Tenure / Continuation

Now that I’ve finished my thesis, my next work related worry is continuation. Continuation is a version of the US tenure system that has all the downsides and none of the upsides.

In the US, you have six years from when you are hired to prove that you are a quality academic. The main criteria is getting enough good quality publications to prove your research is up to scratch. If it is, at the end of your 7th year, you have a job guaranteed for life. If not, you either find another institution and start again, or (more likely) find another career.

The historical justification for the ‘job for life’ aspect was to guarantee freedom from political influence. The logic is that academics wouldn’t be free to criticise the government if it was possible for the government to have them sacked.

The process in New Zealand works basically the same, except:

1. You only have three years to prove your worth, to ‘get continuation’. This is difficult when conference lead times are six-nine months and journal lead times are 18 months – 3 years.
2. You don’t get a guaranteed job for life. You just get a standard open ended employment contract like everyone else in New Zealand already has. Prior to getting a proper contract, you are basically on a 3 year probationary period.
3. If you aren’t good enough when you first apply, you are ‘deferred’. You then have to improve and reapply within a year (within 4 years of your original start date), and if you still aren’t good enough, you go find another job.

I started my permanent position at the University two years ago, so I only have one more year to get a few high ranked publications otherwise I’m in trouble. Two members of my department have been deferred already, and both of them have a better publications record than I do, so I really need to lift my game.

So much for relaxing when my thesis was over! And the thesis doesn’t even count towards my continuation work :-(