Dr. Mary Anne Gonzales is an Academic Development and Retention Specialist and an independent historian at the University of Waterloo. Her role comprises of curriculum design, teaching, and resource development. As an independent historian, she continues to build her PhD research on caritative practices, systems, and institutions in the Middle Ages.

~~~~

 

Alternative academic (alt-ac) jobs have been around for a long time, yet many academics don’t understand them. Alt-ac jobs can quite literally refer to careers that support the academic culture within university institutions, but are not faculty positions. These careers include writing and learning specialists and teaching consultants. Unfortunately, alt-ac jobs are often misunderstood as “limbo” for former academics who failed to secure tenure track positions or who transitioned out of academia. Because these roles are not immersed in full-time research and teaching, alt-ac is wrongfully misunderstood as existing “outside of” academia. Often overlooked about alt-ac positions are the meaningful ways academics can exist outside of faculty roles.

Let me explain from my personal experience—I’ve been working in alt-ac roles straight out of my 2021 PhD with a specialization in Medieval History. As this field is quite niche, it is an understatement to say that finding academic positions is difficult and, even more so, tenure track jobs. I took on a one-year contract position shortly after graduating—I told myself I would take a year off from academia to recover from the PhD. For the most part, I enjoyed the diverse responsibilities, and considered them a welcomed reprieve from the burnout I faced during my program.

As the months turned into a year, I felt that I was losing my identity. Despite the economic stability that the contract position offered compared to sessional teaching, I missed pursuing my research. At times, it felt as if I had traded my aspirations for stability in every other aspect of my life—I grieved the academic identity I had crafted for myself and the skills I worked hard to cultivate.

But amidst all this emotion, nostalgia, and longing for what felt like a past life, I was torn between continuing to pursue academic positions and being unwilling to return to a life of economic precarity. The latter prevailed. I became permanent after my second contract position a year later.

In my role as an academic learning specialist, I use nearly all my skills as a medievalist: I use my writing skills to create resources for students and write reports in my team’s strategic initiatives; I use my teaching skills to facilitate workshops and curriculum development; I use critical thinking skills to research and identify trends in our student demographic. (Latin paleography and linguistic skills have yet to be required of me, but nothing seems impossible in this role! )

In engaging with the strategic planning involved in the work of academic support units, I began to see a continuity between my former academic identity and role.  While I use these skills outside of historical analysis, I have come to appreciate their impact in helping university students become better learners.

This path was not one that I had imagined myself taking. With stability from my permanent position, I could now also focus more closely on exploring what relationship I wanted to have with academia and what that would look like alongside my job. I opted to continue my research during my evenings and weekends; having access to institutional resources made this feasible.

In the last two years, I’ve presented in three international conferences, completed two book manuscripts, and published one article. While I’m not producing as much as I could be if I were working on my research full time, I get to approach my research with appreciation and excitement—emotions that had been dulled by the crushing pressure of completing the PhD amidst major life changes, and the uncertainty of what came after it.

You may be wondering at this point why I don’t simply pursue a tenure track job. The thing is, I’ve come to view academic positions like any other job. One must weigh the return on investment, and real–as opposed to fantasy–outcomes. Potential long-term benefits should not be enough to drive anyone to make major sacrifices in one’s mental health, financial stability, and relationships. Being forced to constantly choose between potential jobs versus your partner, mental health, or economic stability (or all of these at once) without equal return in salary or quality of life is not normal. Why do these conditions continue to be considered the norm in academia? Why do we not hold academic jobs to the same standard as non-academic jobs?

If I ever do decide to pursue a faculty position, it won’t simply be because of what it is. I’ll be after making a careful calculation of the immediate and long-term benefits of the role like I would any other job.

We as academics owe it to ourselves to value our skills and training beyond the professoriate. Alt-ac is a dynamic space that makes use of our academic skills to create impactful changes in how others encounter, engage, and participate in academic work.

Rather than seeing alt-ac as a sort of “limbo” for academics, I encourage anyone reading this to see it as an option to more traditional forms of academia.