#happy bss day to those who celebrate

[anniyell]

shes a runner shes a trackstar

[mediaeval-muse]

I’m feeling angsty about the academic job market and the responses of people around me, so I’m listing some of the most common attempts at “consolation” I’m getting and articulating why they aren’t helpful, in case anyone else finds it useful.

I’ve been on the academic job market for 2 years and have gotten zero requests for an interview. It’s bad.

The people in my life are trying to be helpful, and I really do appreciate it, but so much of it comes from a place of ignorance. So here’s a list of things people have said to me and why it’s not necessarily helping.

“You’ll find something.”

Whether this is intended to mean “eventually someone will call you” or “eventually you’ll get any job,” both are nebulous and have the vibe of “everything will be fine.” The problem is I don’t just want to find something. I know, rationally, that I can get a job in a host of different fields outside academia; the problem is rather that I spent 8 years training for a job I desperately wanted and can’t have - not because I’m unqualified, but because higher education decided to shift to a model that devalues the humanities. So, yes, I’ll find something, but right now, it feels as though I’ve tried to do something and failed. When you feel like a failure, “everything will be alright” kind of dismisses the significance of the negative emotions I’m having now.

And yes, the feeling of being mad because I can’t get what I want does come from a place of privilege. I get that. But the problem isn’t necessarily that I can’t have something and I’m throwing a tantrum. It’s that I set a goal for myself and found happiness/purpose/meaning in something I was doing, and now, I have to leave that behind not because of something I did, but of how academia’s hiring models have changed. I think of it as kind of being related to millennial upbringing: millennial are a generation that were told to find meaning in your job, that you could do anything if you worked hard enough. Some of us are feeling betrayed when we work really hard and the opportunities aren’t there.

“You can get a job in alt-ac.”

A variation on the above statement. At the moment, I’m salty because I don’t want a job in alt-ac. Not that alt-ac jobs are less valuable or unimportant; they just aren’t what I personally set out to do. Again, the problem isn’t that I’m afraid I won’t get a job, it’s the feeling of personal failure and the existential angst associated with not being able to do the thing that I found purpose in. I think I’m allowed to have sad feelings because of that.

“Why not teach online classes or adjunct until a tenure-track job rolls around?”

You can’t just walk in and teach a class anywhere. The hiring crisis is not just at the tenure level; because there are so few TT spots, people are flooding the adjunct market and online teaching market.

Plus, there’s the issue of stability and finances. Adjuncts make an average of $2,500 per class they teach, and their employment is often determined on a semester-by-semester basis. That means meager salaries and unstable employment. Not to mention that adjuncts have to teach upwards of 5+ classes per semester and some colleges don’t offer full benefits to adjuncts. That’s a lot of work and takes a toll on mental health. Not everyone can handle that stress and it doesn’t make someone a “weak” or “non-dedicated” person if they choose not to do that.

“You can teach grade school!”

First, not everyone is cut out to work with children. Or angry parents, for that matter. Second, you have to take more classes and get certified to teach in the USA (if you want to go to public schools. I think private schools are a bit more lenient). That means paying more money. While that’s fine if someone wants to do it, realize that it’s not for everyone. Third, states have rules as to what you can teach, what you must teach, etc. For some, rules might be stifling. College teaching is way different than teaching K-12.

“Academia sucks anyway. Many people have left.”

People’s experiences of academia vary greatly. Mine has been mostly positive. You can’t tell people how to feel about academia. Also, many people who leave do so by choice. Being forced out by lack of opportunity is a different thing.

“It’s just a bad year. You’ll get something eventually.”

First of all, it’s been a bad decade, and the hiring freezes have only gotten worse. Second of all, while I’m waiting for an academic job, I need money to live, so I’ll have to leave academia anyway just to pay my bills. Third, if the market does bounce back, the danger is that people who have been outside academia for so long will look “stale.” Job ads are now putting limits such as “PhD must be acquired between 2-4 years ago” on their qualifications. I know this language is meant to give new academics a chance, but it excludes people who have been on the market for a while or people who had a temporary position after graduating.

“Most people don’t have jobs in the field they have a degree in anyway.”

That’s true, but people who say this to me are usually referring to BAs or BSs. A BA takes an average of 4-5 years to complete. I’ve done a BA plus 8 years of graduate work. So I’ve invested a lot more time in this degree, and it feels wasteful to not do anything with it. Also, I like my field. Why would I not want to do something with it?

“People move for jobs all the time.”

This was said in response to me having to move back to Wisconsin when I’m done with my degree and I expressed sadness at having to leave my entire social circle/immediate friend group. Yeah, people move for jobs all the time. But I’m not moving for a job. I’m moving for lack of a job. When people move for jobs, the prospect of new opportunity is exciting, and positive emotions surround the move. For me, I’m moving because I failed to get a job, so there’s a lot of negative emotion. Having to leave friends only compounds the negativity.

“The people who get jobs put in the work, so they deserve them.”

This was said to me after I expressed the thought “I feel like in order to get an interview these days, you need to be a celebrity grad student, have a zillion publications, and even more awards and fellowships.” Here’s the problem: yes, maybe those people deserve it. I’m not saying people with a lot of resources or publications aren’t doing good work. But it really says something when there’s a shortage of resources and one person keeps getting them over and over again, and that leads to a job. Let’s face it, anyone who is putting in genuine effort and passion into their academic work deserves recognition. Grad students today are the most qualified generation of scholars in history - we all deserve jobs based on merit. But academia isn’t a meritocracy - a lot of what resources are thrown at you depends on what school you’re at and who your adviser is.

“You can just research/publish in your spare time to build up a more attractive portfolio.”

Ok, so... you want me to work for free? Without university employment, I’m not getting compensated for the things I publish. Also, without university employment, I don’t have access to an academic library (unless I pay for it myself, which some colleges let people do). If I have a non-academic job, I’ll be working 40+ hours a week, and you want me to do more (uncompensated) work on top of that? If you want to do it, that’s fine, but the reality is that it is uncompensated work. And not everyone can afford to do that.

“If you just revise your CV and cover letter to look like this...”

The problem isn’t the quality of my job application. It’s the fact that there are. no. jobs.

“That’s life. Welcome to adulthood.”

If something is unfair, the impulse should be to try to make it more fair, not just to accept things the way they are.

Things that would be way more helpful:

“I’m sorry. This isn’t fair.”

“How can I support you?” (Then actually do it)

“Are you interested in exploring other employment avenues? I can help you, if you want, or I can be a listening ear if you just want to be mad right now.”

“You have value independent of your work.”

If you’re TT: actually do things in your department to make it better

If you’re non-TT faculty: join a union and push for better treatment of adjuncts and specialized faculty

If you’re outside academia: vote for politicians who value education (not like Betsy DeVos) and make noise about valuing teachers

If you’re a parent with a kid going to college: pester your university admin about their hiring practices, spending habits, and supporting humanities education