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If you're in graduate school or even if you're just thinking
about applying, you have probably heard the dire warning:
the job market is tough and getting tougher. Postdocs, the
short-term appointment of recent Ph.D.'s to research and teaching
positions, provide one solution. Postdoc appointments not
only give universities a plentiful and enthusiastic source
of cheap, skilled labor, but also, under optimal conditions,
give appointees the opportunity to participate in important
research projects, work with top names in their field, gain
teaching experience, and generally hone their skills before
applying for tenure-track jobs. However, as the number of
postdocs continues to grow, and as people serve in them for
longer periods of time, attention is finally turning to the
exploitative potential of postdoc appointments.
Many people
insist that postdocs contribute to the job problem rather
than solving it, and that appointees run the risk of spending
years as a postdoc and still not finding a tenure-track job.
Consequently, people serving in postdoc positions are banding
together and forming coalitions. Postdocs are demanding that
universities develop explicit procedural guidelines to ensure
tolerable working terms, such as a livable wage, health benefits,
and limits on the amount of time that people can work in postdoc
positions before gaining the rights of full-time faculty.
Organizations have been developed at several major research
universities to act as a resource for postdocs and to facilitate
communication between postdocs and the school administration.
While most of the agitation is occurring in the sciences,
it is sure to spread to other academic areas, in which postdocs
face similar issues and working conditions.
A recent
issue of Science (September 3, 1999) with a special focus
on postdocs includes a list of suggestions for ways to turn
the experience into a beneficial opportunity rather than an
experience of drudgery that inspires resentment. These tips
include "get[ting] ahead of the curve" by focusing on a new
or expanding research area; "follow[ing] your heart" rather
than trying to second-guess the market; figuring out how your
area of research fits into "the big picture"; working with
prominent scholars; establishing yourself as a professional
rather than a student; creating your own postdoc position
instead of only answering ads for predetermined ones; and
proving that you are a "team player" and consequently a desirable
person to hire.
When fulfilled
under supportive and structured circumstances, postdoc appointments
can be a great opportunity for recent grads to gain experience
and make contacts that will further their chances of getting
a desirable academic job. An alternative and often overlooked
possibility is for postdoc appointments to serve as a conduit
to nonacademic jobs, and in this regard, the humanities are
leading the way. The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation,
for instance, has established "career postdocs," internships
that train recent grads in skills for jobs outside academia.
As tenure-track jobs become increasingly difficult to come
by in all fields, such career postdocs suggest new career
paths as a viable outcome of graduate training and ease the
transition into work outside the academy. If you are considering
a postdoc appointment, keep in mind the broadening array of
opportunities now available.
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