How can I become a lecturer in the humanities?

As we all know, getting into academia with a phd in the humanities is super competitive, and appears to be getting more so in the near future. Beyond doing well at my degree I'm not sure what else I can do to be in with a shot of making it - science students, for example, are often able to publish papers from quite early on, but is this even possible in humanities subjects?

My education so far comprises of: an undergraduate degree from a top-10 uni (not Oxbridge) graduating this summer almost certainly with a First. During my degree I studied abroad for a year at a top-5 American university. I've also accepted an offer to study for my Masters degree at Oxford. I actually also got an offer from "University X", which is regarded as the best for my subject, but it's little known outside the field so I chose Oxford instead. The program at Ox is still pretty good, and I felt it would open more doors for me outside of academia and be a safer bet. In terms of research supervision compatibility, there was little to choose between Oxford and University X.

In a nutshell: before committing to studying for a PhD, how can I enhance my chances of breaking into this competitive field? I can't think of any 'work experience' really relevant to academia, and I've never heard of anyone in the humanities publishing their work pre-PhD.

Reply 1

thatfineframe

3

I'm no further on in my academic career ambitions than you are (so please take anything I say with a grain of salt or two!), but I've thought about it quite a bit. Some things you could do, at this point, for academia-related CV-building include:

-Presenting your work at conferences. (Much easier to achieve than a respectable publication, and can be very interesting.)

-Publishing in venues which, while not anonymously peer-reviewed, can serve as testing grounds for early-career people - the Oxonian Review is a good example. (I've seen junior academics include OR pieces on lists of their publications.)

-Getting involved with interdisciplinary graduate things at college level, if anything if that sort's available to you - I'm thinking of, for instance, graduate colloquia or a grad journal.

-Being a graduate representative on relevant faculty committees.

-Applying for any relevant awards or grants.

Of course I am not saying for one moment that any of these things guarantees success - I know from friends' accounts that it's possible to do all this and still struggle to find employment. Needless to say, doing good work is the most important thing! But I think that seeking out opportunities for professional development could potentially give you a little extra push (and some of these examples, e.g. conference-going, might also directly improve your work and lead to earlier publication).

(There are, actually, a couple of people on this forum who published very early - and I know a couple more in real life. But most people have assured me that early prestige publications are rare indeed. I've done some of the things on my list above, but I'm aware at the same time that I'm just not ready to submit to major journals.)

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 2

minnieuk

8

You're right it is very competitive. The previous post has some really useful advice. I've been told that the overriding factor for new lecturing staff is ability to get funding for the department/university. Obviously you will also have to be suitable for the role but there will be lots of really good, suitable candidates. Being able to demonstrate other skills e.g. getting teaching practice are essential but they won't make you stand out.

Ways to prove you can attract funding are:
- to already have secured funding for your PhD - as funding is pretty scarce for humanities these days showing that you can get some makes you an attractive candidate. If you can't get a full award then applying for and winning several smaller awards inspires confidence.

- be published - this seems to be absolutely key to positions in humanities as a lecturer. I study English and most of the research students are presenting at conferences by the end of the 1st year/beginning of 2nd year and submitting articles to peer-reviewed journals at this time as well. It is much easier to get accepted to present at a conference than to get an article published but it is a good start - even the senior lecturing staff will do this so it's a necessary part of academic life. I've been told that most people don't get into journals until later in their research and that doesn't matter but you do need to think seriously about it in the 3rd year.

Unfortunately, none of this is a guarantee of success - I know lots of people trying to get their first lecturing position. There are alternative post-doc positions which can help you move forward if you can't get a lectureship. A lot also depends on what your research area is and what you can teach. I went to a careers seminar a while ago where one lecturer talked about her difficulty getting a position lecturing because her research area wasn't in demand enough in English universities. She had got one in the end though so there is hope.

Reply 3

shiny

12

I really wouldn't plan specifically to have an academic career and to enjoy your PhD for what it is (three years of study) and to keep all your career options open.

Reply 4

Ellim

11

Original post by thatfineframe

-Presenting your work at conferences. (Much easier to achieve than a respectable publication, and can be very interesting.)

-Publishing in venues which, while not anonymously peer-reviewed, can serve as testing grounds for early-career people - the Oxonian Review is a good example. (I've seen junior academics include OR pieces on lists of their publications.)

-Getting involved with interdisciplinary graduate things at college level, if anything if that sort's available to you - I'm thinking of, for instance, graduate colloquia or a grad journal.

-Being a graduate representative on relevant faculty committees.

-Applying for any relevant awards or grants.

I am only slightly further along than you, and I agree with everything above except the bolded part. Depending on your field, if your work isn't ready to be published in a peer review then present it at conferences. Try and find conferences that have proceedings (which are often peer-reviewed but a little less rigorous).

As I said, it depends on your field: I'm in a very 'academic' field (I hope that makes sense...) and I would never dream of putting something on my CV that wasn't peer reviewed; but my husband is in I.R and has opinion pieces etc. on his CV.

What I've italicised above it something I wouldn't consider doing. I have better things to do with my time that will look better on my CV than being involved in irrelevant things - but that's just me. I'd rather spend my time getting an Higher Education Teaching Qualification (all universities should offer something along these lines, but as a graduate student you might not be eligible to undertake it - if you aren't, push to do it anyway.)

Do training courses, but not irrelevant ones. And remember, if you get 10 minutes of useful material out of each hour of the course it's not a waste of time. I mean things like research and writing techniques, conference presentation, how to publish, how to write an abstract, academic writing, how to structure your thesis. It might seem like a bit of a waste of time, but if you can get all those skills down in the first year of your PhD you'll be a long way ahead.

I'd also like to add, have goals. I have a list of things I'd like to achieve in each year of my PhD (they include things like 'present at x number of conferences' 'publish x number of papers' 'pass upgrade with no/minor corrections' 'submit book proposal before viva') and I think they keep me focused.

Also, I can't help but think that maybe you overlooked University X too quickly. In academia, it doesn't really matter what the 'outside' world thinks - it matters what other academics in your field think. Anyway, Oxbridge is obviously good so it's not a big problem. When you apply for PhDs go with a supervisor rather than a university - someone who will be able to help you.

My final piece of advice, and I think a lot of people will take exception to this is: don't have a plan B (or have a truly ridiculous plan B - mine involves being accepted to joint program at Harvard and Princeton that has about a 3% acceptance rate!)

Good luck. It's hard.

Reply 5

py0alb

3

go to conferences. ask intelligent questions. speak to the delegates. do your own research. find a good supervisor. Basically, by the end of your PhD you should have spoken at as many conferences, published as many papers, and be well known by as many people in your field as possible. This way, when a research opportunity comes up in their department and your CV comes through the post, they will be more likely to interview you.

Reply 6

shiny

12

Original post by Ellim

My final piece of advice, and I think a lot of people will take exception to this is: don't have a plan B (or have a truly ridiculous plan B - mine involves being accepted to joint program at Harvard and Princeton that has about a 3% acceptance rate!)

I agree to an extent in that you will have to be somewhat single-minded and really focused. I think the important thing is that, should you go down this path, you MUST set in place criteria to know when to get out when it isn't working. Otherwise it can become really quite tragic and I am not just speaking professionally but also personally. The number of relationships I have seen over the years which have taken a beating because one partner just doesn't want to let go of their academic dream even though it is quite obvious to everyone else that it is over. Very sad.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/mar/02/academic-career-live-apart-couple

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7

Lord Asriel

11

In a nutshell: before committing to studying for a PhD, how can I enhance my chances of breaking into this competitive field?

Know as much as you can about the academic university scene as well as your area of speciality. Read things like the Times Higher Education supplement, attend conferences, network like hell and get yourself known. Learn about the challenges and opportunities in your field and try to figure out what you can bring to the table.

Don't just take the first PhD offer given and spend the next 4 years writing your thesis, figuring out the future will take care of itself.

My final piece of advice, and I think a lot of people will take exception to this is: don't have a plan B

While I understand the "do or die" sentiment, I think this is a really dangerous, high risk approach and not at all advisable.

With the struggles that universities face, and the structural changes in the academic job market, its only a minority of PhD graduates will gain full time, substantive Perm contracts. From first hand observation its not even a case of the hardest working/best grades/most talented getting the posts they deserve, be that arts or sciences. Completely unpredictable, often random factors play a role such as the politics of the university, how "hot" your area is by the time you graduate (particularly important in the humanities), who you know or even who happens to be retiring.

It's also quite an insidious in other respects, because frequently academia views industry or commerce as separate and/or lesser, which means people can internalise a value set that the PhD/lectureship path is the only option and to do otherwise is failure. Thus PhD students don't develop the transferable skills and take opportunities that could help them in the future.

This article discusses some of the issues and talks about challenges:

http://www.beyondthephd.co.uk/articles/details.php?id=3

In my own case, the transferable skills in developing my "plan B" helped me get my "plan A" job in academia, but I still keep those Plan B skills on the backburner. Not knocking academia itself, as I very much enjoy my academic job and love the lifestyle, I am all too aware the scene could change rapidly.

Reply 8

thatfineframe

3

Original post by Ellim

I am only slightly further along than you, and I agree with everything above except the bolded part. Depending on your field, if your work isn't ready to be published in a peer review then present it at conferences. Try and find conferences that have proceedings (which are often peer-reviewed but a little less rigorous).

As I said, it depends on your field: I'm in a very 'academic' field (I hope that makes sense...) and I would never dream of putting something on my CV that wasn't peer reviewed; but my husband is in I.R and has opinion pieces etc. on his CV.

I'm in English, where quite a lot of people write for publications other than traditional journals, but I absolutely accept that things will vary between fields. I was also unclear, I think, in that I didn't mean to suggest publishing the product of one's own main research project, but doing things like book reviewing as a sideline - again, this is probably not as easy to do in other fields. Reviewing was suggested to me by someone on this forum, and although I have yet to find out if building my record of such publications will be any use in real terms, it is giving me lots of extra writing practice (it's interesting, writing for a generalist audience) and has opened up some fun opportunities. :smile:

As for one's own research, though, I totally agree that that should be placed in the most respected venue possible. (I know several people who subsequently got good publications out of work they'd done at masters level.)

I believe that the teaching course for graduate students at Oxford can't be done during the masters year, but I may be wrong about that. But I'm sure it's a good idea to pick up tutorial teaching as soon as one can.

Reply 9

j465

OP

Thanks everyone - I'm overwhelmed by the insightful responses this question received.

thatfineframe: I had not previously considered presenting work at conferences, but that sounds like a great idea. I will be on the look out for such opportunities during my Masters year.

I have actually won a travel grant already, for my undergrad dissertation - albeit only a very unspectacular £250 one - but again, not sure if this counts for much. Perhaps as minnieuk suggests, multiple little awards can add up over time to make a favourable impression.

Ellim: wonderful suggestions, thanks - I'm not sure what teaching qualifications are available to taught Masters students, but I'll definitely seize any opportunity. I'm thinking of working as a freelance tutor (for GCSE / A Level kids) over the summer to get some teaching practice.

In terms of publications, aside from 'opinion pieces' in student journals, I have nothing peer-reviewed. I was thinking of starting an academically-minded blog, with mini-essays and reviews of works related to my subject and treat it like a quasi-academic journal. This is mainly just for my own pleasure though, and to improve my writing skills, rather than as something to enhance my CV..

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 10

evantej

18

Original post by j465

Thanks everyone - I'm overwhelmed by the insightful responses this question received.

thatfineframe: I had not previously considered presenting work at conferences, but that sounds like a great idea. I will be on the look out for such opportunities during my Masters year.

I have actually won a travel grant already, for my undergrad dissertation - albeit only a very unspectacular £250 one - but again, not sure if this counts for much. Perhaps as minnieuk suggests, multiple little awards can add up over time to make a favourable impression.

Ellim: wonderful suggestions, thanks - I'm not sure what teaching qualifications are available to taught Masters students, but I'll definitely seize any opportunity. I'm thinking of working as a freelance tutor (for GCSE / A Level kids) over the summer to get some teaching practice.

In terms of publications, aside from 'opinion pieces' in student journals, I have nothing peer-reviewed. I was thinking of starting an academically-minded blog, with mini-essays and reviews of works related to my subject and treat it like a quasi-academic journal. This is mainly just for my own pleasure though, and to improve my writing skills, rather than as something to enhance my CV..

- You will have to present at a conference during your PhD so the sooner you do it the better. At Bristol, we have staff-student seminars three times a year in one of my subject areas (Russian), and you can, essentially, get practice presenting to other people without massive pressure. I was going to give a presentation for the seminar this afternoon, but had a baby in March and basically the idea got shelved. See if your university does anything similar.

- £250 is actually a decent amount, especially for an undergraduate!

- In terms of higher education teaching qualifications, these are usually only open to PhD students from their second year. Starting with GCSE and A level students is probably a good idea as you will learn to adapt your level to their own, and because you will not be the one setting the 'work' (i.e. an exam board), you are less likely to be pedantic about what they should and should not know if it was in your general area of specialism. I would not expect to find any work over the summer though.

- These sorts of things are good if you can keep them up, but if you have no commitment then they are generally a waste of time. One of my favourite academics has her own blog and posts a lot of interesting stuff. In contrast to most academics, she is quite approachable in this respect. I think writing book reviews or journalism in general is a better way to improve your writing.

Reply 11

QI Elf

17

Does it matter what kind of academic journal you publish in? I'm about to graduate in an undergraduate history degree with a view to becoming a lecturer too after my MA and phD.

I've just had a joint article published in a journal but am slightly worried as to how it would be viewed by others in my field. Its an academic journal but I wrote it with a relative, who has the same last name as I do which I'm worried would be counted against me. Although many academics are part of the society which the journal is part of, it does get just keen enthusiasts joining it. I'm a member of the society and have been going to their meetings etc for several years (the relative joined my up when I was 7!!!) I'm also a member of another society although have only been to one of their conferences.

My article is also on a topic which although similar to my research interests, in terms of period, isn't something which I would want to research or focus on in the future. Would this count against me and the work I later want to persue?

Reply 12

itzme

14

may I know how I can present at conferences? I am only writing articles at the moment about the English language and will hopefully start writing about the Middle East. I don;t think as an undergrad, I can present my work at conferences.

Reply 13

minnieuk

8

Original post by itzme

may I know how I can present at conferences? I am only writing articles at the moment about the English language and will hopefully start writing about the Middle East. I don;t think as an undergrad, I can present my work at conferences.

When you see calls for papers the conference organisers will state who the conference is aimed at - some are aimed at postgrad researchers for instance - others at early-career postdocs - others more widely. In English I don't remember seeing any that encouraged undergrads from participating. However, some might accept a proposal (don't know as I never tried until my 1st year PhD).

Basically, you look out for calls for papers. Our department circulates details of most of them but there are also online listings you can look at. If you see a conference with a theme that fits your research and you want to present a paper then you send in a proposal/abstract - usually between 250-300 words saying what your presentation would be about. If they like it then they let you know and you get to present at the conference.

How can I become a lecturer in the humanities?

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