You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
I have a soft spot for academic trailing partners.
My empathy for trailers is no doubt a function of my own experience. I’ve been a following partner 3 times now. First to Morgantown WV, next to New Haven CT, and finally (I hope) to Hanover NH.
Are you a trailing partner? (Or a leading partner?).
If you are the trailing element of an academic dyad, then you know how challenging our path can be. Very few institutions seem to do partner hiring. Even when the school makes in an effort to find a place for the trailing partner, that position is almost always a compromise.
Things have to line up really perfectly if both academic-type job seekers are going to land their dream job at one institution (or even within one geography). And we know that life is seldom perfect.
My experience as a 3-time trailing partner is that what is most required is patience, flexibility, and grit. It took me a few years at my current institution, but eventually I was able to land that dream job.
I always advise other trailing partners that the first job you get in the same city as your partner will not be your last job. What is important is to meet as many people as possible, get involved in lots of projects (even if they are soft money and short term), and to get your foot in the door.
One strategy that has worked well for me being a 3-time trailing academic partner has been to think beyond the local geography. Very early on I started to teach online courses, and to consult for schools and companies across the country. This online teaching and consulting allowed me to be portable. It also led naturally into a full-time gig at the institutions in which my wife was recruited, as I had skills and experience that were relevant.
What I’ve had to give up as a trailing academic is the idea of moving into a tenure track faculty role. This has been difficult, as I love the life of teaching, scholarship and service. Carving out an alt-academic career in online learning and educational technology has provide opportunities to retain much of what I love about being an educator and working in higher education. Alt-academics can still teach and do research - we just do so in a way that is different from the traditional academic path.
One of the challenges of being a trailing academic partner is that it is easy to feel isolated. Often, the trailing academic partner has as much education and experience as the leading partner. Trailing academic partners are no less ambitious than the partners that they follow, and no less likely to identify with the discipline in which they trained. The opportunity set for trailing partners tends to narrow just as opportunities for the leading partner open up. This can be difficult for both people.
My recommendation is that trailing academic partners need to find their people. We need to make active efforts to seek out and support one another. We need to help each other find jobs and other opportunities - and be sounding boards for each other’s frustrations.
Has any research been done on the life course of the trailing academic partner?
How has the rise of alt-ac jobs changed the options and outcomes for trailing academic partners?
What advice do you have for those who follow their academic partner to a new school in a new part of the country?
