From postdoc to assistant professor
Photo by Christopher Burns on Unsplash
Last week’s blog post discussed how time spent in a postdoctoral fellowship is an opportunity to cultivate your experiences and hone your communication so that you can stand confidently in your expertise. This week I am talking about later, when you move into an assistant professorship position, and your mindset needs to shift its focus from ‘I’ to ‘we’. It is no longer enough to be concerned about your own career path; now you have to demonstrate that while you’re continuing to establish your expertise and your unique place in the field, you are also supporting others in their journey. As an assistant professor, your job roles expand: running a lab, teaching, service. And, in each of these roles, you have the ability to positively impact those around you.
Starting as an assistant professor and running a lab is a lot like starting up a small business. (This actually makes it curious to me why there is so much push-back in academia for those who wish to go into industry or become entrepreneurs after graduate school, but perhaps that’s a topic for another day). Although you likely (hopefully) will be provided with start-up funds that give you a bit of runway, you will probably still need to seek additional funding to sustain your research activities, which means you need write grant applications (essentially, a business plan that you pitch to ‘investors’). Then, once you know you’ll be able to pay them for a while, you need to hire the right kind of team for the work that needs to be done. This may mean some mixture of research assistants, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and/or undergraduate students. And the talent of that team must be nurtured. You are responsible for setting the culture and communicating the lab’s priorities and deadlines (the ‘deliverables’). You are also responsible for ensuring that the team has what they need to get their jobs done, including removing any barriers that may pop up. For some of your team members, this may mean co-creating a general plan, giving them a computer, and getting out of their way. For others, this may look like reading the literature together, planning and piloting experiments under your supervision, and coaching them through statistical analyses and writing. For still others, this may mean ensuring that they know how to access your institution’s learning, safety, or mental health resources. But, in all cases, you are going to be evaluated by what you and your team—your small business—achieve together.
This mindset shift from ‘I’ to ‘we’ isn’t merely confined to your research lab. It also extends to your collaborations, to the classroom, and to any committee or other service work that you do. In collaborations, your goal is to push the larger initiative forward, not necessarily only by taking charge, but also by playing a supporting, yet still essential, role. In the classroom, how well you teach is evaluated in the context of how well the students learn, and how engaged and supported they feel during that learning process. In committee and service work, you will be judged by how well you contribute useful ideas, or otherwise facilitate the group’s activities, in ways that lead to desired results.
Being an assistant professor is about demonstrating your ability to build something greater than yourself. The expectation is still there to establish your expertise and bring new knowledge to the field—you don’t lose your identity, your strategic plan, or your dreams, just because you become an assistant professor. But, the question becomes, can you also bring others along with you? Can you help your colleagues achieve new goals? Can you equip students with the knowledge they need to take their next steps? Can you teach others how to develop their own expertise and stand in their own confidence? Can you improve the processes and opportunities within your department to make it easier for others to succeed? These questions also work in reverse; moving from ‘I’ to ‘we’ also means leaving your ego at the door, realizing when you need help, and asking for that help. It means that there are ways in which your team, your students, and your colleagues can help you achieve new heights. Remember that your success as an assistant professor isn’t yours alone, but arises out of a combination of the expertise and success of your team, your students, your colleagues, and your department.
Being an assistant professor is a challenging time in your career. The job roles multiply, the tasks become more complex, and expectations change dramatically. It can feel like a lot to juggle if you’re trying to do it all by yourself. Shifting your mindset from ‘I’ to ‘we’ will help you get clarity on what you are building and where and how you can make an impact. If you need help envisioning how to build something larger than yourself, reach out, and I’ll help you embrace this mindset shift.
Next week: From assistant to associate professor (with tenure)
