Sometimes, we work ourselves into a corner and unwittingly take on an identity that we can’t shake off — like a chick from an incubator trying to acclimate into a free-range coop. Familiarity breeds contempt. The all-natural, 100% organic chicks might look down their beaks at an outsider who came from a *gasp!* laboratory.

 

I read an article recently (and tried to find it to link here but could not relocate it – sorry!) that explained one of the key differences between European and American higher education career paths: developing scholars from a school’s own graduate pool vs. hiring externally.

 

In Europe, colleges and universities often hire from within; they encourage students to attend the same school for their bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs, then they move into faculty positions at the same institution. In the U.S., graduates are less likely to find faculty positions in their home universities. Obtaining a master’s degree and doctorate at the same U.S. institution can be seen as a negative, because a student hasn’t been exposed to teaching from other faculty with varied research interests.

 

Another frustration is that administrators often rise through the faculty ranks, rather than the staff. Herein lies the dilemma: a staff member who has worked at a university while simultaneously pursuing a doctorate may have a difficult time transitioning to the faculty side of the house. Why?

 

“Oh, you know Angela – she’s that grantwriter.”

“Ah, yes – she used to be chair of the Staff Council, right?”

“Yeah. I heard she worked full-time and studied for her doctorate part-time.”

“And, did you hear that she has FIVE children?!”

“Whoa. Doesn’t she know that having more than two is a death knell for an academic career?”

“Wow – it couldn’t have been a very rigorous program if she was able to juggle all of that at the same time!”

“Oh, it was just a DPA, not a Ph.D.”

“Ohhh, that explains it.”

 

It’s hard not to feel discouraged. Never mind the fact that the National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Education both consider the DPA to be on par, academically, with the Ph.D. I knew when I started the program that there are still some academics who believe that anything other than the Ph.D. is substandard. I simply can’t quit my day job and go to school full-time, at this stage in my life. The DPA is geared toward students like me.

 

Does this mean that I can never become a faculty member? No. Does it mean that I cannot become an administrator? (Well, technically, I’m an administrator now, but I’m referring to upper-level executive positions.) Again, no. What it does mean is that I need to document my academic credentials by actively seeking out research & publishing opportunities and begin to focus my long-range interests.

 

That is the difficult part for me — honing in on my interests. I am curious by nature and have numerous areas of interest. If only there existed an interdisciplinary part-teaching/part-administration position that incorporated public policy, administration, digital media and philanthropy. Now that would rock. Sometimes I wish that God would write on the wall for me or leave a note under my pillow like the tooth fairy and just tell me what to do.