Negotiating the Tenure-Track Journey

Abstract

According to the Survey of Earned Doctorates (Welch 2008), there were 6,429 doctoral degrees in the field of education granted in 2007. In the spring of 2007, three of these graduates accepted faculty positions at Northern Illinois University. We three found ourselves drawn to faculty life. On separate occasions we expressed excitement about finally getting the job we always wanted, the job of a lifetime so to speak. What else did we have in common? We all came from research-intensive universities. That was it. Two of us were Ph.D. graduates, one an Ed.D. Two came from nationally renowned programs, one from an up and coming program. We came from different fields, different life experiences, different belief systems, and different worlds. Yet, in an instant we were all faced with transforming our doctoral experiences into faculty life. While in many, and perhaps most ways, we were different, there was an essence that was the same. As new faculty members we bonded; maybe not immediately, but over time. In late 2007, toward the end of our first semester, an opportunity arose. That opportunity was to write a column for the Chronicle of Higher Education sharing our experiences as new faculty members on the tenure track.