Questions about publications before getting a job

[andystarr]

I recently completed my PhD in a social science this summer and I am going onto the market this year. In my discipline, it is not uncommon to have a dissertation composed of three to four papers/journal articles (or in some cases, more than) rather than a traditional manuscript. I chose the paper route. Two of my four papers will be published in

Comments

[knut_hamson]

Some jobs will not count anything that was taken from the dissertation as part of progress toward tenure, as they will want your tenure case to be built on your research productivity post-hire. For those jobs, publishing the remaining chapters from your dissertation should be done now (especially as those extra articles may help you land just such a research-focused job

[andystarr]

Thanks for the advice. I am applying for a wide range of jobs ranging from SLAC to R1s, so I guess I just need to get them out asap to cover my bases.

[knut_hamson]

Honestly, I can think of no scenario where publishing your work will be held against you on the job market.

[andystarr]

Yeah, I think that chair just came from a different time or may had a negative experience elsewhere before her current institution. But thanks again, its greatly appreciated!

[knut_hamson]

It's astonishing how quickly times change. I just earned tenure at my university, and have served on 3 job searches. Just in my 6 years, I have seen my colleagues (unintentionally, I think) start to raise the standards simply because the market allows us to (and for many, I teach at a very undesirable institution: 4/4 teaching load with no research support, in a state school in an agricultural environment). Even given this, we rejected an applicant who had multiple publications and a national teaching award. Because we could.

Each year, it seems, the bar is raised even higher, and many people advising PhD students aren't really aware how competitive the market has become.