Women in academia, what has your experience been like?

6 comments

1. Not currently in academia, but the best was finding an adult program where you focus on one class at a time instead of 3-5 at once. It’s fast paced, so you still have a lot of work, but it’s all on the same subject. And it was still 12-14 credit hours per semester.

   The worst was community college. It was like high school, but worse. So many people going weren’t paying their own way and were entitled. They would chit chat in class frequently to the point where you couldn’t hear the professor from the back of the class. That was also only during day classes, so I ended up switching to night classes. Those that didn’t pay their own way seemed to not care what grades they got and acted like it was social time.

2. I was an instructor at a community college for 10 years. I was not considered “faculty,” because I taught courses that didn’t count towards graduation as they were “remedial.” I got fewer benefits and less time off than regular faculty, too. I taught ESL to international students, and there was no summer break for us.

   I never cracked $40K a year, but every year, the college found new and more time-consuming ways to add to my workload. I graded papers almost every night of the week. I used to fall asleep on my couch grading. I had no life whatsoever while classes were in session. My students were good, and I loved being in the classroom, but the stupid nonsense from the administration never let up.

   I finally quit for a job with the federal government. Just last year, the college system I worked for did a huge reorganization and shut down every non-degree program at 7 campuses. More than 200 instructors, both full and part time, lost their jobs. It was a complete shitshow.

   I loved teaching, but I can’t go back to academia. I was treated badly and given no professional respect by anyone in administration.

3. Bad: Men still dominate in positions of leadership and the narcissism can be unreal. There is still a “boys club” (favoritism, higher pay) where I work, and quality female colleagues have moved on to other positions because of it.

   Good: I enjoy what I do and can shield myself from the aforementioned on most days. I have accomplished most goals I set for myself and will continue to challenge my career. I am surrounded by some incredible people too (not just female!), so that helps 🙂

4. At this point, it’s debatable whether I’m currently in academia or just academia adjacent. I realized during my graduate work that I really loved research but wasn’t really interested in the publish or perish grind of being a tenured professor. I specialized in research instead and chose to decline an offered tenure track position to pursue research. 20 years later, I’ve spent my career doing research, designing research for others, evaluating projects and programs, working with think tanks/research groups/government offices/research software as a service, and following my preferred path. I do/have done a lot of research work in cooperation with universities, colleges, educational accreditation, educational opportunities, and similar. I was initially hesitant to make my own path instead of following the tenured professor life, but it has worked out incredibly well for me. I’m far more well compensated than most people in my field and have been able to focus on what I really enjoy.

5. Bailed out for money, better career prospects and more reasonable work/life balance.

6. The good is definitely a flexible work schedule, getting to teach grad students and talk about my interests with them all day, using a lot of my skill set, and getting to keep learning. I’ve never actually taken my leave quarter, because I’ve needed the overload money, but I will take it next year, and I expect that to be quite nice. The bad has been the beauracracy, the patriarchal and meanspirited nature of publishing, and the exhaustion. I think women in academia get asked to do a lot of extra, unrecognized, work.