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There comes a time when you realize that you’ve learned a great deal and that you’re ready for the next step. If you’re in an instructor, teaching-track, or other non-tenure-track role, identifying the time when you reach mid-career status can be tricky. You may also have concerns about maintaining job stability.
The center I direct focuses on career growth for faculty of all ranks. Let’s discuss conversation points that I often cover with mid-career instructors and teaching professors so that you can reflect on your own career and drive it forward.
This essay is written with you, the faculty, as an audience. Faculty development professionals, chairs, associate deans, coaches, and others who facilitate these career conversations may wish to read my companion piece, “Helping Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Shape Their Careers.”
How To Know When You’ve Reached Mid-Career
You’ve spent years teaching, serving on campus committees, mentoring students, and perhaps writing and researching. How do you know when you’ve reached the “mid-career” stage? What does that mean for you professionally?
I tend to think of mid-career in two ways. First, you’ve gained experience and proven yourself in “the basics” of the work outlined in your contract. Your CV may not be long at this point, but it demonstrates that you’ve established yourself. You have taught multiple courses, and your evaluations and course materials indicate you’ve mastered the basics and are beginning to branch out. If you have service in your contract, you’ve met the requirements and have hopefully used your service commitments to connect with the campus community and the profession. That six- to seven-year mark that aligns with tenure-track faculty career progression often speaks to non-tenure-track faculty as well.
Second, you feel that you’re ready to step into leadership roles and take on new challenges within the scope of your work. You feel a level of mastery and are ready for more.
Outlining Your Goals
What does that “more” look like? If you aren’t sure, or you’d like to look beyond the mental list you’ve created, consider reading Dave Evans and Bill Burnett’s “Designing Your Life.”
Here are some questions that you may want to ask yourself when brainstorming your goals:
What are the opportunities that I’ve been dreaming of up to this point? Do I feel that my current institution is the right place for me? Is a tenure-track job a goal for me, or am I happier in my current track? What work can I take on that can make me indispensable to my department or university? (Supporting your job stability is a motivator for many. Just be mindful that taking on new responsibilities often requires offloading or delegating other tasks.) Are there service roles that will help me build a strong reputation within my professional organizations? What else do I want to update in my life at this point?
As you’re considering these big questions, Justin Zackal’s article “Stop Treating Your Job Search or Career Like a Project” offers several alternative ways for thinking about your path.
Determining Your Eligibility and Making Your Case
One question that always surfaces at this point is whether specific leadership roles, both in your institution and in professional organizations, are limited to tenured/tenure-track faculty.
The short answer is that that information should be easily available. If no limitations to rank are listed, I assume that they’re open in that sense. When opportunities do require a tenured or tenure-track position, consider making an inquiry. Recent years have shown much more openness to leadership from experienced faculty of all ranks, particularly as teaching professor and instructor positions have become the majority at many institutions. Additionally, in today’s complicated times, we’ve all seen organizations struggle to fill necessary leadership positions. Use this to your advantage if you can.
Considering the Need for Research and Scholarly Work
Another question that arises frequently in these conversations is whether it’s wise to perform scholarly or research work in addition to the work that’s in your contract, to build your scholarly reputation. If you’re considering doing so, a few questions to ask yourself are:
Is it possible to adjust my contract or my assigned workload so that I may gain credit? What are my motivations for doing this? (Ultimately, how can I use this work to propel myself toward my goals without further overextending myself?) Do I have options to request support for the resources that I need? How can I use this work to build partnerships that will take me forward?
Ilene Crawford’s article “The Place of Research in a Teaching Career” provides additional perspectives that you may find useful as you consider this aspect.
Should You Consider Alternatives to the Professoriate in Higher Ed?
Dr. Catherine Kleier, associate vice president for faculty affairs at Metropolitan State University of Denver, bases her guidance for non-tenure-track faculty members on her own past years in an adjunct role. She encourages mid-career non-tenure-track faculty to reflect on what they value and enjoy most in their roles, and to consider whether they might be able to focus on that work, without worrying about rank. She notes that faculty with a passion for supporting students may match well with staff roles in student support units. Some staff roles in these units come with opportunities to teach first-year courses. Additionally, staff roles may support better work-life balance than faculty roles. Assuming that they do not come with the traditional teaching and research requirements of faculty life, their duties are less likely to spill outside the work day. (Note that it’s worth asking questions about time expectations while exploring staff jobs.)
Start Having Conversations
Spend some time putting together notes on your goals, options, and questions. Then you may want to request conversations with colleagues. Think about who can provide the most knowledgeable answers in your context and who you can speak with the most candidly. This often leads you to speak with more than one person. You might consider:
A chair/other university leadership A faculty development professional Any mentors in your life Connections you have through professional organizations
Skimming through “Helping Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Shape Their Careers” may also help spark questions for you.
Final Thoughts
The middle section of your career may not be easy, but it’s exciting to see yourself moving ahead. Give yourself time to experiment with a range of opportunities that interest you. Best wishes on your career growth.
