Teaching Positions and Department Politics

[Silent_Bobina]

So I was told that my program alternates research/teaching positions each semester so everyone gets a balanced amount of experience at both. I thought this was great, except it seems favoritism is being paid in the actual shakedown. The first semester I have had two very successful research assistantships with two very nice professors and I have been assigned to research with them both again next semester. Before these decisions were made I turned in my resume (which has a significant amount of teaching experience) and expressed my desire to teach this upcoming semester. Yet I am still stuck researching for another semester. I heard from an older graduate student (who worked with the very professors I have been assigned to for a full academic year now) that she was trapped in the research track and never got the promised opportunities to teach. I called our wonderful secretary to ask her why I wasn't chosen to teach. She said it was a matter of scheduling difficulties. I will believe this as long as the others in my cohort are in the same boat (the scheduling conflict was supposedly with a class required for all of us). However, one student was given preferential treatment to teach this past semester. Her and another student have become very close to the head of our department (who has a small problem with me as far as I can tell). I'm not sure where anyone else is in the Spring yet but I am frustrated because most people (including the girl who taught this fall) complain incessantly about teaching and would rather research. I feel exactly the opposite yet I'm the one not teaching.

 

Some questions:

How do I deal with potential favoritism in this process without coming right out and accusing the department head of favoritism? 

 

How important IS teaching experience in graduate school for finding a faculty position (Media Studies/Comm)? Would the year and a half of experience with three different classes from my Masters be enough?

 

How long should I wait to see if this is truly a scheduling problem that will correct itself? Essentially, should I be looking to transfer programs next year over this? 

 

Thanks!

[anthropologygeek]

Yu should not transfer over this and this is something you must just put up with. Why not do some sucking up yourself? Plus why not teach alittle at a junior college for the teaching experience

[St Andrews Lynx]

I'm not sure how much of a role the Dept head plays in allocating TA/RA ships. 

The way things work in our Dept is that the PIs let the admin side know who they are intending to support on RAships, and the admin then put the rest on TAships. Basically, RAs are paid for out of the PIs money - TAs are paid for by the Dept. 

 

You do not know that this is a case of favouritism - especially since RAships are usually looked upon as more desirable & coveted than TAships - so I would not mention or allude to such a thing. It would go down really badly. 

 

I think if you really wanted to TA then you should first explain to your PIs that you wish to be supported on an RAship. Then look at class schedules way in advance (when do the classes taught by TAs meet? when are going to be in class/otherwise busy?) to ensure that timetabling conflicts are avoided. Talk to the admin staff early and often about your desires - they can't put you down as a TA if they don't know/forget that you want to be a TA.  

[Silent_Bobina]

Yu should not transfer over this and this is something you must just put up with. Why not do some sucking up yourself? Plus why not teach alittle at a junior college for the teaching experience

 

I don't believe sucking up is a good tactic in any situation but especially one with a professor that I haven't gotten off to a good foot with. We are not allowed to teach or even hold a minimum wage job while we're in school and waiting to get that experience after school will mean a few years of really struggling. They don't pay you enough to live on at Junior Colleges, they barely pay adjuncts subsistence pay...  

I'm not sure how much of a role the Dept head plays in allocating TA/RA ships. 

The way things work in our Dept is that the PIs let the admin side know who they are intending to support on RAships, and the admin then put the rest on TAships. Basically, RAs are paid for out of the PIs money - TAs are paid for by the Dept. 

 

You do not know that this is a case of favouritism - especially since RAships are usually looked upon as more desirable & coveted than TAships - so I would not mention or allude to such a thing. It would go down really badly. 

 

I think if you really wanted to TA then you should first explain to your PIs that you wish to be supported on an RAship. Then look at class schedules way in advance (when do the classes taught by TAs meet? when are going to be in class/otherwise busy?) to ensure that timetabling conflicts are avoided. Talk to the admin staff early and often about your desires - they can't put you down as a TA if they don't know/forget that you want to be a TA.  

You are talking about Chemistry according to your profile. Humanities is much the opposite. Research positions after school are not common in my field, only teaching positions. Therefore, teaching experience is more highly valued. This is especially true for me because I want to go to a teaching, not research, institution. I have expressed this all over the department. To the head, my professors, and the secretary. I know for a fact (since she and the secretary said outright that they do the assignments themselves) that the department head has ultimate control over the assignments. Granted there are a limited number of spots each semester for both RA and TA ships but she can put us however she wants and she actively chose to exclude me. So far at least one other student has a TA-ship in my cohort even though it was a scheduling issue that supposedly affected us all. The conflict occurred with a class that we are all required to take so it wasn't something I could have avoided by planning ahead! I don't know if the other 4 students in my cohort are teaching yet but either way, I put in a specific request to teach and this girl told me she doesn't even want to teach. At my MA, it was first come first serve and if you expressed a strong preference and no one else did you would get your preference. That is really the only way it isn't favoritism... 

[NatureGurl]

 

You do not know that this is a case of favouritism - especially since RAships are usually looked upon as more desirable & coveted than TAships - so I would not mention or allude to such a thing. It would go down really badly. 

 

I would agree with this advice. It might seem like favoritism to you, but you do not have all the facts, in which case your judgement is skewed. However, if you do want to mention it to the department head, I would frame it as, "I'd really like to teach. Could you consider me for teaching next year?" Focus only on yourself, not on what you perceive to be happening with others. It's all in the framing--keep it positive!

[dr. t]

I would agree with this advice. It might seem like favoritism to you, but you do not have all the facts, in which case your judgement is skewed. However, if you do want to mention it to the department head, I would frame it as, "I'd really like to teach. Could you consider me for teaching next year?" Focus only on yourself, not on what you perceive to be happening with others. It's all in the framing--keep it positive!

 

Exactly. Rule #1 of workplace politics is that you never, ever go negative. The only result from that is scorched earth.

 

Unless you're the golden boy, in which case do whatever you want (cfr http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd052108s.gif )

Edited December 8, 2013 by telkanuru

[NatureGurl]

telkanuru--first, I love your profile pic. Second, I have reached my quota of positive votes for the day, otherwise, I'd vote your post up.

 

I just think that sometimes we're so self-absorbed (me, me, me) that we forget to take a broader look at the situation. There are many things that we don't know about department politics, including the history of relationships between people. I have a sense for some things... like there's this one person in our department who teaches a lot of preferred sections (in terms of location and timing) because she's been there for a while, and she does a good job, so she has some clout and the professors respect her and ask her for advice. Newcomers, however? They get the less preferred sections. I think our department tries to be accommodating, especially for personal situations.

 

Anyhow, this is all to say that unless we have hard evidence, we should not jump to conclusions about others' situations. Even if we do have some "evidence," we should not consider it the sole evidence.

[lewin]

I'm going to take a different approach from other posters and say that you should clam up and thank your lucky stars. Two terms doing research is much better for your career than teaching.; teaching is worth very little when getting a faculty job. Teach once or twice so you can get some good evaluations, and otherwise avoid it like the plague because it is a black hole from which your productivity cannot escape.

 

 

(caveat: I'm in psychology and more knowledgeable people in media studies should feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

[kateausten]

I agree, keep everything 100% positive.  What might feel like sucking up to you could be seen by some professors, admins, or other students as simply being pleasant.  In any case, you really have nothing to gain by challenging anyone unless you can win, and in this case I don't think you can.  There's both a power differential and the fact that you can't really prove favoritism.  It may also be occuring because of factors above the head of the person doing the scheduling - certain professors requesting certain students for their TAs or RAs, for example - and they aren't going to get themselves into political trouble to make things easier for you.  I'm not saying it's fair that people who hate teaching have to teach and people who want to teach don't get to, I just think that there is no way that letting even a whiff of this annoyance into your attitude when dealing with the people involved is going to work in your favor. 

 

You won't get rid of the politics, so try to make them work for you.  You don't have to think of it as politicking and sucking up - just think of it as networking.  Talk to the person who is in charge of deciding who gets to do what, be extremely nice, and say "I really, really want to teach and I wasn't able to this year because of a schedule requirement.  When you find out the particulars of the schedule for next year, I would love to talk to you about how I can plan my classes to make sure that I can work teaching into my schedule."  With the professors that you "click" with really well, maybe mention the possibility of TA-ing one of their classes.  Be gracious with everyone and make sure that you convey that you're passionate about teaching and willing to be flexible in other areas of your degree plan to accommodate it.

[Mamahope]

I'm a little confused - I thought you wanted to teach, but now the debate centres around TAing. I too am in the humanities and an RAship is coveted FAR more than a TAship. I'm guaranteed a TAship with my scholarship, but an RAship means that a professor who has received a SSHRC grant has taken a special interest in me to work for them. RAs are hand picked, whereas TAs are luck of the draw.

 

Either way, a TAship is not the same as teaching. I say that because I have a TON of TA experience (between my MA and PhD, I've TAed 7 or 8 courses and have one coming this winter) but no one noticed me until I took on a teaching position at a local community college. Suddenly I'm now viewed as a "colleague" where before I was really just another student. Granted, I am also in a very special area in my field and so I often have to turn down teaching opportunities because there are few here who are able to teach the courses.) I've also heard first hand from department chairs that when looking for faculty positions post-graduation, they will be more interested in my RAship and the amount of money I can bring into a department than my teaching experience. (because we all know RAships are money coming INTO the department, whereas TAships are money going OUT of the department).