On faculty hiring (or duck and cover!)
One of the little discussed but often manifest elements of faculty life is the turbulence faculty hiring an create in a Department.
It is little discussed bc it often exposes every fracture in a department - sometimes pitting people with different beliefs about research against each other - other times exposing generational differences in departments - many times creating permanent rifts between cliques.
It is manifest bc it is easy to tell which departments had difficult hiring processes and which did not - with those that navigated hiring smoothly feeling a lot better than those that show signs of battle fatigue - or worse - where different groups simply stop talking to each other.
Why is faculty hiring so trying? For otherwise sane groups of people?
First, it happens once in a blue moon.
Most schools hire only once or twice a decade.
Consequently, we aren’t very good at it.
Second, a new hire reshapes the balance of power in a department.
It’s not only a vote on a dept committee it’s a thumb on the scale of research priorities.
Underrepresented groups (pick your organizing logic) will often fight to secure someone who lines up with them.
Dominant groups want to stay in power.
Third, it takes a lot of time.
No one wants to be on the job market every year. It’s exhausting.
Screening and securing a new colleague can take months and hundreds of hours.
Fourth, the stakes are real.
Who is hired will impact what can be taught and studied for years to come.
A good hire can boost a school.
A bad hire can be a wrecking ball.
Fifth, it can make people say what they really think.
People will articulate the damnedest things to promote or suppress a candidate.
I have heard shots taken at pedigree, topics, and nationality.
These shots leave lasting impressions.
Finally, it impacts culture.
Who is hired will also change the way people interact.
One person can make a department toxic.
I can name a dozen schools that regret hiring a senior person.
I can name a dozen more that celebrated when that senior person left.
So what to do? If you are junior? And your department is hiring?
First, participate.
Be the first to sign up for interviews.
Second, provide honest feedback.
Keep it level. Keep it dispassionate. Kept it respectful.
Third, do not take a kill shot.
Not in the job talk and not in the feedback
It’s not collegial.
Fourth, if it grows heated, duck and cover.
Once you have said your piece, let the senior people fight it out.
Fifth, remember collegiality.
What you say will be remembered by your colleagues & could be relayed to your future colleague.
So see point 2.
People will remember your honesty & that you were level.
You never know if your dept will navigate hiring smoothly or if it will be turbulent waters.
With discretion in words and mindful attention to the context, you should be able to navigate the water just fine.
Best of luck!
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