Academic Careers in Community Colleges

Extract

The job market for newly minted political science Ph.D.s has been bleak for a long time and is likely to remain so for a long time. There has been a lot of gnashing of teeth about this, and a lot has been made of doctoral students' need to consider “alternative careers.” There has not, however, been much written about an alternative some young scholars may find attractive: teaching at a community college. As a political scientist who has made the transition from a regional university to a four-year liberal arts college and, finally, to a community college, I know how rewarding it can be to teach at a community college. I also know first hand that many community colleges are actively seeking to recruit faculty with terminal degrees, partly to take advantage of the sluggish academic job market (Haworth 1999a, A12). Therefore, I thought this a propitious time to translate my experience into some useful recommendations for political science graduate students who might be weighing the advantages and disadvantages of community college teaching. My suggestions are aimed at both those with a doctorate and those who have been advanced to candidacy and might be wavering over whether to write the dissertation. They are also aimed at the faculty in doctoral departments who want to undertake serious and sustained measures to prepare some of their candidates for community college careers.