Rhythms of Academic Life

Personal Accounts of Careers in Academia

Peter J. Frost, M. Susan Taylor, Peter J. Frost, M . Susan Taylor

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 1996
• Print ISBN: 9780803972636
• eBook ISBN: 9781506338156
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Ethics
• Index: Business

Reading this book is like enjoying an exotic buffet. It is exotic to hear unfamiliar teaching voices from familiar researchers. The variety of voices is both quantatively and qualitatively satisfying to ?hungry? researchers who plan to start their teaching careers soon. --Dora Lau, Doctoral Student, Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, University of British Columbia "A must-read for anyone embarking upon a career in academia Researchers Hooked on Teaching provides valuable insights into the trials and tribulations of teaching at the college level." --Jennifer Cliff, Doctoral Student, University of British Columbia Offering support, guidance, and advice for those contemplating or already involved in academic careers, Rhythms of Academic Life is a comprehensive manual that surveys important topics relevant to the world of academia, such as publishing, research, teaching, pedagogy, teamwork, sabbaticals, and tenure. Written by an incomparable diverse group of scholars, this collection provides rich, personal, sometimes poignant, and often humorous accounts of both the common and the unique journeys taken throughout an academic lifetime. The contributors describe the experiences of scholars in different roles and transition points and supply a set of guidelines that will help others make informed choices. This one-of-a-kind volume makes it possible to enter into an academic career well-prepared and familiarizes the reader with the academic work climate. Students and professionals in organization studies, management, and across a variety of disciplines will find that this volume greatly enhances their understanding of scholarly life. The illustrious cast of contributors provide a wealth of down-to-earth, reliable advice--proving once and for all that those who can, teach.

I

Career Rhythms

Five Exemplars

Developing a successful career is much like riding a train. Both require having one’s ticket punched along the way.

Arthur G. Bedeian (p. 4)

A successful academic core is rooted in a clear sense of contribution (What do you want to do?), an honest assessment of talent (What do you do well?), a choice of method (How will you make your contribution?), and knowledge of what is joyful for you (What do you like to do best?).

Joan V. Gallos (p. 17)

Family life plays a major role in my conceptualization of what it means to be human. For this reason, I can reflect on the rhythm of my career life only by viewing it jointly with the rhythm of my family life.

Miriam Erez (p. 21)

Throughout my adult life I’ve been blessed with a wonderful wife, loving sons, challenging work, splendid colleagues, and a lot of luck.

Vance F. Mitchell (p. 36)

Some careers are a string of discontinuous projects, perhaps. Mine hasn’t been like that—I see it as one big project that started with some builders on a building site, some analytic builders in some varied conceptual sites, and I’ve just negotiated the breaks that appeared along the way.

Stewart R. Clegg (p. 53)

In subsequent sections of this book we present reports of academics who have experienced one or another of the many rhythms in an academic’s life. As might be anticipated, such experiences tend to take place in the context of other rhythms that have impacts on the lives of academics and those around them. In those later chapters, however, there tends to be an emphasis on particular sets of activities that are most engaging or pressing at the time or for which the individuals have primary responsibility. Some of the reports deal also with transitions—such as getting tenure, becoming a full professor, or taking a sabbatical—that provide individuals with significant opportunities for self-reflection.

In this part of the book, we present five extended reports by authors who describe their journeys through a number of academic activities and transition points in their careers. They draw inferences and offer suggestions based on having been in the field for many years and having engaged in many academic roles and stages in their careers. Although their stories are in many respects unique, as are all the stories in this volume, there are commonalities among their messages. Their reports foreshadow, in some cases even mirror, observations and experiences that others share in this section and in the more specialized sections of the book. Of course, there are important ways in which the suggestions from these five authors are different from one another and from those found elsewhere in the book. These differences are as illuminating as are the points of similarity. They help us see the nuances, the complexities, and the range of possible choices and paths we might take as academics.

The five authors whose chapters appear in Part I share an obvious enthusiasm for their work and for their field, as well as a deep commitment to the academic enterprise. All have been acknowledged for their work and honored, in different ways, by their peers. Arthur Bedeian’s 12 suggestions for optimizing career success are based on 25 years of experience in the United States as a researcher, teacher, and textbook writer and his view as a former president of the Academy of Management. Joan Gallos tells her story from the perspective of being the first member of an immigrant family to attend a university, to become a professor. She writes also as someone who embarked on a relatively nontraditional academic path, at least in a North American context. Miriam Erez provides yet another, different career context. She was born and raised in Israel, and she describes her experiences as an academic partly in terms of cultural values from within traditions in Israel that she sees as significantly different from those that women scientists encounter in North America. Vance Mitchell, although officially in his retirement years, is working on a third professional career, this one as a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. His career experiences span a term of active duty in World War II and several years in the U.S. military as well as an academic career as a researcher, teacher, and organization builder. Stewart Clegg’s story reflects his 25 years as a scholar in the United Kingdom and currently in Australia. Among other observations he brings to the discussion are reflections on his encounters and exchanges with other scholars in Europe, Australia, North America, and Brazil; on his great interest in history, philosophy, and sociology; and on the contributions of these influences to the books he has written on power and organization.

The stories of these five authors, which represent the culmination of many years in academia and in a variety of professional, cultural, and historical contexts, make interesting reading in and of themselves. They also serve as points of reference from which to view the contributions in the sections that follow.

1	Lessons Learned Along the Way
	TWELVE SUGGESTIONS FOR OPTIMIZING CAREER SUCCESS
	Arthur G. Bedeian

__________

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The helpful vetting of Achilles A. Armenakis, W. Jack Duncan, Hubert S. Feild, and David D. Van Fleet on an earlier draft of the manuscript for this essay is gratefully acknowledged.

In prefacing my remarks, let me first note that they are based more on experience than on science. One may thus question their generalizability. My n = 1. At the same time, the scientific databases dealing with academic career success are quite limited.

My remarks result from my participation in more than a dozen doctoral consortia devoted to the “whys” and “wherefores” of career success, extended conversations over the past two and a half decades with respected peers in my academic cohort, and hours of personal reflection tinted with a liberal dose of agony.

Warning: My remarks are admittedly very prescriptive, with many “dos” and “don’ts.” Additionally, they may seem, but are not meant to be, harsh or snide; I mean them only to be candid. To this end, they are organized into what might be termed suggestions for optimizing career success. Although my remarks may seem to be aimed only at individuals who wish to pursue high-profile academic research careers, in reality the proffered suggestions are directed to all those who seek personal and career success.

Suggestion 1: Hit the Ground Running

A large measure of career success is the ability to differentiate oneself. In this respect, every cohort has its standout Hi Ps—high-potential members—who announce their presence with an early and rapid succession of first-tier publications. The importance of timely publications and the notion of a greater multiplier effect for publications authored earlier rather than later in one’s academic career is supported by both experience and empirical research. Tuckman (1976) reports that those who publish are rewarded not only with higher salaries, but with larger incremental returns from early as compared with subsequent publications. As to be expected, his data also show an increasing probability of promotion with increased publication output.

With regard to differentiating oneself in the academic marketplace and announcing one’s presence, various rules of thumb are commonly offered to doctoral candidates. Two publications, two to three paper presentations, and attendance at a doctoral consortium constitute a common benchmark. Fortunate are those doctoral candidates whose socialization has prepared them to make informed choices among competing activities and to pursue their craft effectively. My favorite query for consortia attendees is whether they feel guilty watching TV. If so, chances are they’ve been properly socialized, with a strong work ethic. I can easily identify several of my own peers who, after 25 years, still feel guilty watching television! So much for the traumas of graduate school.

It has been frequently observed that developing a successful career is much like riding a train. Both require having one’s ticket punched along the way. Getting a quick start, or hitting the ground running, can do much to ensure that the journey from assistant, to associate, to full professor proceeds in a timely fashion, as one’s ticket is properly punched at all the appropriate stations. This is not to say that all successful careers necessarily follow the same timetable. It took the immortal Abe Maslow 23 years to make full professor (Hoffman, 1988). Some trains are obviously slower than others, but nevertheless do reach their intended destinations.

Suggestion 2: Locate the Best Predictor of Future Performance

Several points are intertwined in the concept of predictors of future performance. First, the prestige of an individual’s doctoral institution is a major determinant in his or her being selected for a position in a distinguished academic department. This has been shown to be true across disciplines, including in the field of management (Bedeian & Feild, 1980). At the same time, whereas pedigrees may be helpful for obtaining desirable positions—especially early in academics’ careers—at good universities they are of little value for keeping such positions. Few people are successful in sustaining entire careers on the basis of where they earned their degrees. (As an aside, I’ve long contended that if the first thing an individual mentions upon initially meeting fellow academics is where he or she received a degree, it’s likely that person has little else to talk about.)

Thus, whereas choice of graduate school sets an indelible mark on a scholar’s career, the cachet of a prestigious degree will ultimately wear thin unless bolstered by some degree of performance. Concomitantly, the handicap of initial identification with a less prestigious department can be surmounted through the establishment of a strong publication record and a professional reputation to match. Although graduates of prestigious departments do have a beginning advantage through their greater access to other distinguished departments, personality and ability are also key causal antecedents of career success (Rodgers & Maranto, 1989). Admittedly, as the graduate of an institution with no discernible cachet, my interpretation of these “facts” reflects a belief in advancement by merit rather than in particularistic criteria such as doctoral origin. Simply put, I’ve always believed in “hiring people, not schools.” For my money, I’ve thus always favored job candidates with a high need for achievement over graduates of prestigious departments with little else to recommend them. Available evidence supports this practice (Taylor, Locke, Lee, & Gist, 1984).

As a second point concerning predictors of future performance, tenure and promotion committees are well known for discounting publications that are dissertation based. The extent to which such publications represent candidates’ efforts or those of entire dissertation committees is seldom clear. Whereas collaboration is to be encouraged, some display of “independent scholarly ability” is almost de rigueur for tenure and promotion consideration. This is why sole-authored publications are seen as important in the evaluation of academic performance (Reichers, 1985).

As a third point, tenure and promotion committees are also known for stressing the importance of a “sustained level of academic performance.” This, of course, places a premium on hitting the ground running and penalizes “late blooming.” Consider a tenure/promotion candidate whose publications over the past 6 years have all been accepted within the past 6 to 12 months. Is the first 5 years or the last 12 months most representative of the candidate’s scholarly ability? Believing that the best predictor of future performance is past performance, and realizing that some people respond only when their feet are to the fire, a risk-averse tenure and promotion committee is likely to return a negative vote.

In my personal experience, I have found that if new assistant professors don’t publish within the first 3-4 years on the job, the odds are they never will. This may well explain why, other things equal, a new PhD’s market value is generally greater than that of a seasoned PhD who has yet to publish. The former, at least, offers potential. The latter can only offer excuses.

Before leaving this issue, I want to acknowledge that some scholars labor their entire careers, making sustained and substantive academic contributions, and never attain great notoriety. This highlights the fact that in some cases careers are built on peak performances. Without listing specific names, I believe it should be quite easy for most readers to identify several management “stars” whose fame is bound to single theories or models. As a graduate student in the late 1960s, I remember thinking how fantastic it would be if I could just develop a theory or model that would bear my name. Maslow’s need theory being popular at the time, I could just see it—Bedeian’s hierarchy of needs. I’d be famous for life!

Suggestion 3: Location, Location, Location

Realtors tell us that the three most important factors in selecting a site for home or business are location, location, and location. If I were asked to name the most important factor in a successful career, my answer would unhesitatingly be locating with colleagues one can work with—that is, having a critical mass of colleagues involved in researching, writing, and publishing.

In her book Men and Women of the Corporation, Kanter (1977) argues that the job makes the person, not vice versa. Career success, she suggests, is at least partially determined by the nature of the social circumstances people find themselves in, rather than what they inherently bring to a job. Thus if an individual is a successful scholar, this may say as much about the surrounding environment as it says about his or her capacity to do research.

There is no doubt that whatever career success I may have enjoyed was largely determined by my being able to spend the first years of my career at Auburn University. The environment within the Management Department there was one of nourishment, excitement, and collegiality. Above all, no one was afraid of excellence and achievement in others. Why the critical mass that existed at Auburn in the mid-1970s formed is a question that still puzzles those of us who enjoyed the thrill of being part of what for many is a never-in-a-lifetime experience. Why it dissipated is unfortunately too easily explained as the result of poor university management. Without commenting further on this issue, let me simply note that, in my own experience, the old maxim that “good universities don’t support bad departments, and bad universities don’t support good ones” is generally true (Orr, 1993).

Nevertheless, whatever the circumstances, the bottom line is simply stated: Work with good people. I have collaborated with more than 65 colleagues—several of whom I’ve never met face-to-face. Playing to each other’s strengths, we’ve complemented one another quite nicely. Commenting on this same point, and its relevance for junior and senior scholars alike, Nobel laureate Herbert Simon (1991) advises:

To make interesting scientific discoveries, you should acquire as many good friends as possible, who are as energetic, intelligent, and knowledgeable as they can be. Form partnerships with them whenever you can. Then sit back and relax. You will find that all the programs you need are stored in your friends, and will execute productively and creatively as long as you don’t interfere too much. (p. 387)

Suggestion 4: Publish, Publish, Publish

One of the first lessons one typically learns upon entering graduate school is that publication is the primary basis of academic recognition. In economic analogy, publications are the major currency of the realm. Whereas there may be diversity in academic reward structures at the institutional level (e.g., teaching, research, service), the reward structure at the national and international levels is monolithic rather than plural. Thus, whereas scholars may draw their paychecks locally, academic recognition and the rewards that follow (e.g., editorial appointments, professional board memberships, fellow designations) are conferred elsewhere as a consequence of judgments made by the larger academic community (see Fox, 1985). Publications mean visibility, esteem, and career mobility.

In that the academic community is nationally rather than...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction to the Series
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I. Career Rhythms: Five Exemplars
• Part II. Early Rhythms
• Part III. Middle Rhythms: Traditional Paths
• Part IV. Middle Rhythms: Nontraditional Paths
• Part V. Rhythms of Renewal
• Part VI. Rhythms of the Field
• Commentary
• Conclusion
• About the Editors
• About the Contributors