effective teaching of sociology at the college level is less likely to help students, on average, than effective teaching of whatever material at the high school level.
And of course people hate to here what someone previously said "I don't think teaching sociology, or any social science including econ for that matter, will make any visible impact on students at a teaching school. "
It is generally true. Sorry!
you're clearly the person you're "quoting"
I teach a 3/3 at an all-undergraduate public university. What others have said above is true. The job can be fairly easy, if you are ok not doing research. That's the road many of my colleagues have chosen, and they can skate by producing almost nothing, even though research is technically expected. If you want to keep up an active research program-- like I do-- the workload can be very heavy.
The hardest thing to adapt to is how little my colleagues care about my research. When I get articles published, nobody notices. When I get grants, nobody cares. There's little celebration of anyone's research successes. I think this occurs because the more attention that gets drawn to my successes, the more they fear that they'll have to start producing. Or, at very least, they fear that admin will look at it and say "She produces X articles a year; why can't you?" So, I mostly do my research in isolation and without a lot of support or recognition.
I think it's easy for faculty members in my shoes to feel bitter because, deep-down, we feel like our productivity should earn us more respect, more money, or more influence in institutional/departmental decision-making. It took me a long time to figure out that it doesn't. It's a total non-factor. Nobody cares. Seniority matters more than productivity.
Last thing I'll say: Nobody cares where you went to school. Ranking and pedigree are total non-factors for anything. They might matter within the discipline (i.e., at ASA where people look past you) but within the university, nobody cares if you did your PhD at Harvard or at Iowa State. The Harvard parchment doesn't impress anyone.
This is almost my exact experience. I have a lot of colleagues who barely produce, and—because of that—aren’t supportive or happy for me at all when I get publications. It’s been really isolating, honestly.
Lol at doctors in puddles of tears over colleagues that don't genuflect over their latest publication in the International Journal for the Study of Human and Social Behavior. and Though What are you, five? Pull up your big girls panties and get started on your next publication. You have a mom? Good, she's really super-duper proud of you, sweetie. The rest of us don't care.
Can you imagine *real* doctors whining about how their colleagues aren't happy for how their medical boards went or their performance during that big spinal cord surgery. "Madison barely even showed any happiness for me when I saved the life of that old guy with the heart condition!" What a bunch of fragile poseurs. Most of you SHOULD have imposter syndrome because you genuinely do not deserve a seat the grown-ups table. Go back to grade school, learn some rudimentary math skills, and have your mom throw you a party with cotton candy, flowers, and a yummy cake with extra frosting and rainbow sprinkles. You know, something on your level.
Lol at doctors in puddles of tears over colleagues that don't genuflect over their latest publication in the International Journal for the Study of Human and Social Behavior. and Though What are you, five? Pull up your big girls panties and get started on your next publication. You have a mom? Good, she's really super-duper proud of you, sweetie. The rest of us don't care.
Eh, this job is hard enough even while getting props. Publications take hard work, time, and dedication. It helps the reputation of the school and department if we produce, so it should be congratulated. But since most people are just barely scraping by research-wise, they seem bothered by other people’s successes. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, just something I’ve experienced from getting a PhD at an R1 and moving to a small liberal arts school as a prof.
Go get a job, troll.
Can you imagine *real* doctors whining about how their colleagues aren't happy for how their medical boards went or their performance during that big spinal cord surgery. "Madison barely even showed any happiness for me when I saved the life of that old guy with the heart condition!" What a bunch of fragile poseurs. Most of you SHOULD have imposter syndrome because you genuinely do not deserve a seat the grown-ups table. Go back to grade school, learn some rudimentary math skills, and have your mom throw you a party with cotton candy, flowers, and a yummy cake with extra frosting and rainbow sprinkles. You know, something on your level.
You mistake a lack of props for jealousy, but most of your colleagues don't spend any time thinking about you at all. Shocking, I know. Publishing outside the top journals (which is where most sociologists outside of R1s publish) does nothing for anyone's reputation. No one takes sociology seriously at any level, and we're not attracting the best and brightest to these LRM programs. Our students are jocks and POC who can't do basic math. At 99% of these places, faculty can publish literally anything in any journal and it counts. Those types of articles don't take much work, time, or dedication. Some of them are just straight up pay to publish scenarios. Anyone who expects their weary, burned-out senior colleagues to be excited about any of this is delusional.
Eh, this job is hard enough even while getting props. Publications take hard work, time, and dedication. It helps the reputation of the school and department if we produce, so it should be congratulated. But since most people are just barely scraping by research-wise, they seem bothered by other people�s successes. I�m not saying it�s good or bad, just something I�ve experienced from getting a PhD at an R1 and moving to a small liberal arts school as a prof.
What’s difficult, at least for me as a postdoc at a teaching-oriented SLAC with an active research agenda, isn’t the lack of props or ‘jealous colleagues,’ its that I generally find it difficult to relate to my colleagues on this front. Sometimes, I’ll be stressing about a submission or relishing in getting a tough revision in, and everyone is like “Good for you,” followed by crickets. When it comes to teaching and service issues, I could not ask for more supportive colleagues. I guess the upside of being a postdoc is that I am on the market and can shoot for a job at an institution with more of a balance b/t research and teaching. Worse case scenario, I’ll know what to expect if I land in another teaching-focused dept.
I went to a VLRM and now I teach at a 4/4 regional with many people who went to VHRM. It gives me a good chuckle to know we ended up in the same spot.
In all honesty, teaching a 4/4 can be very emotionally exhausting. I’ve gotten to know my students really well which is rewarding, but it can also be a lot at times.
However, I rarely work on weekends. I don’t have demanding publication pressure so I also enjoy my holiday and summer time off without worry. That’s the best part.
I'm like your colleagues. Came from a top 10 ivy now teach 4/4. In fairness I had another offer at a 3/2 public undergrad focused school but the location was an issue.
I just earned tenure...had 2 babies as an asst. Spent my summers taking kid to the park and music class. This suits me but would be miserable for others, which I respect.
Some might wonder was is worth it to go to a VHRM if I ended up at at 4/4? I had funding and never acquired debt in a high COL. city. But yes people can act funny when you mention your school.
There are those with whom I went to school who haven't earned tenure a HRM. I don't think they'd want to change places but neither would I. It is what it is.
Even these places have "distinguished scholar"-type awards. We meet the provost when a book is published, have some food catered.
I teach a 3/3 at an all-undergraduate public university. What others have said above is true. The job can be fairly easy, if you are ok not doing research. That's the road many of my colleagues have chosen, and they can skate by producing almost nothing, even though research is technically expected. If you want to keep up an active research program-- like I do-- the workload can be very heavy.
The hardest thing to adapt to is how little my colleagues care about my research. When I get articles published, nobody notices. When I get grants, nobody cares. There's little celebration of anyone's research successes. I think this occurs because the more attention that gets drawn to my successes, the more they fear that they'll have to start producing. Or, at very least, they fear that admin will look at it and say "She produces X articles a year; why can't you?" So, I mostly do my research in isolation and without a lot of support or recognition.
I think it's easy for faculty members in my shoes to feel bitter because, deep-down, we feel like our productivity should earn us more respect, more money, or more influence in institutional/departmental decision-making. It took me a long time to figure out that it doesn't. It's a total non-factor. Nobody cares. Seniority matters more than productivity.
Last thing I'll say: Nobody cares where you went to school. Ranking and pedigree are total non-factors for anything. They might matter within the discipline (i.e., at ASA where people look past you) but within the university, nobody cares if you did your PhD at Harvard or at Iowa State. The Harvard parchment doesn't impress anyone.
All this is true, but we can get support for our research from colleagues at other institutions doing related work. We all are in a sense part of 2 departments, our physical department where we teach and our intellectual department of people, who are in departments all over the country or the world, who share our interests.
I teach a 3/3 at an all-undergraduate public university. What others have said above is true. The job can be fairly easy, if you are ok not doing research. That's the road many of my colleagues have chosen, and they can skate by producing almost nothing, even though research is technically expected. If you want to keep up an active research program-- like I do-- the workload can be very heavy.
The hardest thing to adapt to is how little my colleagues care about my research. When I get articles published, nobody notices. When I get grants, nobody cares. There's little celebration of anyone's research successes. I think this occurs because the more attention that gets drawn to my successes, the more they fear that they'll have to start producing. Or, at very least, they fear that admin will look at it and say "She produces X articles a year; why can't you?" So, I mostly do my research in isolation and without a lot of support or recognition.
I think it's easy for faculty members in my shoes to feel bitter because, deep-down, we feel like our productivity should earn us more respect, more money, or more influence in institutional/departmental decision-making. It took me a long time to figure out that it doesn't. It's a total non-factor. Nobody cares. Seniority matters more than productivity.
Last thing I'll say: Nobody cares where you went to school. Ranking and pedigree are total non-factors for anything. They might matter within the discipline (i.e., at ASA where people look past you) but within the university, nobody cares if you did your PhD at Harvard or at Iowa State. The Harvard parchment doesn't impress anyone.
This is almost my exact experience. I have a lot of colleagues who barely produce, and�because of that�aren�t supportive or happy for me at all when I get publications. It�s been really isolating, honestly.
This makes sense to me. I don't get why it matters if your immediate colleagues care about your publishing. If your publishing with people at other places, you can chat about research all you want with them.
All this is true, but we can get support for our research from colleagues at other institutions doing related work. We all are in a sense part of 2 departments, our physical department where we teach and our intellectual department of people, who are in departments all over the country or the world, who share our interests.