Demoralized

[Anonymous]

Hey OP, sorry you are going through this. Academia increasingly is a hellhole. Have you checked out The Professor Is Out group on Facebook? (I know…). Lots of folks talking about leaving academia and how they did it including single parent families wrestling with issues similar to yours. If you do a search for your specific field you may find some good info on what types of careers folks have moved into. It’s private and you can ask questions anonymously. Best of luck to you!

[Anonymous]

Sorry OP. It's a tough situation. A lot of people are not aware that even good R1s pay really low salaries to tenured faculty (across the board, even in STEM).

Is it possible for you to get in touch with alumni from your PhD program? I would start connecting with people on LinkedIn and seeing where they ended up. The market (as a whole) is not really great now, and I think a referral could help. Or at least, it could help you understand your options. You might want to pay someone to review your resume and help you prep for interviews.

Maybe this is a controversial take. I don't think the tuition benefits are a super compelling reason to stay. Most likely, if your salary is not great anyway, your kids could qualify for need-based aid. There are so many ways they could minimize their debt (that I won't go into). Conversely, maybe your kids will want to go elsewhere for their degree...
But I don't know their ages, and whether this has been discussed with them already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t quite see how you make less than a living wage but more than a high school teacher. Is it all the hours you work? What as t constitutes a living wage to you? I am in the private sector and my salary increase was also 2% this year.

+1. Do your research. My spouse is teacher in public school in suburbia and makes 100k a year. We are doing just fine on a dual income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of the professors at the Division I college in my town have side businesses going. Their side businesses are sometimes related to their field but many times are totally unrelated to their academic field.

Most of the restaurants in my town are owned and operated by groups of professors.

Those in biological sciences own research companies. Some of these companies now trade on the NY stock exchange. All of the research companies started on very very small shoe strings.

Can you keep your professor job for the benefits and start some kind of side gig?

Also a professor and the halls in my building are empty. I earn the same salary as a full professor that my 25 year old daughter earns with a BA. I believe all the faculty where I work have second and even third jobs. The people
Who lose out in this scenario are the parents who pay outrageous tuition for this mess!!

[Anonymous]

Sorry you're experiencing this, OP. Can you share your field of study? That would help us brainstorm ideas for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a tenured professor and have worked in higher ed for a quarter of a century. It’s become insufferable. According to MIT’s living wage calculator, my salary is below a living wage. I earn less in one year than a full pay student pays in tuition, room and board. We get raises across the board, no more than 2% ever, no merit raises, and as such my salary is significantly less than my starting salary as an assistant professor when adjusted for inflation, and even worse when you calculate the changes to benefits. Each year we are asked to do more and more with fewer resources. Faculty are hostile to one another and the administration, students are cheating more than ever, entitled, and post unfair and untrue comments on social media and course evaluations.

The only saving grace at the moment is the tuition benefits for DCs. And that may even be on the chopping block.

Unfortunately I cannot make a lateral move in academia, and making any move whatsoever within academia is unlikely. I’ve applied for government jobs and nonprofits and gotten nowhere. Industry jobs in my area of expertise, if you can call them that, are even lower paying.

So as the subject says, the situation is all around demoralizing. I don’t know what to do.

This sounds like poli sci or history or something you should have known better than to get a PhD in? Can you make a radical shift? Go to nursing school or something?

What crap comments, PP. Just don't post if you're going to be rude and make insane suggestions.

+1
Is “go to nursing school” the 2024 version of “learn to code?”

Way more accessible than coding. Could be a CNA not RN.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a tenured professor and have worked in higher ed for a quarter of a century. It’s become insufferable. According to MIT’s living wage calculator, my salary is below a living wage. I earn less in one year than a full pay student pays in tuition, room and board. We get raises across the board, no more than 2% ever, no merit raises, and as such my salary is significantly less than my starting salary as an assistant professor when adjusted for inflation, and even worse when you calculate the changes to benefits. Each year we are asked to do more and more with fewer resources. Faculty are hostile to one another and the administration, students are cheating more than ever, entitled, and post unfair and untrue comments on social media and course evaluations.

The only saving grace at the moment is the tuition benefits for DCs. And that may even be on the chopping block.

Unfortunately I cannot make a lateral move in academia, and making any move whatsoever within academia is unlikely. I’ve applied for government jobs and nonprofits and gotten nowhere. Industry jobs in my area of expertise, if you can call them that, are even lower paying.

So as the subject says, the situation is all around demoralizing. I don’t know what to do.

This sounds like poli sci or history or something you should have known better than to get a PhD in? Can you make a radical shift? Go to nursing school or something?

What crap comments, PP. Just don't post if you're going to be rude and make insane suggestions.

+1
Is “go to nursing school” the 2024 version of “learn to code?”

Sounds like it! Since AI can now do the coding jobs but we still need actual people with real hands for nursing (for now)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meanwhile if you’re at a top division one school the head coaches of football and basketball are pulling in over a million per year.

That is seriously messed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a tenured professor and have worked in higher ed for a quarter of a century. It’s become insufferable. According to MIT’s living wage calculator, my salary is below a living wage. I earn less in one year than a full pay student pays in tuition, room and board. We get raises across the board, no more than 2% ever, no merit raises, and as such my salary is significantly less than my starting salary as an assistant professor when adjusted for inflation, and even worse when you calculate the changes to benefits. Each year we are asked to do more and more with fewer resources. Faculty are hostile to one another and the administration, students are cheating more than ever, entitled, and post unfair and untrue comments on social media and course evaluations.

The only saving grace at the moment is the tuition benefits for DCs. And that may even be on the chopping block.

Unfortunately I cannot make a lateral move in academia, and making any move whatsoever within academia is unlikely. I’ve applied for government jobs and nonprofits and gotten nowhere. Industry jobs in my area of expertise, if you can call them that, are even lower paying.

So as the subject says, the situation is all around demoralizing. I don’t know what to do.

This sounds like poli sci or history or something you should have known better than to get a PhD in? Can you make a radical shift? Go to nursing school or something?

What crap comments, PP. Just don't post if you're going to be rude and make insane suggestions.

+1
Is “go to nursing school” the 2024 version of “learn to code?”

Sounds like it! Since AI can now do the coding jobs but we still need actual people with real hands for nursing (for now)

No, it can't.

[Anonymous]

What kind of roles have you been targeting? Which skills do you have that you feel transfer to corporate or non profits?
What skills do you need to acquire or get training on?
What kind of salary are you aiming for, knowing that you have a chance to increase it over say the next 10 years? Ie are you willing to start at a job that pays say, 70k for two years?
What body of knowledge are you expert in?
What kind of environment do you want to work in? What about travel, how much? What about work that asks you to pull in evenings or weekends during peak periods?
Are you prepared to work for someone younger than you, maybe someone in their mid to late 30s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t quite see how you make less than a living wage but more than a high school teacher. Is it all the hours you work? What as t constitutes a living wage to you? I am in the private sector and my salary increase was also 2% this year.

High school teachers don’t make a living wage either. Check out the calculator I cited in my original post - here are the results for DC for example (not where I live) https://livingwage.mit.edu/metros/47900

Pretty sure DC high school teachers do make a living wage.

DCPS teachers also make more than private school teachers. Private schools are known for paying less than public (fewer certification requirements, more freedom in teaching, more restricted student body). But I have friends who have done post-PhD teacher transition programs in MD and make more now than when they were in academia. OP, if you're actually interested look into those.

[Anonymous]

PS I also know people who have gone into instructional design careers or corporate/government training, which is pretty independent of the academic field because its based on adult teaching experience. It's really hard to get a remote job in those fields right now, they're pretty saturated, but if you can find local in office opportunities you might be pretty competitive.

Otherwise we can't help without knowing what field you're in. But if you just wanted to vent...that's fine. It's a mess. Vent away!

[Anonymous]

OP, can you get your kid/s through college, and solidify whatever pension you have coming to you, and in the process start getting accredited in something else? I don't think it would be too hard to get a teaching certificate in your area of expertise while still working. Public schools pay better than private and have benefits. And we all know public schools are desperate for teachers.

In fact, I would think a public would take you on a probationary period in your area while you get your certificate.

I think it would be harder to pivot to nursing unless you are teaching something like biology given the medical requirements to get certified.

And I'm not sure how the pay compares to just become a medical tech.

[Anonymous]

I would take up SAT tutoring / editing college essay applications as a side hustle.

[Anonymous]

Get a tutoring or academic coach side hustle gig. Pays well.