Ohio state program

[UndergradDad]

Is anyone familiar with Ohio State's program? They have a mention for ethics in the new pgr, but looking at their placement record on their website it doesn't look strong. I realize that jobs in philosophy are very hard to come by, but most of their placements seem to be at osu itself rather than at other colleges and univesities. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something here.

[hector549]

On 4/7/2018 at 4:45 PM, UndergradDad said:

Is anyone familiar with Ohio State's program? They have a mention for ethics in the new pgr, but looking at their placement record on their website it doesn't look strong. I realize that jobs in philosophy are very hard to come by, but most of their placements seem to be at osu itself rather than at other colleges and univesities. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something here.

It's not uncommon for recent graduates to continue on at their university as visiting lecturers for a year or so after successfully defending. That's not a bad thing, as it gives graduates more teaching experience and lets them earn some money during their initial period on the academic job market. Academic hiring also happens in cycles, so if you didn't get a job while you were wrapping up your dissertation in the spring, you'll need something to do until the next hiring cycle the following year. I have friends at a top-ten school who count themselves lucky to have an inital VL position at their university. They're usually contingent positions (i.e. year-to-year, and generally not infinitely renewable) but it saves them from having to scrape together adjuncting work at other area universities, or from having to move somewhere to find adjuncting work quickly if they didn't get a job offer right away the first time out (which these days is not so common).

As for OSU's overall job placement--it's not any worse than I'd expect, from a quick look at their page. One or two people from each cohort get TT jobs, one or two leave academia, and the rest get temporary/adjunct/postdoc positions and try again the next year. That's about the best outcome anyone can expect, even from a very good program, to be honest.

Edited April 8, 2018 by hector549

[UndergradDad]

Thanks for your thoughts. Just the nature of the beast these days I guess. As you say, being a visiting lecturer is not the worst possible outcome, and better than adjuncting.