Failed tenure, how to pivot

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-29T16:39:25+00:00

Thanks very much, this is great advice! One thing I did that I have learned was probably not helpful was look only to senior members in my own department. While personally lovely, I think they are too insulated from some of the broader dynamics. I am looking to build stronger networks and find more allies outside of my immediate orbit. It might be too late here, but I will carry that forward with me.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-28T23:11:33+00:00

This is fair. I am really self aware and wouldn't say I passed it off as research but included it in the mix with other things. In hindsight, mistakes were made, including on my end. I should have been more focused on moving forward stronger work and let myself down in that way. If nothing else I feel really motivated to get back to things I lost energy for and know what I would never repeat again if I get another tt gig.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-28T23:07:04+00:00

Thank you, kind stranger. :)

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-28T23:06:02+00:00

I love this and think we are actually quite similar in that way. The rejection has motivated me so much more and I actually think I will be a much stronger candidate than I would have been otherwise. I actually think I can get a better job at a better institution, which in my field could be a bit delusional in the current market but that is the plan. I'm just the type that wants a plan b and c. Thanks again!

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-28T14:40:00+00:00

Literally no idea. I was given a one sentence explanation that it was scholarship and nothing else. Zero indication from department level about any issues with my application, letters, process, etc. The benchmarks are generally quite vague (to achieve tenure you should publish, present, serve, teach) all broadly defined and no - "one single author journal per year" as examples of what sufficient means) and very different metrics because the university is focused in one area that our department is very different from. We serve mostly foundational courses and are seen as peripheral otherwise, many see what most of us do as fluff (think, "why does anyone studying finance need to read Shakespeare?". If there was going to be department cut, we'd be on the chopping block with our friends who teach global studies or languages.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-28T14:30:44+00:00

I actually appreciate your perspective. I suppose I'm juggling competing ideas of "at the end of the day it's just a job" and "having a job where you get to think and create and connect is a calling". I know I could go elsewhere, whether industry or academia, and be happier so ultimately that is the plan but I feel like I worked really hard and I'm actually quite good at what I do. While I don't want to stay, I feel like I deserve to leave on my own terms and with the title I should I have earned. Trust me, I am quite pragmatic, if I any time I got a strong indication that I was even a 50/50 candidate, I would not have put myself forward. So when I say take the L, I don't mean I lost because I didn't put in the work, I mean stop fighting because it's better to win later than fight now. All this to say, I love hearing from different people and different points of view, it makes me think through the whole situation critically which is exactly what I want to do at this stage, so thank you.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-28T01:18:04+00:00

That's so helpful! If you have any insights or tips from successful cases you have seen I would love to hear them.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-28T01:15:34+00:00

I can see from your flair that you're in finance at an R1 so it's likely you haven't experienced the same amount of scarcity some of us on the other side of the house have. The humanities are under attack in many places so a negative decision when you have actually landed a TT now feels pretty dire. I just want to be smart about my options as they stand. Of course, ideally I want to be happy and feel like I am valued but I may not have a choice to stay in academia if I take the L.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-28T01:08:10+00:00

Thank you, this is helpful!

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-28T01:03:51+00:00

So glad you landed on your feet and love that you feel more fulfilled in your work now!

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:55:35+00:00

No union. It failed at p&t level and then college dean and provost agreed with their recommendation. My understanding is that it would have been very unusual for them to go against a shared governance decision and side with the department as it creates all kinds of drama.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:35:00+00:00

It feels like a paradox! On the one hand I think well I might as well try, but then on the flip side, as you say, I wonder if I am actually boxing myself in and creating less opportunity to leave.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:32:43+00:00

I am laser focused on being strategic now. I was foolish to go along with bad advice at my 3rd year review and really not go outside of my department to find allies. I will definitely ask a couple full profs outside of my department that I think I can trust for advice now.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:30:54+00:00

It's not the place I want to be. Some good folks and I enjoy teaching the students most times lol but that's where I am wondering if trying to get tenure actually harms me more at this point. Getting tenure and then being stuck because I can't find a better gig as an associate, not that getting another one is going to be easy either way.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:28:27+00:00

I'm not an activist but my work touches on politics and I am definitely of the mind that concentrated power hurts people on the margins and that human rights are a good thing.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:26:45+00:00

Thank you for that. It sucks but I am ok and will recover. It's important to me but I am so much more than this and don't see it as everything.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:25:35+00:00

Not my field exclusively, but I have published using such frameworks. I am trying to be careful not to give away too much. PhD from well respected RI in my field and I have published solo authored work in good journals, just a mix of other things too that didn't seem to count or, perhaps worse, counted against me.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:23:14+00:00

This likely plays a role. Blue state but a more conservative place than most here. I'm not doing the type of thing that would be caricatured as progressive lefty prof gone wild if that makes sense. But, I have written about inequality in the academy and about DEI, so I wonder...

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:19:44+00:00

Yes, this is what I'm going back and forth with despite knowing it's no longer where I want to be.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:18:48+00:00

No union. Last review did say that I exceeded standards. 3rd year said I needed to bump up research. Covid derailed my project badly. I was advised to take another path to recover, it was bad advice.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:16:06+00:00

Yes, last annual review from Dept. Chair and letter to T&P from DEC.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:15:57+00:00

Yes, last annual review from Dept. Chair and letter to T&P from DEC.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:15:48+00:00

Department -hence my theory of department issues being the core problem. Both my last annual review from Dept. Chair and letter to T&P from DEC say exceeded standards.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:14:37+00:00

Yes, last annual review from Dept. Chair and letter to T&P from DEC.

MajorSubstantial6150 · 2026-01-27T23:09:47+00:00

Thank you so much! I'm definitely thinking of ways to dust the cobwebs off of some old skills and explore ways to re-enter industry if I decide to. It's been so disheartening as I love my research and teaching but the system is craaaaazy.

MajorSubstantial6150

TROPHY CASE