Cultivating Growth Opportunities as a Faculty Member When the Market Pauses

Over recent decades, faculty in higher education have developed a norm of progressing through their careers by changing jobs and/or institutions. We can debate whether this is the primary pattern, but we know that we’re seeing it.

When hiring is slow, as it is now, faculty feel the strain. Without finding their next position, how will they continue growing? How long until growth resumes? It’s easy to spiral.

Let’s focus on what we can control: identifying and seizing existing opportunities for career growth. In this environment, institutions have more work to do with fewer people. Finding ways to help meet those needs while developing your own skills is a strategy for moving ahead.

Identify Your Personal Goals

If we were together, I’d ask you to grab a fresh page and note how you’d ideally like to grow over the next few years. It’s fine to include opportunities not currently available-keeping goals in mind for the future may be part of your plan. For example:

Moving into teaching graduate-level courses Planning a new research project requiring a large grant Volunteering for leadership in your major professional organization Growing in your current location when circumstances call for staying put Applying for a job at your dream institution

Let’s set aside finding a job at your dream institution for now. If that’s your North Star but they aren’t hiring, use this frozen hiring period to prepare for future opportunities. Keep in mind that your current role affects your choices — non-tenure-track faculty may have less flexibility than tenured or tenure-track colleagues.

Consider What Will Help You Move Forward

When you’ve identified your goals, be sure to go through them and think about how they align with what your institution values. Think about how they fit your role as well. Be honest-if you had to work toward some but not all your goals, which ones would help you the most?

Think About How Your Students Benefit

We’ve talked about reaching toward your own goals, but it’s also important to remember that we’re here to support our students. Think about how the goals that you choose to push for will support your student body during a time that is challenging for that group as well. Remember that genuine devotion to students will also benefit you — your success as a teacher and the success that your students experience due to your hard work, which will increase your value at your institution.

Brainstorm with Yourself

For each of the goals that you have, take time to make some notes. Think about a realistic timespan and motivations for each of the goals. Ask yourself:

Will this goal support my career progress so I’m better positioned for my larger dreams in a few years? Which goals are available right now? (For example, requesting to teach graduate courses next semester could completely change your day-to-day experience.)

For larger, complicated goals, what drives your motivation? Check if current circumstances (including funding) permit pursuit. If not, get creative. Perhaps you can’t move forward on a large research project, but your motivation included reaching out to a new research partner or starting a new research thread. There may be ways to meet these goals in modified forms.

Consider Your Institution and Organizations

While you strategize, your institution and professional organizations are too. When they’re not recruiting new faculty, who will do all this work? This may be a time to find smaller-scale opportunities or move from regular roles into leadership roles — all setting you up for future success.

If you’ve been considering taking a larger role in a professional organization, now might be the time. There is a great deal of work to be done, and professional organizations will need to find those who can provide leadership. Ultimately these leadership roles within associations are a way for you to grow.

Additionally, institutions may perform internal searches before freezes. Several faculty members in my life have found positions using their skills in unexpected ways, broadening their future offerings and demonstrating leadership.

Connect Virtually

With potentially less funding for conference or research travel in coming years, remember the COVID-19 pandemic’s one gift: learning to connect virtually. Use what you learned to benefit yourself now. Share and promote your scholarship online. Nurture connections with colleagues elsewhere through online tools. Attend quality online conferences in your field. If you’re on a conference planning committee, advocate for hybrid or online options.

Some institutions may offer faculty the opportunity to advocate for conference funding during times when budgets are tights and simply allocating money is not possible.

Own Your Goals

Dr. Stephanie Santorico, dean of the College of Sciences at University of Texas San Antonio, advocates for faculty identifying their professional priorities for the year. Think of ways to center these in your work and to focus on them as you commit to the work you take on during a particular academic year.

Dr. Santorico also encourages faculty to look at initiatives they would like to take forward and find partners with which to do them. She emphasizes that, while we may not have opportunities to secure new positions, in higher education, we often do not need officially designated leadership roles to create new programs or move ideas forward. Rather, we need to find colleagues who are dedicated to the same goals.

Protect Your Time and Energy

Most ideas above suggest taking on more work. While some institutions accept that we need to do less with less, many stretch faculty time further. Advocate for yourself. Emphasize to your chair and administrators that you can continue excellent work, elevate the university’s name through research, and give students your best guidance. However, you need to trade some current tasks (hopefully ones you wish to set aside) to give this work your best. We’ll likely need to take one for the team, but work should be assigned appropriately. Dr. Santorico notes that sometimes we can create opportunities for others as we pass on work. When you are looking for things that you can take off your professional plate, consider whether, for example, a particular committee membership could be an opportunity for a newer colleague to learn more and connect.

Remember

In these slow periods of hiring, remember that proactive planning and creative problem-solving can help you keep moving toward the career you envision. By aligning your personal goals with the evolving needs of your institution and professional community, you can use this time to shift into new leadership and scholarly opportunities. I wish you confidence, self-care, and steady progress as you chart the next phase of your academic journey.