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Publishing Philosophy While Outside the Academy; Getting Back Into Academia After Being Away

Brian Leiter

A reader writes:

I am a Visiting Assistant Professor who is weighing returning to a temporary position versus exploring other, non-academic career options.  I am still holding out, at least in the near term, for a permanent position, and I have been “close” to acquiring one in the past.  However, I am also concerned that I will be in the same position of uncertainty next year.

 

I was wondering if your readers could comment on the following questions.  First, is it more difficult to publish while not having an academic affiliation?  I am not necessarily concerned about the inevitable constraints on time another job would entail (regarding writing and research), but does the likelihood of acceptance diminish without an “edu” on your email?  Second, does taking a year or two break from academics severely reduce the likelihood of landing a job?  I realize PhDs tend to “stale” after time, but I’m wondering if a year or two break, especially in this economic climate, would be looked at as unfavorably as it would be in more normal times.

My take:  (1)  publication, at least with journals that run a legitimate peer review process, should not be harder; (2) hiring departments tend to be skeptical about people who have been away from philosophy, unless there is good evidence that they have remained intellectually engaged with the subject.  Comments are open for other perspectives; post only once; comments may take awhile to appear.

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6 responses to “Publishing Philosophy While Outside the Academy; Getting Back Into Academia After Being Away”

  1. john theibault

    I am not a philosopher, but I think your question can be answered similarly for most humanities disciplines. There should be very few barriers to publication based strictly on what your current job is. I know of several historians who published first and even second books (some prize winning) with major university presses without ever holding an academic position. But I think you skate over the "inevitable constraints" issue a bit too quickly. It is easy to underestimate the intangible ways in which removing yourself from an academic environment inhibits professional growth, even if you devise a reasonable strategy for finding time to do scholarly work. Unless by "non-academic job options" you mean something like retail sales, you will have to devote some of the energy that you would ordinarily use keeping up with aspects of the profession slightly outside of the immediate subject matter of your research to building your strengths in your new field. You will be constantly confronting issues of whether it is really worth it to get that publication in a top journal even if it does not guarantee that it will help you get an academic position when you could be doing something to improve your understanding of your current field. Few of the historians I know who published their books while in non-academic positions ended up getting academic positions afterwards (I don't know whether that was by choice or not). I suspect that someone who has gone off to work in the private sector would tend to do less well in the job search than someone who remains in academe as a VAP, even with the same publication record, simply because one loses some of the academic edge that comes from full immersion.

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  2. James C. Klagge

    While this is not a recent example, it is worth noting that, after holding a temporary position at the University of Chicago for 7 years, Marjorie Grene held no academic post from 1944-1960, when she was raising a family, farming, and working as an occasional research assistant for Michael Polanyi, yet she published 2 books and 12 articles during that time. Then she returned to academia with a post in Belfast for 5 years, and then as a professor at UC Davis for 13 years. She certainly never lost her "edge".

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  3. Anonymous

    I am a philosopher. If salary is an issue, positions in the private sector with comparable responsibilities, on average, pay much better than most philosophy faculty positions. I worked for 6 years in the private sector (manufacturing) followed by 4 years in the public sector (municipal government), two of which were in human resources (part of which involved conducting salary surveys), and then made my way to academe. After ten years away from the private sector and four graduate degrees (including a Ph.D.) later, I now make as much money (as an assistant professor with far greater responsibilities) as I made in an entry-level position in business 16 years earlier. If I had done it in reverse (which would have meant a progression rather than retrogression of salary), I probably would have smartened up and stuck with the more lucrative profession. But, then again, business is not as fun as philosophy!

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  4. Carl Seaquist

    I'd be less concerned with not having a .edu in your email address (you can always get one by adjuncting one evening course, or maybe in an alumni account from your alma mater if that matters) and more about not having access to an academic library. These days simply being able to go to a bricks-and-mortar library isn't enough: you need online access to journals, ILL rights, and access to indices like Web of Science and Philosophers Index. Most of the time I think you need a real institutional affiliation to get access to those, even if, e.g., you can get into the building and borrow books for an annual fee.

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  5. Hinne Hettema

    I am a philosopher working outside the academy, and have been for the last 10 years. Here is my take on what you are asking:

    1. I agree with John Theibault that you seem to underestimate the 'inevitable constraints'. The major constraint is not time to do research, but access to a decent to good university library. This access needs to be both physical (as in the ability to borrow books and keep them for a reasonable amount of time) and on-line (as in being allowed to go through the university 'ezproxy' system to access online journals). Preprint archives are useful too, but do not carry all that you need; and you need the published versions for citations etc.

    2. The 'professional development' that was mentioned is also important. You will mostly work from home, have virtually no or extremely limited capability to visit seminars and the like, will hardly speak to other philosophers, and will have no time and professional funds to visit conferences (unless you want to spend private time and money to visit, but this comes off any time you have to write; for me personally, I tend to prefer writing time as a better use of my 'philosophy' time). Though I've never been a VAP, I would imagine that this is where a job 'outside' would differ significantly from a VAP. I'd see this as a serious barrier to ever returning to a permanent job later.

    3. You don't say what external options you are considering. Make sure it is something you are happy with and something that has growth potential. I very much doubt that something 'to pay the bills' will keep you motivated to do the research you want to do.

    4. Self motivation is the most important character trait you need. It is not always easy to work on research in your spare time.

    I have no opinion on how hard it would be to return to something permanent, since I have not really tried to do this. My guess is that the lack of contacts in the field will be a significant barrier. Even if you keep up research, you will be 'beyond entry level' at some point, and this will be an additional black mark.

    My recommendation is that to make this work at a minimum you need some association with a department, which will give you library access and email (Where I live, these things are relatively easy to get). If your target is to return to a permanent job later, maybe try to arrange something that allows you to teach a little, maybe as 'outside expert' or similar. Ideally, your 'real' job is located within a short distance of campus (so you can do library runs at lunchtime).

    This issue was discussed earlier on this blog as well. There is some good advice here too:
    http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2009/01/developing-a-career-outside-the-academy-after-earning-a-phd.html

    Reply
  6. MDW

    To follow up on James Klagge's point about Marjorie Grene and "edge," what about Ruth Marcus? From Tim Williamson's piece: "Astonishingly, from 1948 to 1963 Ruth Barcan Marcus, as she became, had no regular affiliation with a major department, and never applied for one."

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