Academic Rants

The background: My old PhD supervisor invites me to teach her MA class and I agree - for the experience in the absence of payment. The class goes really well and I get lots of great feedback from the students who wonder why there is nothing about trans issues on their entire 'Gender and Sexuality' program. I present this dilemma to said supervisor who agrees that it's a shame but isn't willing to put her money where her mouth is. This is her advice to me after my suggestion to create a 'trans studies' stream within her module:


Hi Acorn,

With every semester that passes since the awarding of your PhD, prospective employers will have imagined that you’ve been actively applying for academic posts. What perhaps you don’t realize is this—there’s a kind of hidden sell-by date. Academics will recognize that there aren’t many academic jobs going round, but this is an unforgiving profession—and if you don’t start getting serious about an academic post, the difference between the date in which you apply for a job and the date of the awarding of the PhD will begin to send off alarm bells. People will notice that gap and ask (not you—but themselves in the shortlisting meetings), what’s wrong with this candidate? Of course you can explain to them what you’ve explained to me—but as I’ve said, this is a tough and unforgiving profession. No one is interested in your personal circumstances. (I could perhaps explain this better in person.) What I am trying to say is that the clock is ticking if you have real ambitions to work in a university.

You are a highly intelligent and highly motivated young academic—eventually you could land a job at a leading research institution. At the very least, you could land a job at some decent university.

No academic has the luxury of selecting where they want to live. Someone once asked me ‘how did you decide where you wanted to live’--and my response was this: university teaching possibilities made that decision for me. I would never have opted to move to Florida, where I endured years at a horrible southern baptist university, until I landed a job with the State University of New York—again, another place where I never imagined teaching...

This is about risk and drive. It may be the case that you imagine your partner will not be accommodated in places where you get these jobs, but if the university wants you badly enough, things can happen. That’s part of the negotiating process. You absolutely must stay active and start getting out articles and make sure your book is being circulated at university presses.

The best you could hope for in the local area is the odd module from time to time. There are all sorts of prejudices in academe—and I’ve always warned students that your PhD will always look slightly less sexy here than elsewhere.

The proposal you suggest in Trans Studies at the University is interesting, but...it is unlikely that anyone here will go for this in a big way. The grant ventures that you suggest would be plausible if there was an academic on staff at the university with precisely these research interests, with the time, commitment and vision to drive these forward. Most researchers are already working in their own areas.

What you need to realize is that you must start applying for each and every academic job that looks plausible anywhere in the country, but also abroad. Even if you don’t decide, for whatever reason, to take that job, you will have been through the interview process—and each interview experience is important in helping you perform better in that setting.

When I completed my PhD I applied for about 35-40 jobs—this is what you should be doing. Scouring the www.jobs.ac.uk and THES. Nothing is going to be handed to you on a plate—you’ve got to do the footwork and hustle.

Remember—you don’t actually have to take the job, but getting an offer may help you to figure out if you have other life options in how you work out the day to day arrangements for the care of your partner.

I believe that you are far too talented to let the possibility of an academic job slip through your fingers.

Prof. Oak

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And this is my reply:

Dear Prof. Oak,

I appreciate where you're coming from but I feel that I must clarify my position with all of this. It sounds like you and I have very different expectations of academia. Rather than viewing the completion of a PhD as a means of securing a foothold on the academic rung, I instead see it as a means of sharpening my skills as an independent researcher and writer. At this stage, my relationship to academia exists in conjunction with my capacity as a trainer, researcher and consultant in other realms - ie the public sector, local Government, NGOs and other Independent bodies. At the core of each involvement is a commitment to advocacy, education, equalities and the transfer of knowledge. In other words, my passion for academic research and teaching finds its equivalent in the undertaking of more 'hands on' campaign, research and consultancy work. Whilst academia will always be a part of my life, I see my involvement on a more arms-length basis - ie contributing to specific research projects, as a guest lecturer, sessional tutor etc rather than securing a tenured position.

Since finishing the PhD, I have set up as a freelance researcher, trainer and consultant and am in the process of launching my own research organisation - Inter Alia - with a good friend and colleague. We've have been working with the Equality and Diversity Office of Oak Uni. to deliver training and a resource package on trans issues, advising staff (HR, student support, academic etc) about best practice when working with trans staff and students (to be implemented next year on a trial basis). I'm also currently undertaking research for an education consultant in London, looking into practical ways of implementing the equalities schemes in SEN schools across the UK. I've recently been in contact with a private consultancy organisation about undertaking freelance work in the area of NHS consultations. Applying my research to the public sector is something I'm hoping to develop over the next few years.

I've submitted over twenty job applications since graduating - post-doc fellowships and lecturing posts in arts/humanities and the social/political sciences at both traditional and ex-polytechnic Unis; research and policy work for the EHRC, local councils, NGOs, civil service, charities etc; research and development within community-led and arts organisations etc. In the meantime, I've managed to secure casual/part-time work in the area of website design, student support research, and campaigns/social enterprise research.

I'm currently applying to undertake a post-doc fellowship at a Swedish Uni in the area of feminist/queer/trans research. I've also just submitted an application to the 'Transgender Council of Europe' to undertake human rights violations research in the area of 'Trans People and the British Criminal Justice System'. In addition, I'm in the process of finalising a research application to the ESRC in the area of 'Trans People and Ageing', looking at the experiences of and attitudes towards gender variant people in a social/residential care setting in the UK.

So, as you can see, I've been far from inactive. The path I've chosen to tread is equally as challenging as the path you've taken and I too will make sacrifices - financial wealth and academic status etc - but, my heartfelt commitment to social change drives me forwards.

Best,
Acorn

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I'm still waiting for the 'thank you' from Prof. Oak for doing one of her classes for free! Watch this space...