All Questions
Tagged with professorship career-path
90
questions
90
votes
12
answers
17k
views
Why do researchers need universities?
This is a follow-up question to How are junior professors evaluated for promotion? and probably an even more naive question. If I'm understanding the answer correct, professors need funding to do ...
- 133k
81
votes
3
answers
26k
views
Life as a math professor
I am currently an undergraduate math major in my 3rd year (in America). I have taken lots of pure math courses, and anything I put in my resume tells potential employers I'm probably going to be an ...
- 959
71
votes
5
answers
42k
views
What ratio of PhD graduates in STEM fields ultimately end up as (tenured) professors?
I recently saw this infogram circling around various social networks:
It appeared in this Tweet with the following claim:
Got a PhD? Your chance of becoming a Professor is 0.45%. Good luck.
Being ...
- 13.7k
56
votes
6
answers
7k
views
Is it normal to feel dread before starting a faculty position?
I need some advice. After several months of interviews and work, I secured a faculty position at a good business school, which was a relief since jobs are so hard to get around here. Everyone tells me ...
- 1,451
55
votes
6
answers
11k
views
What kind of career path might be possible for a professor following a plagiarism scandal?
Prior to transferring to another university, I attended a college in a different state with a renown reputation for integrity and academic rigor. The year before I left, I enrolled in a course that ...
- 742
49
votes
7
answers
7k
views
What's the point of maintaining a CV after tenure?
Once you have tenure, presumably you're never going to have to search for a job again. However almost all professors have a CV on their website, and fairly recent ones. Why? They already made it.
user41631
42
votes
9
answers
18k
views
What happens to unproductive professors?
I notice that past a certain age (sometimes as early as 50), some professors tend to be significantly less productive, to the point that they essentially do not publish or have graduate students and ...
- 7,454
39
votes
3
answers
10k
views
How should a student deal with personal criticisms from an assistant professor?
I am a PhD student. In the past I have met with an assistant professor for some general advice about my research, both times he has made off the cuff comments on my lack of competence as a researcher ...
- 874
39
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How is Google Scholar changing academic evaluation?
Google Scholar is making it very easy to track (their measure of) citation counts, h-index, etc. for individual researchers. Is this changing how academics are evaluated? Do tenure committees now ...
- 391
36
votes
4
answers
8k
views
Should I email old supervisor about my progress?
I might collaborate with an old supervisor in the future and would like to keep in touch. Is it a good idea to send an email to him about the progress I've made in my career? Also, what's the best ...
- 317
33
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Why do some individuals who are productive PhD students at leading Western institutions, then publish infrequently as faculty in their home country?
I am a computer science student from Turkey. While I was checking the websites and publications of various CS Professors in Turkey for my future studies, I noticed a strange trend. (Excluding minor ...
- 331
32
votes
3
answers
142k
views
What academic functions does a Professor Emeritus usually serve?
I for one have never understood the distinction between a regular prof with a prof Emeritus/Emerita aside from the obvious fact that a Prof. Emeritus is someone who is usually fairly elderly and has ...
- 11.5k
31
votes
5
answers
26k
views
Why is a professorship sometimes called a chair?
Why is a professorship sometimes called a chair? Are chairs only the correct term when the professorship has been endowed? (I don't think so, because endowed professorships are rare in the UK, but ...
- 539
27
votes
13
answers
33k
views
What is the advantage of becoming a full professor if you already have tenure as an associate professor?
What is the advantage of becoming a full professor if you are already an associate professor with tenure? Why not just stay an associate professor for life? What is the key difference between an ...
- 319
27
votes
6
answers
5k
views
Why do research faculty pursue administrative positions, such as dean, provost, president, etc. ? Do such positions spell the end of one's research?
At a recent seminar talk, I was amazed to note that one of the two coauthors (not the presenter) was the president of a large and well-known university, since I had always assumed that taking on such ...
- 20.8k
26
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How long should a professor stay?
When you accept a tenure-track position in the USA, how long are you expected to stay? Does it look bad if you change jobs a couple times after a few years at each university? Is there an unspoken ...
- 261
24
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What should a tenured professor do to move to a more research oriented school?
Much is written about how to get a job, but I've seen very little about how a professor with tenure (typically an associate or full professor) goes about changing schools. If a professor wants to ...
- 14.5k
23
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Moving from government research to academia
I am a mid-career scientist at a government research organisation, and I am considering a move back into academia. My current employer is looking after me very well and I know I am valued, but I have ...
- 7,416
20
votes
4
answers
10k
views
What stops an assistant/associate professor with a strong publication record from being promoted?
As far as I experienced, research is the most important factor for promotion, as it represents different features of an academician/scholar, which are needed by higher education institutions: teaching ...
- 7,665
20
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How to establish ties with the industry as a young engineering professor?
Next January, I will start as an assistant professor in a respected university. My field of work is civil engineering, and I have diplomas (Masters, PhD) in the engineering studies (Hydraulics, ...
- 936
20
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Research on career path after tenure denial?
I am looking for a study on the career path of professors after they are denied tenure.
Specifically, what percentage of these
get a tenured or tenure-track position at another institution?
get a ...
- 109k
17
votes
2
answers
5k
views
How to introduce myself briefly in a get together for new faculty members?
For the new faculty orientation, there is a get together where they will ask every new faculty member of all departments to say a few words about him/her self.
What are the best practices regarding ...
- 605
15
votes
4
answers
4k
views
How do professors usually discover "new" research interests?
Usually, a person starts out with a single primary research interest as a PhD student (closely related to that of their adviser). But then as they move on through the assistant professor stage, they ...
- 10.9k
15
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Becoming a Professor in a Developing Country after a PhD in the US: Feasibility and Challenges
I'm applying for PhD programs and I'm thinking about what I'll do afterward. Specifically, I did my undergraduate in a well-respected US university and am applying to similar tier universities for a ...
- 151
13
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How common is redundancy in the British (UK/Australia/NZ/Ireland) system?
The British permanent faculty system seems to differ from the US tenured system mainly in that in the former the management can 'fire' one on the basis of redundancy (What is the difference between ...
- 2,135
10
votes
6
answers
4k
views
Asking a faculty member at my university that I have not met(!) about his research, and about courses that deal with his specialty/my career goal?
I am an undergraduate student pursuing a double major in Computer Science B.S. and Mathematics B.S.
My dream career is to work in quant. finance. However, my school does not have a dedicated ...
user134938
10
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Are pure mathematicians at U.S. universities expected to win research grants?
Are pure mathematicians, e.g., Algebraists, Number Theorists, Geometers, and Topologists, at good U.S. research universities expected to win research grants to fund their work, in order to gain tenure ...
user58865
10
votes
2
answers
4k
views
What does it mean when a department has 'retired professors' as part of their faculty? Can I still work with them?
What exactly does this mean? Could I do work with them? If not, why are they listed there? I am confused!
- 749
10
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How does a recognized and well-known Professor help his students in getting an academic job?
It is often told that working under big shots (I mean, recognized professors) in a particular research field is always beneficial on the way towards getting a faculty job in top research universities (...
- 917
10
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Academic rank equivalence between the UK and the US systems
What are the US equivalent ranks to the Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader (or Associate Prof), Professor ranks of the UK system?
Is it correct that in the US system they are Assistant Prof, Associate ...
- 2,135