An important academic option: get tenure at a less reputable school. In the States at least there are tons of universities that don’t really have huge research responsibilities (so you won’t need to worry about pushing out worthless papers, preparing for conferences, peer reviewing, etc), and also don’t have huge teaching loads. Once you get tenure you can cruise while focusing on research you think matters.
The down side is that you won’t be able to network quite as effectively as if you were at a more prestigious university and the pay isn’t quite as good.
Not necessarily. I’m not referring to no-research universities, which do have much higher teaching loads (although still not ridiculous. Teaching 3 or 4 classes a semester is hardly strenuous). I’m referring to research universities that aren’t in the top 100, but which still push out graduate students.
My undegrad Alma Mater, Kansas University, for instance. Professors teach 1 or 2 classes a semester, with TA support (really, when you have TAs, teaching is not real work). They are still expected to do research, but the pressure is much less than at a top 50 school.
An important academic option: get tenure at a less reputable school. In the States at least there are tons of universities that don’t really have huge research responsibilities (so you won’t need to worry about pushing out worthless papers, preparing for conferences, peer reviewing, etc), and also don’t have huge teaching loads. Once you get tenure you can cruise while focusing on research you think matters.
The down side is that you won’t be able to network quite as effectively as if you were at a more prestigious university and the pay isn’t quite as good.
Don’t forget about the ridiculous levels of teaching you’re responsible for in that situation. Lots worse than at an elite institution.
Not necessarily. I’m not referring to no-research universities, which do have much higher teaching loads (although still not ridiculous. Teaching 3 or 4 classes a semester is hardly strenuous). I’m referring to research universities that aren’t in the top 100, but which still push out graduate students.
My undegrad Alma Mater, Kansas University, for instance. Professors teach 1 or 2 classes a semester, with TA support (really, when you have TAs, teaching is not real work). They are still expected to do research, but the pressure is much less than at a top 50 school.