We are now at the end of our journey, both the doctoral journey and this entire mini-series. I hope you’ve learned a few things about what to do and what not to do when considering hour PhD, including whether you should even start to get one.
I’m starting an Assistant Professor job at Colorado State University in the Mathematics department. I’ll be teaching and course coordinating Calculus for Life Sciences. I’ll also be helping at the Calculus tutoring center on campus. It happens to be in the town where I already live and own a home, in a highly desirable location. And, as you might deduce, it’s starting at a bit of an odd time in the academic calendar. So, how did I stumble into this position? Let’s talk about what’s out there for you first.
Non-teaching doctoral jobs
In terms of non-teaching jobs, a PhD could help your chances to obtain an academic coaching position. I assume you’re aware of what those are, what they look like, and how to seek them out.
AERA keeps tabs on education research jobs. That’d be a good site to bookmark and return to regularly. Note that these aren’t restricted to just Math jobs. You can find a more curated list for math education positions here. Non-profits like West Ed have education and action research positions.
Post-secondary teaching positions
In terms of teaching positions, you’re somewhat at the behest of the academic calendar. Faculty positions for the following school tend to appear in the Fall. Around October and November you’ll see open positions start popping up. As I said from the outset, it can be a bit dismaying how few positions there are specifically focused on math education. And of the available positions, some are in less desirable locations than others. I’ll leave the commentary on Higher Ed to those who’ve been in it longer, but there are troubling trends in certain states that may make it less hospitable to LGBTQ+ individuals or their families than others. There are universities that, under the direction of the state, are openly hostile to faculty of color (to be clear, there are similar such incidents at institutions in red and blue states alike).
Another teaching avenue that you might not have been about is community college. I’ve taught at two different community colleges in my area and had really positive experiences. The student body is wonderfully diverse. The campuses are cozy. You can focus on teaching and have a good amount of academic freedom. And, in many cases, full time faculty at community colleges pay better than universities. Remember what I said about how universities don’t pay well?
The downside of many community colleges is they may not have a math methods course if that’s what you’re interested in. If you like doing research, it likely won’t be naturally built in to your workload. Still, it’s a great place to experience a sort of in-between from K12 and post-secondary teaching. I could definitely see myself teaching at a community college again and for a long time. Thus far, it’s probably been the most enjoyable teaching experience I’ve had in my career.
My non-replicable post-PhD path
So how did I acquire the job I’m starting this semester?
So, a lot of times universities and other institutions have listed “open pool” positions. These are places to apply for positions that aren’t actually and may not ever be open. It’s just a place where it’s like, “if we have something we’ll look through these applications.” But, in those instances, an institution will just open up a proper open position, soliciting proper applications.
I applied for maybe a dozen of these “open pool” positions in and around the area. In fact, I’d applied to these non-positions throughout my time in my doctoral program. Nary a one responded. Even for positions like observing pre-service teachers. My assumption was that they’re essentially application graveyards.
And yet, I received an email this past Summer based on one of those applications. They asked if I’d be willing to interview for a position – a position upon which they were still waiting for the funding. As I was told, they wanted to be ready the moment they had access to the funds, and they weren’t sure when that would be. The fact that I was local and already had another job lined up allowed me the freedom to interview and not really worry too much about it.
Lo and behold, the university did release the funds late in the Summer, yielding a start date in the middle of the school year. I don’t even know if there were any other candidates. I had the privilege of being local and not having a full time faculty position at the community college I was teaching at. As I said, I couldn’t have had the job flexibility and freedom without a highly supportive partner.
So with a combination of privilege, effort, and luck, I am now an assistant professor. In five years I can convert it to a tenure track.
What started with a COVID-related layoff in 2020, led to where I am now: a fella with a PhD and a full time position at a University, where I’d wanted to be for years. I’m thrilled to be a part of an inclusive institution in a location that I love – along the Front Range in Colorado. We’re an hour from Rocky Mountain National Park. We’re 15 minutes to local hiking trials, and a neighborhood walk away to a great brewery. To us and our kids, this is home.
Experiences may vary
I don’t think my experience is wholly replicable. We all have unique situations and your experience may differ significantly. Your PhD institution that you apply to may differ significantly. So I don’t know if you learned anything applicable lo these many posts. If nothing else, I hope you’ll consider each of the posts in this mini-series and think, really think, how they interact with your highly unique life circumstances.
I hope you enjoyed the series! Stick around for more mathematical musings!
-geoff
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Takeaways:
- There are a handful of websites that keep track of jobs aligned with having a PhD; make sure to bookmark those
- Be prepared to send out a bunch of applications
- I was lucky and privileged in that I had significant job flexibility, a supportive partner, and older kids
- Your experience will be unlike mine in many ways; but maybe there are a few lessons you can take from it
All posts in this series:
Part 1: Why (not) to get your PhD in Mathematics Education
Part 2: Finding the right program
Part 3: What a Math Education Doctoral Degree is (and what it isn’t)
Part 4: Do you like to write? You better.
Part 5: Classes, Coursework, and You
Part 7: Let’s Talk About Your Dissertation: the thing that people just don’t want to do
Part 8: Your defense committee: Prelims, Quals, and the moving of mountains
Part 9: What comes next (for me and for you)?
Appendix A: Slow cooker meals
emergent math 