Does anything change at the promotion from Associate Professor to Full Professor? When asked, the first response of most faculty is “it’s just like any other day.” Some even feel that’s just the way it should be. For many faculty, promotion to full is just what happens as they pursue the career they love, doing the work that has meaning for them. As one faculty member put it, “There’s a momentum that gets you here, and you just keep going; we’re driven by the students and our own professional pride and that doesn’t change.”
Faculty-Identified Changes
Upon further reflection, faculty identify a whole host of changes at promotion to full. These gradually, yet decisively, define the role of full professors. We compiled the following from interviews with over 100 newly promoted full professors at a major doctoral-granting university.
Greater Impact
- People look to me for advice more frequently.
- I need to watch what I say, how I say it. Now I can’t avoid people hearing me as a full professor. I have to learn more diplomacy so it doesn’t seem like I’m pulling rank.
- There’s a greater need to lead with diplomacy and tact in a crisis.
- I can speak up more.
- I’m expected to do bigger jobs, with greater responsibility and more complexity.
New (and sometimes more complicated) Choices and Decisions
- I have increased flexibility in my research options (including being able to pursue research interests I’ve just had as a hobby until now). It’s a chance to study new areas, learn more, become an expert in areas I haven’t been able to pursue before.
- I have increased flexibility in how I supervise graduate students. Now I feel like I’m free to do my job. I get students out the door on their timing, for their own good, rather than as a reflection of my career track.
- I have much more responsibility for the things that are not high value, but which must get done.
- I know (and need to know) how to choose my battles more effectively.
- I need to be more focused in where I invest my energy. For a long time I’ve said yes to most things that came my way, and I just can’t sustain that anymore.
- Like many of my colleagues, I waited until after tenure to have a family life – so now being a full professor is a balancing act with raising children.
- More interruptions (especially e-mail!), less concentrated focus on my intellectual work.
Time, Motivation, and Age Differences
- You start to feel the generational differences and tensions with your junior colleagues. And it’s hard to know when you’re just being resistant to change. Not enough senior faculty are adventurous.
- I can adopt a longer, broader view.
- For me it’s not about revving up. I’ve been taking on leadership and responsibility for years. The main difference now is that I’m older and so, if anything, I need to rev down a little.
- I’ve become more dependent on the intangible reward system – the tangible rewards are not as obvious anymore.
- I feel an increased responsibility with respect to the chair of the department – I need to be an ally, colleague, collaborator, participant, willing to bring out complexities and multiple perspectives to support the role of the chair.
What changes in other promotions? Read more about changes with tenure here.
