible to be tenured anywhere without at least a modest research record. But I also suspect there's a cultural shift going on with respect to teaching as well: The culture of assessment and higher ed accountability is leading institutions to be more probing about teaching quality. This lends credence to your general advice: A grad student with a solid dissertation and who shows promise as a researcher might be better off spending more energy developing her teaching credentials instead of, say, working over a dissertation chapter into a research article. And as our earlier discussion of how teaching credentials are evaluated indicates, grad students should think carefully not simply about improving those credentials but about how to make those credentials evident to those who might hire them.Michael Cholbihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02012523929044363216noreply@blogger.com