The One Less Traveled By

There's been an interesting conversation going on at Veo Claramente's about alternative careers for PhDs in academia. Because of the focus on the tenure track, these alternative careers often get lost in the shuffle and information on them can be hard to come by.

So, I thought I'd share some of what I've learned about these options over the last couple of years. The disclaimer, of course, is that what I know may be specific to my field and my institution. But given that a Google search for the terms "non-tenure track" produces many relevant website hits, I'm betting that the positions I've found at Wonderland U. also exist elsewhere.

There are three basic varieties of non-tenure track PhD-level positions--faculty, staff, and "perpetual postdoc" positions. I really wouldn't recommend the "perpetual postdoc" positions because, compared to faculty and staff, perpetual postdocs are paid less, do not get full benefits, are not protected by rules governing the appointment of faculty and staff, and have limited avenues for career advancement. The few people I know who are perpetual postdocs seem to have somehow become trapped in these positions rather than having chosen them.

The faculty category includes a variety of positions carrying titles such as Lecturer, Adjunct Professor, Instructor, etc. I actually don't know any Lecturers or Adjunct Professors at my institution, but they may be mostly on the undergraduate campus instead of the medical campus where I work. The job descriptions and terms of appointment for these positions vary greatly, and only some of them carry voting privileges in faculty affairs.

In addition, there is a non-tenure track which is similar in organization to the tenure track. Faculty on the non-tenure track are promoted from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor to full Professor. The key differences between the non-tenure and tenure tracks are:

• Obviously, there is no tenure and you are appointed to one-year renewable contracts, just like tenure-track faculty who have not yet received tenure.
• You do not usually get your own lab space, but many do have their own offices.
• There is no clock or up-or-out policy. You can choose to remain an Assistant Professor forever if you want, or get promoted at your own pace.
• You are not expected to support your own salary through grants. Your salary is paid by the tenured faculty member in whose lab you work.
• The payscale is slightly lower than that for tenure-track faculty.
• There are no teaching obligations or expectations of providing service to the university.
• Only senior faculty on this track can mentor graduate students.

These non-tenure track faculty have full voting privileges and can be involved in faculty governance. Some of them run core facilities, and some help run the labs of senior tenured faculty. They tend to be in large, well-funded labs for obvious reasons--even non-tenure track faculty earn significantly more than postdocs, especially when the cost of benefits are taken into account, so only wealthy labs can afford them. Often, they develop research projects which complement, but are semi-independent from, the research foci of their "host" lab. Those who do well are invited to give lectures and serve on editorial boards just like tenure-track faculty.

Finally, there are staff positions, which carry titles like Research Scientist or Staff Scientist. The payscale for staff positions is similar to that for Assistant Professors on the non-tenure track, and the job descriptions overlap significantly. As far as I can tell, the main difference between staff and faculty positions is that the staff track only has two tiers, and PhDs who enter that track at the higher tier immediately reach their promotion ceiling. Other differences are that staff do not get to vote on faculty affairs and are not protected under the acadamic freedom rules that apply to faculty.

These positions each have their advantages and disadvantages, and there are a lot of issues to consider before taking one. But on the other hand, I do know people who have left academia believing it did not offer any career paths that met their interests and needs, when one of these options may have suited them well. Whether one of these alternative paths is right for you depends on what you want out of a career, but for me, it's been a fantastic choice.