References

[glacialflames]

Hi, a question about references.

I've heard that its best to have professors in the field you're applying to give you references. But in my undergraduate degree, almost all my teachers were lecturers, not full professors. Will asking them to be my references hurt my application? And will asking professors from other departments hurt my application?

 

Thanks.

[rising_star]

In Canada, lecturer can have a different meaning than it does in the USA. Did your teachers have a PhD and full-time employment at your university? If so, then getting letters from them shouldn't be a problem. 

[kotov]

 

For me, it's a tough question. I had one reference from outside my field, because I had taken several classes with her in my minor. All of my references were tenured or tenure-track. I don't know how much of a mark it is against one's record for one's referees to be non-tenured or non-tenure-track, but the most important thing is that they can speak to your capability to do graduate-level work in your field. Can a tenured professor from outside of your field speak to that better than a non-tenured faculty member from the history department? I honestly don't know.

Edited October 29, 2015 by kotov

[DGrayson]

I think that what really matters is the quality of the letter itself. If the professor can really speak to your potential as a researcher (a producer rather than a consumer of knowledge) then go for it. I don't know how important having a letter from a professor in your speciality is though. 

[fuzzylogician]

I don't think it matters whether or not a professor is tenured. (There is an obvious correlation with fame and reputation, which matter more.) There could be a question of how well an instructor who is not on the tenure track (or tenured) can talk about your ability to succeed in academia, post PhD, but if they have a PhD of their own they do have some perspective on your ability to go through graduate school and do good work. 

Considering a professor from another field, they will likely lack the fame/reputation boost that you get from someone in your field. As experienced faculty they can still talk about your intellectual abilities and your potential to succeed in graduate school, and they can compare you to their own past students; that carries more weight the more similar the fields are (so if e.g. a Math prof says you can succeed in a History program, that might count for less than if an Anthropology prof says that.) In many ways, this is not unlike getting a letter from a less experienced TT professor. At the end of the day, the way to decide is not based on the employment status of the professor, but the content of the potential letter. Choose the stronger letter. 

[TMP]

Important that the letter writers have a PhD in hand and in in history or very related areas.  Those people are best suited to evaluate your ability to complete work at the PhD level, including coursework and dissertation as a historian.  If your lecturers/instructors have a PhD and are employed full-time, don't sweat too much.

If you are deeply concerned, be all means be in touch with a few programs you're interested in for clarification.