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Getting a Job at a Teaching Institution—and Then Succeeding: A Q&A with Experienced Teacher-Scholars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2008

Lanethea Mathews-Gardner
Affiliation:
Muhlenberg College
Michelle D. Deardorff
Affiliation:
Jackson State University
Grant Reeher
Affiliation:
Syracuse University
William Hudson
Affiliation:
Providence College
MaryAnne Borrelli
Affiliation:
Connecticut College
Glen Halva-Neubauer
Affiliation:
Furman University

Extract

The December 2006 APSA report, “Trends in the Political Science Profession” (Sedowski and Brintnall 2006; Brintnall 2005), noted that the number of political science jobs posted on eJobs reached an all-time high for the academic year. Thirty-six percent of those jobs were in B.A.-granting institutions, institutions most likely to include a focus on liberal arts teaching. Similarly, results from the most recently available department chairs' survey show that almost one-third of all graduates in 2002, including those in non-academic employment, obtained jobs in B.A. institutions (Lopez 2003). In response to these circumstances, the Political Science Education Section has, at recent APSA annual meetings, including 2007's meeting, sponsored a short course titled, “Getting a Job at a Teaching Institution—and Then Succeeding!” For this article we have drawn on our experiences in the short course—and in interviewing, hiring, mentoring, and evaluating colleagues at a range of liberal arts colleges—to compile a list of frequently asked questions and their answers. B.A.-granting institutions are highly diversified, as evidenced by the authors' own affiliations. Still, after much discussion, we are confident that the advice offered here is broadly applicable to colleges focusing upon the liberal arts and undergraduate education. However, applicants should always research the mission and the corresponding commitments of the institutions at which they are seeking employment.

Type
The Profession
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association 2008

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References

Brintnall, Michael. 2005. “Academic Jobs in Political Science: A Review of Listings with the APSA Jobs Service.” PS: Political Science and Politics 38 (January): 125–7.Google Scholar
Deardorff, Michelle D., Githens, Marianne, Halva-Neubauer, Glen, Hudson, William, Reeher, Grant, and Seyb, Ronald. 2001. “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Getting and Keeping a Job at a Private Liberal Arts College, but Your Graduate Advisor Didn't Tell You.” PS: Political Science and Politics 34 (4): 856–7.Google Scholar
Lopez, Linda. 2003. “Placement Report: Political Science Ph.D.s and ABDs on the Job Market in 2001–2002,PS: Political Science and Politics 36 (October): 835–41.Google Scholar
Sedowski, Leanne, and Brintnall, Michael. 2006. “Trends in the Political Science Profession: Political Science Job Listings in APSA's eJobs Listing Service.” Available at: http://apsanet.org/imgtest/EJobsWriteUp%2012%202006.pdf.Google Scholar