The Job Market in Rhetoric and Composition

Tell It Like It Is—But How Is It?

Carrie Leverenz c.leverenz@tcu.edu

“Why Haven't Humanities Ph.D. Programs Collapsed?” The Atlantic. Sept. 16, 2013

“Overeducated, Underemployed: How to Fix Humanities Grad School” William Pannapacker, Slate, July 27, 2011

“The Disposable Academic: Why Doing a PhD Is Often a Waste of Time” Dec 16th 2010. The Economist

“Graduate School in the Humanities—Just Don’t Go” Thomas Benton, Chroniclel of Higher Education, Jan. 30, 2009

https://www.amacad.org/content/research/dataForumEssay.aspx?i=21673

http://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/files/AAUP-InstrStaff2011-April2014.pdf

Adjuncts who teach English, for example, reported earning an average of $2,727 per course. That compares with an average of $4,789 per course reported by adjuncts who teach engineering. But reported pay variedwidely within disciplines, too.

Jan 4, 2013Adjunct Project Shows Wide Range in Pay and Working ...chronicle.com/.../Adjunct_Pay.../13643...The Chronicle of Higher Education

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/2014/01/NSF_Grad_School_Debt_Per_Discipline/312fb8640.png

Barry U English & For Langs, 11300 NE Second Av Miami Shores FL 33161 http://www.barry.edu/jobs Assistant Professor of English (Composition/Rhetoric) 20367https://apply.interfolio.com/24039 The Department of English and Foreign Languages invites applicants for an Assistant Professor of English to contribute to the First-Year Writing Program and other campus-wide writing initiatives.

This position’s primary duties include teaching courses in composition/rhetoric and research and working closely with the Director of First-Year Writing. The successful candidate will have previous administrative experience and be prepared to serve as Director of First-Year Writing within 2–3 years of hire. After a period of time, it will also include contributing to the literature Specialization within the English major through teaching existing courses and designing new ones, preferably in British literature and other campus-wide writing initiatives.

“Report of the MLA Task Force on Doctoral Study in Modern Language and Literature”

1. Pursue and maintain academic excellence. 2. Preserve accessibility.3. Broaden career paths. 4. Focus on graduate students’ needs.

http://www.mla.org/pdf/taskforcedocstudy2014.pdf

1. Redesign the doctoral program

2. Engage more deeply with technology

3. Reimagine the dissertation

4. Reduce time to degree5. Strengthen teaching

preparation

6. Expand professionalization opportunities 7. Use the whole university community 8. Redefine the roles of faculty advisers 9. Validate diverse career outcomes 10. Rethink admissions practices

MLA: How to Reform Doctoral Study

Tenure Track Assistant 108Assistant/Associate 27Associate 6Associate/Full 3Rank Open 6

Non Tenure TrackRenewable Term 40

Non-renewable 4

Tenure track: 150 (77%) Non-tenure track: 44 (22.68%) Total ads: 194

2013-14 JIL RC Job Ads by Tenure-track Status

http://www.mla.org/pdf/rpt_jil_1314web.pdf

The word “digital” appears in57 of 194 ads (about 29%)

Administrative PositionsAssist 31Assist/Assoc 17Assoc 2Assoc/Full 3Rank Open 6Non tenure-track 7

2013-14 JIL RC Ads Involving Administration

What surprised you?

“The extent to which some departments were looking for a problem solver”

“The number of administrative jobs for which I was qualified--I was under theimpression that most jobs would beresearch-oriented, and they were not.”

CarnegieClass.

Assist Assist/Assoc

Assoc Assoc/Full

Open Total

RU/VH 12 8 1 1 22

RU/H 17 6 1 1 25

DRU 11 2 3 16

M-L 32 6 2 1 1 42

M-M 11 1 1 13

M-S 6 6

Bac 14 3 2 19

Assoc 4 1 1 6

Spec 1 1

2013-14 JIL RC Tenure-Track Job Ads by Carnegie Classification

CarnegieClass.

Assist Assist/Assoc

Assoc Assoc/Full Open

RU/VH (36%) 12 (1) 8 (5) 1 (1) 1 (1)

RU/H (45%) 17 (4) 6 (5) 1 (1) 1 (1)

DRU (43%) 11 (6) 2 3 (1)

M-L (38%) 32 (8) 6 (5) 2 1 (1) 1 (1)

M-M (27%) 11 (2) 1 (1) 1

M-S (40%) 6 (2)Bac (53%) 14 (7) 3 (1) 2 (2)Assoc (20%) 4 (1) 1 1Spec 1

2013-14 JIL RC TT Admin Job Ads by Carnegie Classification

94 responses from job seekers

73.12% (68/94) first year search 18.28% (17/94) second year search 6.45% (6/94) third year search 2.15% (2/94) more than three years

Anticipated dissertation completion dateat the time of the survey (April 2014):

• 38 of 94 (40.43%) already completed • 25 of 94 (26.60%) spring 2014• 24 of 94 (25.53%) summer 2014• 7 of 94 (7.45%) fall 2014

I applied for any job I was at all qualified for. 47.83% (44)I applied only for jobs in my specialization(s). 7.61% (7)I applied only for jobs that I was interested in. 27.17% (25)Other factors, beyond my specialization, affected which jobs I applied for.

17.39% (16)

Select the statement below that best describes how you chose which academic jobs to apply for:

How many jobs did you apply for?

Number of Jobs Number (%) of Respondents

1-10 20 (21.51%)

11-20 7 (7.53%)

21-30 5 (5.38%)

31-40 9 (9.68%)

41-50 10 (10.75%)

51-60 11 (11.83%)

61-70 7 (7.53%)

71-80 3 (3.23%)

More than 80 21 (22.58%)

Where did preliminary interviewstake place?

75.53% (71/94) video conferences or phone interviews

Only 11.70% (11/94) MLA interviews

A tenure-track job!

By the time of the survey:

72 of 94 (75.79%) accepted full-time academic positions

55 of 72 (76%) accepted were tenure-track positions

55 of 94 (59%) landed a tenure-track position (107-135 possible at Assist or Assist/Assoc rank)

Composition/RhetoricTotal job ads: 201

British LiteratureTotal job ads: 181

America LiteratureTotal job ads: 129

JIL2013-2014

https://mlaresearch.commons.mla.org/files/2015/02/Where.Figure1.jpg

Some Hypotheses:

• Not enough tenure-track jobs for the R/C students who desire them?

• Mismatch between jobs available and students’ training/expectations?

• Not enough students trained in administration?

• Better training for teaching positions?

Q What has been your biggest surprise ?

• The time, and expense of the process [16]• Disappointment at types of jobs available [15]• It went better than expected/no surprises [12]• The disorganized and discourteous process [11]• Search committees’ choices seemed illogical [6]• The process was not what I was told to expect [5]• How competitive the job market is [4]• The complicated timelines for decisions [4]• How mentally/psychologically draining it was [4]

Q Offer one piece of advice to your graduate program for improving job preparation [80 responses]

• Provide more info/job search prep [26]• Prepare us for jobs other than R1 [17]• Change the program, provide more useful

preparation [13]• Encourage and support publication [7]• My program does an excellent job [4]• Reduce admissions [3]